In Luther's, The Bondage of the Will, his main argument seems to be that man is in total depravity for life. He thinks that men are so bad and therefore not capable of "... free choice for the good" (182). His thought processes towards mankind remains in the total depravity category of Calvin's 5 points of Calvinism. While I am still confused about free will in general and God's sovereign elect, I don't think that Luther is right when he says that man cannot choose rightly when given the option of free will and free choice. If God extends his grace and his love upon us, He intercedes in our lives therefore giving us the option to take and receive his love or reject it. I think I agree with the third tree (the trees Olsen drew on the board on Thursday), that God intercedes in our lives before we even have a chance to think about Him because He is God and if we are apart of His chosen elect, he would have to act in order for us to really think about Him.
I commented on Natalie's and Sierra's!!!
I'd have to agree with you Darby! Thats definitely a subject that I feel will not be fully answered by anyone. It seems that both extremes have their own issues and I've always been in the camp that we should be more focused on loving people and sharing God's Word and the loving work of His Son to all.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I think that while we are innately sinful and depraved, God still gives us the option to choose. We can either reject God, or have faith in Him and accept Him as true. Also, I am confused about the specifics of it all, so you are not alone do not worry!!
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with Luther either. God gave us free will and with that we can choose between obeying him or turning our backs on him and do evil.
ReplyDeleteI think that we are completely sinful; there is no good in us apart from Christ. Being made in God's image though, I feel would give us a glimpse of good and allow us to choose.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Darbs. I agree with everything you said but also am so confused about the paradox between free will and God's elect...The more I think on it, the more my brain hurts and I just settle on the truth that God is so incredibly outside of my capacity for understanding. Praise the Lord for that.
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