The following piece is a response to a recent assertion by Leighton Flowers: 

"Putting your faith in someone else doesn't require a supernatural miracle.  Please put genuine faith in false gods all the time, so much so they would sacrifice their own lives.  No one believes it requires a supernatural intervention of God to grant someone the ability to do that, so why would anyone assume it takes a miracle for someone to put that kind of faith in the one true God?" - Leighton Flowers

Leighton Flowers here argues that "putting your faith in someone else doesn't require a supernatural miracle," drawing a comparison between faith in false gods and faith in the one true God. He suggests that since people put sincere faith in false gods—even to the point of sacrificing their lives—there is no reason to assume that faith in Christ requires divine intervention. On the surface, this argument may seem reasonable, but it fundamentally misunderstands both the nature of human depravity and the supernatural necessity of coming to true faith in Christ. Flowers assumes that the rejection of God is merely an intellectual issue—a problem of lacking the right information—when, in reality, it is a moral issue. Scripture makes clear that people reject God not because they are uninformed but because they hate Him. Faith in Christ is not merely a rational choice but a supernatural transformation of a heart that, left to itself, is in active rebellion against God.

The first major flaw in Flowers’ argument is his assumption that human beings are naturally capable of coming to God on their own. Scripture paints an entirely different picture of the human condition. Fallen man is not morally neutral, simply weighing religious options and selecting the most reasonable one. Instead, he is actively hostile to God and in love with sin. Romans 3:10-12 states plainly, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” Similarly, Romans 8:7 declares, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” The problem is not that people lack enough information to believe in God, but that they refuse to submit to Him.

Jesus Himself made this point clear in John 3:19-20 when He said, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” People do not reject God out of ignorance; they reject Him because they hate the light. Coming to Christ is not primarily an intellectual decision but a moral one. The heart of man does not merely misunderstand the truth—it despises it. Flowers completely ignores this moral revulsion to God, treating faith as if it were simply a matter of reasoning through religious options. But if coming to Christ were merely an intellectual decision, then anyone presented with the right facts would believe. Scripture and experience prove otherwise.

Furthermore, Flowers’ comparison between faith in false gods and faith in the true God ignores the fact that faith in false gods comes naturally to sinful men, while faith in Christ requires a supernatural transformation. Fallen human nature instinctively constructs idols rather than bowing to the true God. Paul explains in Romans 1:18-25 that men “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” and “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man.” Worshiping false gods is not an indication of religious sincerity; rather, it is evidence of man’s active rebellion against the true God. This idolatry is not a sign that men are spiritually capable of seeking after God but is actually proof that, apart from divine intervention, they will always worship something other than Him.

This is why faith in the true God is fundamentally different from faith in false gods. Anyone can put faith in a false god because false gods do not demand repentance, holiness, or submission to the true Creator. Belief in Christ, however, requires a complete transformation of the heart—a turning from sin to righteousness. This transformation is so radical that Scripture describes it as being born again (John 3:3). Jesus Himself declared, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The reason that men do not believe in Christ is not because they lack evidence, but because their very nature is opposed to Him. Left to himself, the sinner is like a leopard that cannot change its spots (Jeremiah 13:23). His heart is a heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26), incapable of love for God and naturally resistant to His truth.

Flowers' argument ultimately collapses because it ignores the necessity of regeneration. The Bible is clear that faith itself is a gift from God and not something man can generate on his own. Ephesians 2:8-9 states, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Philippians 1:29 reinforces this truth: “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” If faith were something any person could simply choose at will, then Scripture would not describe it as a granted gift. Likewise, John 6:65 makes it clear that no one can come to Christ unless the Father grants it. 

Coming to Christ requires nothing less than a supernatural disarming of the heart’s native hostility to God. It is not simply a matter of convincing the intellect but of turning a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 describes this transformation: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” This is what happens in regeneration—God does not merely provide new information but creates an entirely new heart that now loves what it once hated.

Flowers fails to grasp this essential truth: people don’t believe in God precisely because they have a heart of stone. Their nature is such that, left to themselves, they will never choose Him. They are not neutral decision-makers evaluating evidence; they are rebels who love their sin and reject the light. Coming to Christ is not like switching from one philosophical system to another; it is like being raised from the dead. As Ephesians 2:1-3 states, man is dead in sin, following the course of the world, enslaved to the devil, and by nature a child of wrath. Dead men do not revive themselves. Slaves do not free themselves. Enemies do not reconcile themselves. God must act first.

Ultimately, Flowers’ argument is a classic example of Pelagian thinking—the belief that man is capable of choosing God apart from divine grace. But Scripture testifies that man, in his natural state, is not only unwilling but utterly unable to come to God. Jesus declared, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). Faith is not the result of human effort, nor is it (even partly) a product of man’s own wisdom, goodwill, or humility. The fallen heart is not merely weak but radically opposed to God, trusting in its own judgment rather than submitting to divine truth (1 Corinthians 2:14). Even what appears to be sincere religious seeking—when it relies in part on one’s own understanding or sense of moral fitness—is still pride in disguise, a refusal to acknowledge total spiritual bankruptcy before a holy God. Faith, then, is not something man contributes but something he receives—the sovereign gift of God’s grace, creating a new nature that no longer hates the light but loves it.

In conclusion, Flowers’ reasoning crumbles in the face of biblical truth. He assumes that coming to Christ is a matter of intellectual assent when, in reality, it is a matter of moral transformation. Fallen man is hostile to God, not merely misinformed. He does not come to Christ because he loves the darkness and has a heart of stone. He is incapable of choosing the true God just as a leopard is incapable of changing its spots. Faith in Christ requires a supernatural work of God—a radical transformation of the heart that only the Holy Spirit can accomplish. Thus, salvation is entirely a work of God’s sovereign grace, and without it, no one would ever come to Him.

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