Are We Essentially Good?

We are essentially sinners

 

it’s the T in TULIP

 

TOTALLY

 

We are not "essentially good", only God is good in His essence, but we are also not TOTALLY depraved and utterly incapable of performing any righteous action, as the Calvinists would have us believe.

There is, however, a sense in which believers are essentially good for we have been crucified in Christ and it is no longer we who live but Christ, who is good, lives His life through us by faith. We are hidden in Christ and have been clothed with His righteousness. As such, we are truly blameless, righteous, holy, just and pure.

 

This all happens when we are regenerated by the Holy Ghost I.E. Born Again. A new heart, a conscience, a new way of thinking. Evil is no longer paramount in your character….pleasing God becomes the goal. Before I had my first encounter with the HS I never ever thought what Christ did for me, it never crossed my mind, much less than consider that it was done out of love for me. Needless to say, I was ashamed. It’s interesting to note that I was a captive audience because I was in my car, on a major highway, in a snow storm so I was listening to a CD of a reading of George Whitfield’s sermon “ Method of Grace” and everything was heightened least I cracked the car up! So I was intently listening to that CD.

 

George Whitfield was a staunch Calvinist. The Calvinist doctrine of regeneration is so totally unbiblical that it would sort of be funny if it weren't so seriously false. You had a positive reaction to his doctrine but literally millions, perhaps billions of people will go to Hell because they reject Christ based on Calvinism and other forms of Augustinian doctrines such regeneration as well as many others (Calvinism is just "reformed" Augustinian doctrine) such as original sin, total depravity and predestination, et al. Regeneration, in particular, is more or less a companion doctrine (perhaps a rescue device?) of the doctrine of total depravity, which, in turn, is companion to predestination, which is predicated on the idea that God is immutable. The entire system is constructed around and in order to protect the notion that the God who became a human man and then died a torturous death and then rose from the dead with a new glorified body that He retains to this day and forever more, cannot change in any way whatsoever.

 

Liar.

I don't even know what Palagianism is. Every doctrine I believe I can argue from the plain reading of scripture.

How substantive of you! Heaven forbid you dare to make an argument. If what I say is so obviously false it should be easy enough for you to prove me wrong. You won't even try to show how I might be wrong. You simply take your ball and go home.

Boring, lying coward.

 

We are totally depraved.

 

I would have thought that calling another poster a "boring, lying coward" would not fit with the forum guidelines, apart from being unlikely to convince people who disagree with you that you are right.

 

I’ve reported him… let’s see if it has any response except base insults from low life’s.

 

Oh yes, saying something true is far worse and intolerable than when someone calls me a heretic.

Why am I the only one that people are allowed to insult around here?

 

Right back at ya, hypocrite!

You are the one who started the insults, not me!