In this next section, we will see how the false teaching on Original Sin has polluted Christianity over many centuries. It was in the 5th century that Augustine of Hippo brought these ruinous and pagan ideas into Christianity. Some say Augustine was the greatest theologian of the first 1,000 years and possibly the greatest theologian of the first 2,000 years. Others, like me, think he was more of a heretic than Pelagius ever was. From paganism, Augustine posited that from Adam, every person is born a sinner with a totally depraved nature. He also insisted that we are all born sinners who are guilty of Adam’s sin. If we are born totally depraved and totally unable to respond to God in repentance and faith, then our free will is no longer free but is enslaved. Augustine gave Christianity what we know today as Calvinism, which is a cancerous, deterministic pagan philosophy. Many determinists believe that God is sovereign in the sense that nothing, either good or evil, happens that God did not decree in eternity. They believe that God elects a few souls to salvation and all the rest of humanity are doomed to hell, all to glorify God. May I kindly ask, what kind of God would create and then elect anyone to hell to glorify Himself? Don’t you think God would get more glory by electing everyone to heaven rather than a majority to hell?
In this article, we will examine ability and willingness in more detail. Do we have free will to respond to God? Now deceased, Mike DeSario provided the following quotes, taken from various emails sent to him, which we will consider in due course. But the following quotes come from a street preacher. We touched on some of this in part 1.
The street preacher wrote this, “A sinner can’t stop sinning before he receives Jesus, otherwise he would be his own savior. He must repent of his past sin in order to receive Jesus. He then has the life of God in him to keep himself from sin.” Only sinners need a savior. No person is guilty of “sin” if they are unable to keep from sin. If the street preacher is correct, that ‘a sinner can’t stop sinning before he receives Jesus’ (because of inherited inability), then how can a “sinner” be held accountable? It makes no sense at all. Sin must be and is voluntary. Involuntary sin is a contradiction. To be a sinner means that a person can stop sinning but chooses not to. Once a person has sinned voluntarily (and that is the only way a person can sin), they need a savior. But sinners can come clean with God and be forgiven and pardoned in repentance. For the street preacher to say that sinners can’t stop sinning before they receive Jesus is gross darkness believed by most Evangelicals because they assume the doctrine of Original Sin is Biblical.
The street preacher continues, “Receiving Jesus means that you accept Him as your Savior and Lord. When you accept Jesus as Lord, the consequence is that you will obey Him. A person is forgiven by God when they accept Jesus as Savior and Lord. It is not that you need to stop sinning for an hour or a day or a week before you can be forgiven. Rather, you must change your mind about breaking God’s law, accepting Jesus as your Lord, and then God will forgive you immediately. Then this inward change of mind, or this inward acceptance of Jesus, will result in outward actions and conduct”, according to the street preacher. This comment is more reasonable than most, but it posits that new Christians just need to accept Jesus as Savior and LORD, and eventually they will obey Jesus. But that makes no sense at all. Making Jesus Christ Savior and LORD most clearly infers that the moment you do this, He is Savior and LORD right now, not someday in the future when you actually get around to repenting from your sins.
The street preacher continues in his contradictions and confusion, “I agree completely. A person must stop all known sins before God will forgive them. If a person has even one known sin in their life, they are under the wrath of God. The blood of Christ only covers those who forsake all known sin. If a person persists in even one known sin, the blood of Christ does not cover them. This is what I have been preaching for years and years.” No person can forsake unknown sin for the simple reason that it is not known. No one knows what they do not know. Sin is to know the right thing to do and not to do it. When God brings something to our attention that He expects us to start doing or stop doing, we are then responsible for obeying. Disobedience then becomes sin.
