did each man ever had the ability? - no! - how?

You make it seem as though God would be unjust if he did not offer man salvation?

He's not.

Most calvinist do not see salvation as a chance. (at least I don't) I see it as a condition. If someone is drowning in a pool, they do not offer them the opportunity to be saved, they jump in and save them. That person, post pulled from the pool is "saved". That is not a choice it is a condition.

 

Sturgman,

With all due respect, you ignored Aki's whole point. He was speaking about the contradiction of Calvinism teaching that claims mankind is rightly responsible for our sin when in reality we have an adopted sin nature imposed upon us by God's design of federal headship and not our own choice to sin.

If we are sinful because of our choices and our sin, yes we should be held responsible and God in no way would be required to offer salvation.

But in light of the fact that he does offer salvation to all man, the implication of their ability to respond is implied, yet according to you they do not have that ability once again because of God's design of federal headship, thus leaving God as a deceiver of man.

 

Where were you when Adam sinned? You might say no where, but in all actuallity you were in adam. You were in the loins of Adam. What should have happened to Adam? He should have died. And that would mean you would have died along with Adam. Your interpretation leads us to believe that God is wrong if he did that. That is not true. He let Adam live. Adam a sinner and Eve a sinner produced offspring, sinners. They produced more sinners and so forth. For God to save one is an act of grace, but he saved a multitude, that is ludicris grace.

The diiference is you see salvation as a chance. I see it as a condition. That is what I was pointing out earlier, not your question of who pushed him in the pool. My disagreement lies far before that analogy. I don't see that salvation is a chance or a lottery, or an opportunity. I see it as a condition. My son was born into this world because his mother and I decided, not because he wanted to live. Bith, both physical and spiritual is accomplished by the love of the father, not the willingness of the son.

So if your wondering why I am not answering your question, it is because to me it is not a question. Because God does not have to account for those people who are in Hell. He must only account for those sinners in Heaven. He has written an entire book on it.

 

Here is an article which explains original sin from the calvinist viewpoint . I think it specifically answers some of your questions.

BTW, what you are asking about here is original sin, not imputed sin.

Imputed sin means that the sin of Adam in the garden is imputed to the rest of the human race, and we are counted guilty for it. Imputed sin deals with the legal aspect of things--what we are reckoned or counted as.

Original sin deals with the actual condition we are born in--not just counted as sinners but actually sinners. This comes to us not through imputation, but as the natural result of being descendents of fallen people. Creation is set up so that we reproduce our own kind. Fallen human beings reproduce more fallen human beings. Unclean people produce more unclean people.

This is why Calvinists say that it is not God who is to blame for our sinful natures, or for the inability that arises from them--because the estrangement we are born with is simply the consequence of being a descendent of fallen Adam.

 

Aki,

I do intend to try to answer your questions, but I have had a really busy and exhausting and stressful day, and answering your questions will require a bit of time and thought on my part and I'm just not up to it right now.

 

Aki,

I am going to start with your middle question:

First, let me explain that I don't think it is imputed sin (or guilt) that makes people unable to respond to God. It is original sin that makes us unable to respond, and original sin is not imputed, but inherited. The depravity of Adam is passed down from generation to generation, not by imputation, but by the natural process of procreation. Corrupt people produce corrupt children. So as I see it, imputed sin is not the cause of our sin nature.

Imputed sin means that Adam represented us in some way in the Garden of Eden. When Adam did his first sin, that first sin was put on our account, and we are judged guilty of it, so we are born under condemnation because that first sin of Adam is on our sin account.

What was the purpose of God imputing Adam's guilt to us? Well, I think God set up a representative system, and the same system that has Adam representing us in that first sin, and that sin being put on our account, allows for Christ to represent us in his obedience, and His obedience can be put to our account. Without the representative system, in which something our representative does can be credited (or imputed) to us, we would be in big trouble, because we could never be perfectly righteous. We NEED for Christ to represent us.

Well, that's what the word "imputation" means-- to lay the blame or responsibility or credit on someone. But remember, it's under the same system by which we are credited with what Adam did that we can be credited with what Christ did. With the bad comes the good. Without the bad, there would be no good.

Well, he was born to that condition as a natural consequence of Adam and Eve becoming sinful. (Remember, depravity is not imputed, but inherited.) Our depravity is not caused by God (God created men upright), but it is Adam and Eve who got that nasty ball rolling. We are born just like our parents, and their parents before them, and their parents before them--estranged from God and obstinately opposed to Him. Our natural inability to choose God is a consequence of that obstinate opposition we are born to. We can't choose God because our hostility to God is too entrenched within us--and that entrenched hostility is inherited from our forefathers.

To summerise: The system works the same for sin as it does for righteousness, but in opposite directions.

