"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." Romans 8:29-30
The above passage is known as the Golden Chain of Redemption.
- Predestination — "also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will," Eph. 1:11
- Atonement — "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10
- Gospel Call — "They said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.'" Acts 16:31
- Internal Call — "for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Rom. 10:10
- Regeneration — "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit," Titus 3:5
- Conversion (repentance and faith) — "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit," Titus 3:5
- Justification — "because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." Rom. 3:20
- Adoption — "so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." Gal. 4:5
- Sanctification — "just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love" Eph. 1:4
- Glorification — "When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." Col. 3:4
Before you can respond to the call, God must first regenerate
you. If He does not, you are still spiritually dead, dead in trespasses
and sins, having a heart of stone, and hating God. Without regeneration,
what in and of yourself can change any of those things so that you can
respond to the call by faith (which is a gift given by God)? God is always the primary cause while everything else is the secondary cause.
It should be noted that the "heart" does not believe. All the organ inside your chest does is pump blood throughout your entire body. It does not think, believe, feel, or anything else. Those are all operations of your mental faculty—your mind. When Scripture uses the term "heart," it is referring to either your mental faculty, or to the central core of man (which still may be his mind).