Pilgrim,
Thank you my brother for your care and concern for me. Judging from the time that it took you for your post, I know you
very carefully considered your words.
Pilgrim said:
To deny the inherent corruption of an individual's nature/soul is of necessity to deny the perfect righteousness of Christ and the need to have it imputed unto salvation.
It is my present belief that to deny an infused corruption of our soul does not deny the righteousness of Christ. Men, even Adam in the garden before the fall, have never had true righteousness without the covering of God's justification. This is the very reason that after the sin of Adam, our first parents reallized that they were naked. What happened in the garden was not the destruction of Adam's will and nature nor the nature of his children, but a change in his status, in God's eyes, from being on probation, to his expulsion from the garden to a prison on death row (our present world).
I read Shedd's article and he says this:
God has the right to demand from every one of his responsible creatures, all that the creature might be, had he retained possession of the endowments which he received at creation, and had he employed them with fidelity.
If Adam had received all of God's endowments of freedom why did he sin? It may be easily argued that Adam had "total depravity"
before the fall. This proves that man has
never had true freedom apart from the justifying righteousness and/or the authority of his Creator Alone.
And where is this "elsewhere" which you now believe historic biblical Protestantism has erred? And what group, philosophy, religion has convinced you otherwise?
As I have already stated in my posts the "elsewhere" is in the Reformed doctrine of a corrupted or "sinful nature". They have taken the word "imputed" to literally mean "infused". In the second part of your question, "who has convinced you otherwise" may be turned around by me to ask you the very same question; Who or what religion has convinced you that we are totally depraved? It is my assertion, by my present understanding that the Scripture teaches we are not totally depraved but totally incabable of justifying ourselves with an inherant deified righteousness
and never have been. This absolutely includes Adam
before the fall.
Pilgrim said:
My dear brother, what you are now proposing, i.e., what you now know is so seriously contrary to biblical truth that my heart is struck with fear for your soul.
I knew the second that I posted this thread that the conversation would eventually degenerate into this. This is an un-Christian judgment towards your brother who believes with all his heart in the justifying righteousness of Christ Jesus alone.
Denny
Romans 3:22-24
