What causes a believer to sin?

How is it that "SOME" Calvinists argue that for God to maintain complete Sovereignty he must be the ultimate cause of all things? Would that not include the sinful choices of man?

Why is it that man can willingly choose to sin while God maintains sovereignty but man can't willingly choose to repent and believe while God maintains his sovereignty?

 

I understand and I agree that God must permit even sinful choices, but what I'm looking for is the origin of that sinful intent. As one who believes in contra-casual free will I have no problem giving man the ability of first cause choice, thus making him the first cause of his evil intent, but Calvinists don't typically allow for this, because it would have a choice of man informing God. Thus, I'm attempting to get to the origin of the evil intent in the Calvinistic system: Is is of God or man?

If man, as the vote count indicates, then how does that not violate the Calvinistic concept of complete sovereignty and rejection of contra-causal free will?

If God, why doesn't the vote indicate as much? And how does one holding this view defend against the accusation of God being the author of sin/evil?

 

I understand that, so you are saying in fact that God is the originator (first cause) of man's sinful intent?

What do you mean by a "decretive" sense? Do you mean God permissively decreed the intent to sin in that he knew it would be originated by the man and allowed it, or that God originated the intent and thus created the man with the intent God originated? If the former don't you have man "informing God" and if the latter don't you have God authoring sin?

 

If God merely permits man to sin, in that man originates the sinful intent, then God must have come to know of that intent being that it didn't originate in him. That would be man informing God, even if through God's foreknowledge of that origination. Understand?

 

I'm saying that if the sinful intent originates apart from God then it must become known by God. How does God eternally know something that he doesn't originate?

The concept of foreknowledge connotes the idea of someone coming to know of something before hand, but it doesn't necessarily mean always knowing something in such a way that it must have originated there. Make sense?

 

Well, I agree that God permissively decrees sin, but I'm just attempting to get an explanation as to how an evil intent can originate in man without violating the concept of Sovereignty some seem to promote here. I don't think there is probably a sufficient answer from either perspective because its beyond us, but I'm just hoping some will acknowledge the mystery of it all instead of insisting one camp has a monopoly on true divine sovereignty.