Eyes (intellectual and rational mind) darkened. (Romans 1:21, Romans 11:10, Eph. 4:18 )
State of will is a spirit, wicked and powerless. (Ec. 8:8, Matt 12:45)
Body destroyed. (1 Cor. 5:5, Matt 10:28, Romans 6:6)
Heart (emotions, imaginations) evil. (Gen. 8:21, Jer. 3:17, Matt. 9:4, Heb. 3:12)
Strength powerless, useless, stench. (Gen 4:12, Ps. 37:17, Isa 64:6)
There is NO FREE will! There are no free consequences to sin or righteousness.
It is always sad when a great question gets answered with fiction rather than facts.
Do we have the same free will as Adam? No because we are separated from God spiritually and our eyes have been “opened” with the knowledge of good and evil. Thus we are predisposed to sin.
However lets just read these referenced verses and see what they actually say:
Romans 1:21 teaches that by sinning we act foolishly and this “darkens our heart.”
Thus in our natural fallen condition we have some spiritual ability such that we could discern God and honor Him, but if we choose to act foolishly, we will loose what spiritual ability we had.
Romans 11:10 appears to be a quotation from Psalm 69:23. In the Romans context Paul quotes the Psalms to support his point that God has temporarily hardened non-believing Jews to facilitate the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles. So here we have the loss of spiritual ability by God’s intervention for His redemptive purpose of all mankind. If we look back to the Psalm, again we see the loss of ability due to wickedness.
In Ephesians 4:18 we again see that Gentiles have been darkened in their understanding, and excluded from the life of God because of ignorance, and that their ignorance stems from the hardness of their heart. So yet again we see a loss of spiritual ability due to sinful living rather than from some innate inability. Note they became callous – hardened – then gave themselves over to even more sinful practices.
In partial summary, the first three verses teach that natural men have some spiritual ability but some loose it in part or in whole due to foolish choices, or God’s hardening.
Next lets turn to Ecclesiastes 8:8 which teaches that we not have authority over the length of our life or what will happen to us in the future. So it is a valid point that our will is not free to override the limits God imposes upon us, but this truth in no way supports the fictional claim of an inability to seek God and trust in Christ. All this truth says is if God so limited our will, then our will would be so limited. But demonstrating God has the capacity to do something in no way demonstrates He has chosen to do it.
Matthew 12:45 relates the story of someone driving an unclean spirit out of someone, only to have that evil spirit and even worse other spirits re-enter, thus becoming worse off than before. Here the idea is we cannot keep evil out unless we invite God in. Thus if an evil spirit returns to a believer, he finds the house occupied by God Almighty Himself.
In partial summary, these two verses teach that God has limited our will such that without God’s love and guidance and protection we will end up in worse shape over time. But that truth in no way supports the fiction of total spiritual inability for all of fallen mankind.
Now lets turn to those verses listed to support “body destroyed” whatever that portends.
In 1 Corinthians 5:5 we see that Paul throws a sinner out of the fellowship, which will destroy his way of life, i.e his comfort and security. So actually, this verse teaches that affliction can bring someone to their senses and bring about repentance. This verse actually supports the idea that a sinner with a somewhat hardened heart can still be reached with tough love.
Matthew 10:28 seems totally non-germane to the topic, it teaches that God can do more than just physically kill us, He can destroy both our body and soul in Gehenna. This of course provides motivation to seek the salvation of God rather than His wrath.
Romans 6:6 teaches natural fallen people are “slaves to sin.” But slaves yearn to be free and therefore seek to be set free.
In partial summary none of the verses support the premise of total spiritual inability, they are either non-germane or actually teach sinners have limited spiritual ability.
Next we have some verses that do teach our heart’s inclinations are continually evil. Thus we are predisposed to sin because of our fallen condition. (Gen . 8:21, Jer. 3:17, Matt. 9:4, Heb. 3:12) But this truth in no way supports they fallacy that a fallen person cannot seek God as taught by Matthew 13:1-31.
And finally, it is true fallen mankind is weak, unable to save themselves, and all of our righteousness is as filthy rags, (Gen 4:12, Ps. 37:17, Isa 64:6). But this does not suggest in the slightest we cannot rely upon the righteousness of God for salvation.
In conclusion, mankind is fallen, separated from God and unable to save themselves, but no scriptural support has been provided to validate total spiritual inability. To the contrary, many of the verses referenced actually teach that the fallen have some spiritually ability but are in danger of loosing it by the practice of sin.
