More Papers

Here is another paper from school.

What are y'all thinking of them? Please comment. My hope is to help you better understand the faith. I would love to get some different views of these papers.

Paper Three for Dogmatics, Assessing the Statement
“Each human has the choice of whether to sin or not.”
Andrew Higginbotham

In attempting to look at this statement, “Each human has the choice of whether to sin or not,” I had a difficult time analyzing it at first. But after looking at it several times, I do believe that it is a Poor theological statement. Why? Because it leaves out the doctrine of Total Depravity and embraces Pelagianism. To be sure, there is an area where humans have a choice. However, when applied to salvation, works, or most other areas, we will choose the evil because of our sin nature. The only area in which we have a “choice” is when using common grace.

I will begin by defining several key terms. 1. Total Depravity. The Westminster confession of faith says “Man, by his fall into a state of sin, has wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation: so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.” What this is saying is simply that Total Depravity does not mean absolute depravity or that man is as bad as he can be. Rather it means that man in every area is effected by the fall of Adam. This includes his intellect.1 2. Pelagianism is a heresy that has been condemned by many church councils. Its basic tenets are that
A. Even if Adam had not sinned, he would have died.
B. Adam’s sin harmed only himself, not the human race.
C. Infants are in the same state as Adam before his fall.
D. The whole human race neither dies through Adam’s sin or death, nor rises again through the resurrection of Christ.
E. The Mosaic Law is as good a guide to heaven as the Gospel.
F. Even before the advent of Christ there were men who were without sin. 3. Sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature.2

When looking at any issue, it is important to begin by asking the question: what does the Bible say? Let us look at the answer to this question in relation to the theme statement. Romans 3:10-11 answers, “As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” This verse is probably one of the strongest in support of the Calvinist position of Total Depravity. None will seek God even given the chance! Romans 3:23 is clear and concise when it states, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 7:18 tells us, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

As you can see, the Bible clearly supports a non-pelagian viewpoint of man. He is fallen and in rebellion to God. He is totally depraved and with no good thing in him.

Now that we have determined what the Bible teaches about man, let us redirect our attention to the original statement, “Each human has the choice of whether to sin or not.” This is clearly, (when applied to salvation) a Pelagian comment. Why? Because, in the final analysis, this statement assumes that the mind of man is injured, not fallen and depraved. This radically changes the effect of the fall of man and the gospel that Jesus, Peter, and Paul preached. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” Romans 6:23. What is sin? As we said earlier, sin is any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature. Have we all sinned? Yes (Rom. 3:23)! If we all have sinned, is this not a contradiction to points C and F of Pelagianism. We then see that this is clearly a false doctrine. And the statement when used in this context is not an accurate theological statement.

Let us now examine the same statement in a different context. In this example, we are discussing a saved person. This person has a form of a free will. However, as Paul himself said in Romans 7:15, “For what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” Thus we see that even for a Christian, sin is still a real possibility and more likely than not we will sin sometimes simply because of our sin nature which we got from Adam. This is not to say that all men (saved or unsaved) can and do the “right” thing from time to time. However, notice that word “right”. It implies a biblical worldview! Thus to determine right and wrong the unsaved person must borrow from the saved person’s worldview. This ability is simply a part of common grace. We all can make choices, carry out plans, breathe the air, and many other common tasks. What separates a Christian from any other person is that he has one ability that common grace does not supply, namely, pleasing God. What is pleasing to God? John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Since we are commanded (as believers) to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, (Mark 12:30-31). And then we are told if we love Him what we will do, that is, keep His commandments. What is the first commandment? It is to love the Lord. This is one area in which the unbeliever cannot make use of common grace. Thus we see that although the unbeliever can use common grace to make a “right” choice, yet he does lack the ability to always choose the right.

In the end, we can conclude that this statement, “Each human has the choice of whether to sin or not,” is a poor theological statement. It points to a Pelagian view of man and not to a biblical one. It leaves man almost the same before the fall as after. And ultimately destroys the message of the Gospel by eliminating the need for Christ. May we understand that we are totally depraved and that God must enable us to work His will and follow Him.

1 The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 9, Paragraph 3
2 Grudem, Wayne, Systematic Theology, Page 490, Paragraph 2

In Christ,
Andrew