Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions

by Paul Timothy McCain

The Scriptures deny to the intellect, heart, and will of the natural man all readiness, skill, capacity, and ability to think, to understand, to be able to do, to begin, to will, to undertake, to act, to work, or to agree to work anything good and right in spiritual things from himself. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God. (2 Corinthians 3:5) Together they have become worthless. (Romans 3:12) My word finds no place in you. (John 8:37) The darkness has not overcome it [the light]. (John 1:5) “The natural person does not accept [or, as the Greek word properly signifies, grasps not, comprehends not, accepts not] the things of the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:14). This means he is not capable of spiritual things. For they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them. [13] Much less will he truly believe the Gospel or agree with it and regard it as truth. || For the mind that is set on the flesh [or the mind of the natural man] is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. (Romans 8:7)