More from the street preacher, “The Holy Spirit influences sinners to submit and surrender totally and entirely in their hearts so that God can pardon them. The submission and surrender come before forgiveness, the outflow or outward manifestation then comes which is the Christian life. When I say “stop sinning” I do not mean that you must cease from sin for a week in order for God to forgive you. I simply mean that you must change your mind about sinning in order for God to forgive you, and then this change of mind will have an outward change of life. But forgiveness, and receiving Jesus, are two different things. Stopping sin comes before forgiveness, but stopping sin cannot come before receiving Jesus, since receiving Jesus is stopping sinning. Once a person receives Jesus (accepts Him as Lord) THEN God can forgive him. Repentance (a change of mind about sinning) comes before forgiveness but cannot come before receiving Jesus. Receiving Jesus (making Him Lord of your life) must come before forgiveness. So a person changes their mind about sinning and makes Jesus their Lord BEFORE God pardons them. Your question, “Does a person have to stop sinning to Receive Jesus?” makes no sense, because receiving Jesus is stopping sinning, and stopping sinning is receiving Jesus. You cannot make these two separate events, one coming before the other. They are precisely the same event”, according to another respondent.” There is some content that is biblical and reasonable in these comments. However, this respondent makes the same mistake most do when he writes, “but stopping sin cannot come before receiving Jesus”. This pastor believes in the Augustinian Calvinistic doctrine of total inability or total depravity, which is a doctrine of paganism, not Christianity. It was not until the 5th century, under Augustine, that Christianity began to embrace these pagan ideas. The early church fathers did not accept these ideas of determinism and espoused the free will and ability of man.
“Sinners can stop sinning of their own free will. But sinners are unwilling to do so. Therefore, God must influence them through the Holy Spirit and the truth to stop sinning. God must graciously influence sinners, by presenting truth to their minds, or else sinners would never stop sinning. Therefore, GOD is the one who gets us to stop sinning, but we do so by our own free will. It is not “either-or” it is “both-and”. When a sinner stops sinning, He does so by his own free choice under the influence of God.” I agree with this comment.
The street preacher continues, “Motives of the will always come before outward actions. Acts of sin are nothing more than an outflow of a sinful motive. The essence of sin is selfishness or self-gratification. The law requires benevolence towards God and man. The law requires that we will the highest well-being of all, supremely of God and equally towards our neighbor. Any action done with a motive other than benevolence is sinful, because it is a violation of the moral law of God which requires benevolence. Thus, everything is sin until you are saved.” I disagree with the last sentence. There are occasions when unsaved people do benevolent things out of a pure motive and real love. But they also do other sinful things and refuse to repent of those sins, and that is why they are unsaved. For example, during World War II, both saved and unsaved people assisted Jews to escape death at great risk to themselves and their loved ones. Are we to assume a selfish motive was behind each and every act of benevolence? I think not.
The street preacher states the following, “If a person stops drinking or smoking, for selfish reasons, then this is sinful. Their motive is still violating the law of God. Sinners who stop drinking or smoking, for purely selfish reasons, are not stopping their sinning, they are just redirecting their selfishness. The person who gives money to the poor to make himself feel good, and the person who hires a prostitute to make himself feel good, are equally wicked because they are both acting selfishly. Therefore, they are both violating the law of God, which requires benevolence towards God and towards others. Jesus said that if men do outward acts of righteousness to be seen of men, they are still inwardly full of iniquity. Outward actions have no moral character independent of the inward motive of the heart.”
There is some truth to these comments. But the unsaved can also stop drinking or smoking for benevolent reasons. Those who are saved give all of their life to Jesus Christ, while those who are unrepentant do not submit entirely to God in all things. They do not love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, which is the first and most important commandment. The saved one loves God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.
“A sinner stops sinning when they stop living for themselves and they start living for the glory of God and the well-being of their neighbor. A moral being stops sinning when they are no longer selfish in their motives but are benevolent. Only Christians actually stop sinning. Sinners never stop sinning, even if they quit smoking and drinking and cursing etc. They are still sinners because they are still living for themselves, because they are not doing these things for the glory of God and well-being of their neighbor. Sinners can only stop sinning when they become Christians. Until they become Christians, all they do is become more and more sinful because the more they grow in knowledge and the more they grow in disobedience, the more sinful they become. Sinners do not stop growing in sinfulness until they are totally converted unto God, choosing to live for God’s glory and the well-being of His universe.”
