A common objection when speaking about the sovereignty of God is: Why does God hold people accountable for something that they cannot do? A sinner is responsible to repent and believe the Gospel, but the sinner is unable to do so unless the Father draws him/her (John 6:44). All humans are required to obey, love, and serve God; but Romans 8:8 clearly says that those "that are in the flesh cannot please God." So how can God hold them responsible?
To answer this question, we have to make a distinction between: natural inability and moral inability. Natural inability refers to some physical limitation. Such as in 1 Kings 14:4 where it says that "Ahijah could not see." That is a natural inability.
Another example would be if someone was working on a car and trying to get a nut loose, but they were not strong enough to get it to loosen. This would be a natural inability. The person trying to remove the nut is not strong enough to loosen it.
The next inability that man has is a moral inability. An example of this would be when Joseph's brothers, "could not speak peaceably unto him" (Gen. 37:4). Do they have the naturally ability to speak peacefully to him? Yes, they can talk and they can talk softly and peacefully. Then why were they unable to? The reason is that they were unwilling, they were morally unable to do so. There was a problem in their heart, not in their physical ability.
This is the same thing when it comes to why sinners are responsible for not repenting and believing the Gospel. The problem is not that we don't have the natural ability to repent and believe, but the problem lies within the wicked heart of man. We need our hearts to be regenerated, and the Holy Spirit to quicken us to faith and repentance.
The problem with man not repenting and believing the Gospel is that the heart of a sinner is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer. 17:9). Ezekiel 36:26 says that God will "take away the stony heart." If God has to take away the stony heart, then it implies that the heart of stone already exists within us. God must regenerate our heart, to make us willing to repent and believe.
This heart of stone is hard, and it will not love God. Paul speaks of the message of the cross being foolish to those who are perishing (1 Cor. 1:18). The problem lies within their heart. They love their sin and hate God. What does it say in Psalm 14:1? "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." (emphasis mine)
Again, the problem is in the heart, not whether or not he has the natural ability to do so. It would be like this: I have the natural ability to mow a lawn. I have the stamina and strength to push the lawnmower for the amount of time it is going to take to complete the job.
Then my dad asks me to mow the lawn, and I disobey and I don't do it because I didn't feel like mowing the lawn. Why am I responsible to pay the consequences for my disobedience? I had the ability, but my heart was so stubborn and disobedient that I did not do it. The problem was not in my natural ability, but it was in my heart.
We are held responsible because we have the natural ability to repent and believe, and to love and serve God, but we are not willing. It's not that we lack the ability to come to Christ, but the willingness and desire.
When we come to Christ, it is because the Holy Spirit has worked in our hearts to make us willing to come. He has regenerated and quickened our spirit to faith and repentance. He took out the heart of stone, and gave us a heart of flesh. The problem is in our heart, not in our natural ability.
So then, why is man held accountable? Not because he lacks the natural ability to come to Christ, but because he lacks the willingness to come to Christ. He is morally unable to come to Christ, and for this he is held responsible.
So in conclusion, the sinner is held responsible because he has the natural ability, but lacks the moral ability to come to Christ. That is why he is held accountable. Those that come to Christ do so, not because they are morally able to come to Christ, but because the Holy Spirit working in them regenerated their heart and made them alive, and quickened them to faith and repentance. God took out the heart of stone, which made them unwilling, and gave them a heart of flesh.
Excellent!
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