A few posts back I shared a quote from Lutheran theologian John Theodore Mueller on why converting grace can be resisted. Below is an illustration by Southern Baptist theologian Kenneth Keathley helping explain how conversion can be totally the work of God and yet something we can resist.
Imagine waking up to find you are being transported by an ambulance to the emergency room. It is clearly evident that your condition requires serious medical help. If you do nothing, you will be delivered to the hospital. However, if for whatever reason you demand to be let out, the driver will comply. He may express regret and give warnings, but he will still let you go. You receive no credit for being to the hospital, but you incur the blame for refusing the services of the ambulance.
In this illustration you do not do anything to arrive at the hospital. The only thing you have the ability to do is resist. Any “contribution” made by you is hurtful. Now let the ambulance serve as a metaphor for the work of the Spirit in conversion. If you believe, it is because (and only because) the Holy Spirit brought you to faith. If you do not believe, it is only because you resisted. The only thing you are able to “do” is negative.
Keathley, Kenneth (2009-12-11). Salvation and Sovereignty (p. 104). B&H Academic. Kindle Edition.
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