For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. Romans 7:9 KJV.
In case anyone is misinformed, these words were written by the Apostle Paul (a person who was given the responsibility of speaking for God) and endorsed by the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit is God!). Notice that he does not say of his own personal condition, "I was a sinner and dead because of Adam's sin in the garden." Paul is not claiming Adam's sin or sin condition as his own. Augustine and Calvin (neither of whom were asked by Jesus to write the Bible) may have imagined that Paul should have been a sinner because of what Adam did, but Paul -- APOSTLE Paul -- claims that he was an adult before he became a sinner. He was a sinner when the application of the law was a part of who he was; not before.
The calvinist likes to imagine that he understands spiritual reality based on the foolish formula of the TULIP. The "T" that represents "Total Depravity" is a nonsensical idea that is obviously not based on the Bible: certainly not based on the Holy Spirit inspired writings of Paul. "Total Depravity" is a ridiculous and confusing contradiction even for the calvinist. How can they be truly depraved when they claim that they were pre-selected to be good and perfect before they ever came to be. It is as silly as saying that reasoning can come from the random movement of matter in a discrete state universe - aka, evolutionary doctrine. The sinful condition of a human being is accounted to him/her when that person has 1) done something sinful, and 2) come to the place in life where the understanding of the mind and heart agrees with God's evaluation of sin. We Baptists call this the "age of accountability."
Salvation belongs to those who are lost in sin and estranged from the living God. Jesus Christ took sin upon Himself and made salvation a gift -- ultimately it is the free gift of Himself. The place and time where this salvation became available was the Cross of Calvary. If you are old enough to understand that you are a sinner, then you should have sense enough to know the truth of God's plan of salvation through the blood of Jesus...the blood that He made available at the Cross.
Sinner.
There is forgiveness of sins at the Cross.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.
In case anyone is misinformed, these words were written by the Apostle Paul (a person who was given the responsibility of speaking for God) and endorsed by the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit is God!). Notice that he does not say of his own personal condition, "I was a sinner and dead because of Adam's sin in the garden." Paul is not claiming Adam's sin or sin condition as his own. Augustine and Calvin (neither of whom were asked by Jesus to write the Bible) may have imagined that Paul should have been a sinner because of what Adam did, but Paul -- APOSTLE Paul -- claims that he was an adult before he became a sinner. He was a sinner when the application of the law was a part of who he was; not before.
The calvinist likes to imagine that he understands spiritual reality based on the foolish formula of the TULIP. The "T" that represents "Total Depravity" is a nonsensical idea that is obviously not based on the Bible: certainly not based on the Holy Spirit inspired writings of Paul. "Total Depravity" is a ridiculous and confusing contradiction even for the calvinist. How can they be truly depraved when they claim that they were pre-selected to be good and perfect before they ever came to be. It is as silly as saying that reasoning can come from the random movement of matter in a discrete state universe - aka, evolutionary doctrine. The sinful condition of a human being is accounted to him/her when that person has 1) done something sinful, and 2) come to the place in life where the understanding of the mind and heart agrees with God's evaluation of sin. We Baptists call this the "age of accountability."
Salvation belongs to those who are lost in sin and estranged from the living God. Jesus Christ took sin upon Himself and made salvation a gift -- ultimately it is the free gift of Himself. The place and time where this salvation became available was the Cross of Calvary. If you are old enough to understand that you are a sinner, then you should have sense enough to know the truth of God's plan of salvation through the blood of Jesus...the blood that He made available at the Cross.
Sinner.
There is forgiveness of sins at the Cross.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.
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