So you're suggesting a superior clarity of thought on the part of the person who accepts and asks for grace, either in the moment or in every moment? Or superior humility? Or both working together in a person to give them the clarity to accept what the other fellow rejects?
To help that along, let's say Al never does repent and receive, continuing on in his way as you continue in your walk.
Is grace, your salvation, a byproduct of that superior clarity or humility or combination of both and/or any number of superior secondary somethings that individually or collectively permit you to see and make the superior choice?
If so to what do you ascribe the root of that clarity? Were you born with it? Did you develop it? Was Al just unlucky in that regard?
Under perfect conditions there are no other factors to consider, and it is a matter simply of the heart. I think much of it comes down to "we believe what we want to believe" and there are various reasons why someone wants to believe in one thing or not in another. Some people really
don't want to believe in a loving God.
I had a pastor once tell me that he
chose to believe the dead were tortured without rest ... not for any scriptural reason (he had lost that battle already) but because
he would need that to keep him loyal for eternity. As shocking as that answer was, he clarified that "people believe what we want to believe ..." and to preempt the previously-established scripture he clarified pointing to himself, "I mean me." As shocking as that answer was (who
honestly admits that) I've come to think there's a certain truth to that. For good or for ill, we often
reject what we
don't want to believe.
There's a scripture on this regard as well:
2Th 2:10-12 KJV
(10) And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
(11) And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
(12) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
When someone does not have a love of the truth, if they resist the truth because they do not want to believe it, God has no problem with sending them deeper into delusion. As such I recognize that it is
very dangerous to turn away truth, or to be stubborn
in ones own mind beyond where scripture has justified. If you love not the truth in one part, perhaps anything or everything you believe might also be infected with delusion.
As for clarity? Let's go back to the love of the truth. If someone does love truth, either for the sake of truth or because of a love of that which is true (and because it is God's truth is also wonderful and perfect) then I believe that God helps us make up the difference. He can grant clarity, and his Spirit can work with our spirit.
I admit that additional external factors might make one resistant to the truth. If someone is presented truth mixed with lies, is he to be faulted for determining the entire pack as suspect when the errors are amazingly obvious? When there are a dozen different street corner preachers each with their different version and wanting their different devoted following, is he supposed to switch his mind at each and every turn? Bad example and bad doctrine has poisoned the ground in which we need to plant the gospel. I don't think this is something that God never recognized as a danger and I think he's planned for this; but in the meantime we are to obey his command to preach the gospel as we can in spite of adverse factors.
Is grace, your salvation, a byproduct of that superior clarity or humility or combination of both and/or any number of superior secondary somethings that individually or collectively permit you to see and make the superior choice?
If so to what do you ascribe the root of that clarity? Were you born with it? Did you develop it? Was Al just unlucky in that regard?
Grace is not a byproduct of anything, it is the gift of God. Is accepting that grace a better choice? In your example, I thought it was, but beyond that, somehow I understood that it was a
real choice and not another sales pitch for an imaginary fairy tale.
Was Al unlucky? I don't know Al's heart. He might appear very similar on the surface but have entirely different motivations deep inside. Or perhaps he's heard the same message too many times before and when he's tested them they were shown to be unprepared, false, or contradictory. But also in your example, if I was reached and Al was not, and I truly believe this gospel, Al is no longer alone in this and now has someone that he knows that will be looking for how to reach out to him also.