Dear Steve,<br><br>IRT:<br>"How does one get the ears to hear and another not? Obviously this doesn't mean those who are deaf vs. those who can hear. So, can a unregenerated person really "hear" the words of Christ? Can an unregenerated person, i.e. a dead person, hear?"<br><br>Yes, for it is God who gives one ears to hear the truth. A choice comes in though in whether a man will stop his ears and harden his heart to the truth.<br><br>Zechariah 7:11 says,<br><br>"But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. "<br><br>IRT:<br>"As for Luke 7:30, I'm still not sure what this proves. God commanded them to be baptized. Did God really desire and wish they were baptized? Is that what this says? I don't believe it is."<br><br>He certainly did. The text is quite clear, they rejected the counsel (literally, 'the will') of God for themselves in not being baptized by John.<br><br><br>In Christ,<br>Josh