I asked where in the Bible anyone gets that we can't believe and obey God.
[Jhn 1:10-13 NASB] 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, [even] to those who believe in His name, 13
who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man,
but of God.
[Jhn 6:43-44 NASB] 43 Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 "
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.
[Jhn 10:25-26 NASB] 25 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me. 26 "But
you do not believe
because you are not of My sheep.
[1Co 2:14 NASB] 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
[2Co 4:3-4 NASB] 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
It also says that people DO NOT BELIEVE OR OBEY GOD ...
[Jhn 3:19-20 NASB] 19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and
men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
[Rom 3:10-12 NASB] 10 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."
It even tells us why ...
[1Co 2:1-5 NASB] 1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and
my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your
faith would not rest on the
wisdom of men, but on the
power of God.
Words of wisdom are for the ‘mature’ ... after salvation, not before salvation.
[1Co 2:6 NASB] 6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;
[1Co 2:10-13 NASB] 10 For to us God revealed [them] through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the [thoughts] of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the [thoughts] of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual [thoughts] with spiritual [words.]
Understanding requires the Spirit of God, and no amount of obedience or reading will grant that, only God can grant his Spirit. So the order of salvation, must place the work of God before the faith of man since natural man cannot understand the gospel (good news) without help from God, and a man cannot have faith in something that he is either completely blind to, or views as nonsense.
