Thursday, October 1, 2009

The Predestinated Free Will Paradox.

The sin of men "was rendered possible by the fact that God gave them free will" (C.S. Lewis in Miracles), however, "a man cannot rise of his own will as he fell by his own will" (St. Augustine in On the Free Choice of the Will). The first act was of free will, every act after, is in bondage to the fallen will. That is why a man cannot turn from his own sin, apart from the grace of God. Faith must be given for the dead to rise.

Genesis 3:6
"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate."

Ephesians 2:1-10
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

-burton 261e

ὐμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς, χάριτι ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ πίστεως· ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ
"you were dead, by grace you are saved through faith in Christ Jesus"


[*Scripture quoted from the ESV translation]

2 comments:

Unknown said...

wow your almost as homosexual as Carlos Perez when he fuck his boyfriend Christian in the Ass...Is this an act to be popular or is your frat really that gay?

Burton said...

T,

You should look into the meaning of "total depravity," because what you just said perfectly demonstrates the God-hating heart, an attribute of one desperately in need of Jesus Christ. I pray that you find Him before this life ends, because otherwise your only encounter with Him will be very quick before you spend an eternity in hell. Either way, you will have to face Him one day, and I hope your reaction is one of continual repentance and not further rebellion.