Adam sinned as the representative for all who are in him, and and all those who he represents have his sin (or guilt) imputed to them. All Adam's descendents (by physical birth) inherit a sinful nature, and as a result begin to disobey.

Christ (the second Adam), obeyed as the representative for all who are in Him, and all those who he represents have His righteousness (or blamelessness) imputed to them. All His descendents (by spiritual birth) inherit a new nature, and as a result begin to obey.

That's probably clear as mud, but I tried.....

 

Hi sturgman;
A quote from you;
-----------------------------------------------------
If someone is drowning in a pool, they do not offer them the opportunity to be saved, they jump in and save them.
------------------------------------------------------
My reply;
How you going to know they are drowning if the don't scream for help. Just like in being saved from our sins we have to ask for help from God or we won't be saved. Life gaurds are trained to respond to obvious distress. They don't just jump in if they see something that my makes them think you are drowning. If they did while they were responding in an unnecessary reaction. Someone else might really need help and they wouldn't know it.
Romanbear

 

I don't know what God is going to tell them. But they are depraved because they are born into a race that fell in Adam. They were born into a corrupt race of people, already estranged from God.

Why?

 

Aki, Paul answered your questions in Romans 9, but I am sure that you won't like that answer. Read where it starts out, "then why does God still blame us?"

Second, Who can point their finger at God? Answer, no one. God does not have to account for those going to hell. Man is going to hell. Adam and all those from Adam are sinners, therefore their natural destiny would be hell outside of the intervention of God. God must only account for those sinners in Heaven. He has written a whole book to answer that question.

Romanbear, your claim is ridiculous. Many men drown without any screaming. That is why they put a chair next to the pool for the lifeguard to sit in. Past that, the illustration stops, so let us use scripture to prove your point of screaming before the lifeguard budges.

 

You said that "He (God) made each one guilty." You are wrong here. God did not make them guilty, man is guilty. God pronounces them guilty, but he does not make them guilty. Adam should have been smited in the garden and you, I and the rest of us in his loins as well. The fact that God saves some is an act of mercy and grace.

I am not speaking of the issue of double predestination, though it does answer that as well. What I refered you to Romans 9 about is you questioned God's justice for judging those non-elect because he allowed the sin of Adam to be imputed on them. Paul answers it in Romans 9. "Then you will say to me, why does God still judge us, for who resist His will? On the contrary, who are you , Oh Man, that you should talk back to God? Or does not the potter have right over the clay?"

You see, God does not have to account for those in Hell. We all go back to Adam, and we should have died in his loins, because we all are sinners. Adam should have died, and everything in Adam should have died, e.g. all his offspring. The only thing God must account for is those who are in Heaven. Because they are sinners, and that is the only undeserving thing that happens.

 

Aki,

I think I understand now what you are saying...

Yes, this is similar to how I see it....

Agreed again...

I think I pretty much agree with this too, although I know that we are mostly speculating on this. This is not really spelled out for us. If God did not impute Adam's sin to the non-elect, then He would be putting a barrier to them being saved, rather than just passing over them. Everything is set up so that the nonelect could be saved, IF THEY BELIEVED.

(It is important that we remember that no one is sent to hell for Adam's guilt alone. Even if Adam's guilt was not imputed to us, we still have the sin nature problem, and all the sins that we commit that we add to our account. So Adam's condemnation being imputed to us does not make us worse off, but better off.)

 

Russell, don't you think "total inability" is as big of a barrier as there can possibly be, what other "barriers" would matter? In Calvinism, everything is not "set up" so that the nonelect "COULD" be saved, it's only "set up" so that the elect will be saved.

Romans 11:32
For God has imprisoned all in disobedience, so that He may have mercy on all."

After speaking about everyone being disobedient he shows that God binds them over to disobedience so that he might have mercy on them ALL. In other words, all are disobedient (which is everyone) are also canidates for receiving mercy. All can recieve mercy, not just "the elect" as you contend.

It doesn't say that all men were bound over to disobedience so that God will have mercy on the "chosen ones" it says so that he might have mercy on them "all" and that means "all"!

Some of you Calvinists will argue that if I take "all" to mean "all" that I must support universalism, but that is not true. Notice the word "may" or "might" in this passage, it doesn't say God "will" have mercy on all it says he "may" or "might" which shows that there is a condition that "all" must meet in order to receive mercy. Mercy is obtained through faith (Romans 9:30).

This mercy is applied to those who have faith, and anyone who hears the word of truth has the capasity for faith in Christ. To deny that, denies God's provision for ALL to have their imputed sin forgiven by God so as to receieve the imputed righteousness from Christ.

 

I see where you are going here. When God does not save the non-elect, he is not violating their will. When He saaves the elect, He is violating their will. So do I see the fact that God does not save them an act of sovereinty? In the sence that He ordains all things, yes. In the sence that God has made them guilty, no. They are doing exactly what their natures find pleasure in.