I disagree in part. The unsaved may indeed do many things from a pure motive, but what they will not do is to repent of all sin. Non-Christians most assuredly can stop sinning contrary to the comment from the street preacher. This innate ability to stop sinning is the basis for guilt and accountability. If they were unable to stop sinning, it could not be a violation of God’s law. All sinners can stop sinning, and that is why they are guilty and blameworthy if they do not stop. Here again, we see the corruption inherent in the belief of Original Sin.
”Because of free will, men are capable of living for God and living for their neighbor instead of living for themselves. But they are unwilling to do so. At creation, God made them capable of being sinless by giving them a free will, but at conversion God makes them willing to be sinless by influencing them through the Gospel. The sinner’s problem is not inability but unwillingness. (note, that is not what he said earlier). They want to live for themselves supremely. Because they don’t have to be selfish, they are rightly subjected to punishment. But even though they are capable of living sinless, they are unwilling to be benevolent, and therefore they need the influence of God through the law and the gospel. The only way that a sinner will actually turn from selfishness to benevolence, deciding not to live for themselves anymore but to actually live for God and for their neighbor, is through the influence of the Holy Spirit presenting the truth of the law and the Gospel to their minds. Sinners never decide, by free will, to live for God and their neighbor except by the influence of God. Men need the law and the gospel. Not because they cannot obey God, but because they are unwilling to obey God. (again, that is not what the street preacher said earlier). Therefore, these must serve as moral influences upon their minds, to change their will from selfishness to benevolence. Sinners stop sinning only under the gracious influence of God. The revelation of Jesus Christ, dying for our sins, is the most powerful moral influence that the Holy Spirit could ever present to our minds. It has been in light of the cross that men have been converted out of their selfishness to actually serve God and begin to love their fellow man. We love Him because He first loved us. It is the benevolence of God, as revealed at the cross, which begets benevolence in us towards God.”
I agree with these comments. However, the street preacher, like most Christians, says contradictory things simultaneously. One time, he says no one can obey God until they receive Jesus. However, in the lengthy quote above, he flatly contradicts that statement a couple of times. Did you catch it?
We have the ability to choose God but are unwilling to do so for selfish reasons. Guys like R. C. Sproul, John Piper, and John MacArthur believe that we were born sinners unable to choose God of our own ‘free will’. Inability is the opposite of free will, yet that doesn’t stop these folks from deceptively redefining free will. According to many Calvinists, with our non-free, free will, we can choose sin, but we are not free to choose righteousness. We were born depraved and unable, according to Augustinian Calvinists. Our non-free, free will is not free to obey or choose God, according to Sproul. Sproul and many others redefine free will because they actually do not believe we have free will, but don’t want to say that out loud because they know that would be rejected by most Christians. Augustinian Calvinists believe God determines and decrees everything, including our wants, desires, and choices. Yet, God calls everyone to repentance, as stated in the Word of God. But most Calvinists believe that God only calls the elect, not everyone, to salvation and then repentance following regeneration.
Other Christians, like me, for instance, believe God works with sinners to convince and persuade them to repent of sin, of their own free will. Whereas Sproul and other Calvinists like him believe that God elected sinners to salvation first and then some mild form of repentance later. After the gracious influence of the Holy Ghost, some sinners decide to abandon sin, doing so of their own free will, to have a life with God. But Sproul and many other Calvinists believe that God alone elected some few to salvation, and their personal free will (which they actually do not have) had nothing at all to do with it. Calvinism’s sophistry is very polished. When Calvinists claim free will and inability simultaneously, I trust you understand the inherent contradiction. (See my book, When Lies Become Truth, first two chapters.)
At conversion, God does not make or force anyone to be willing. God uses the truth and His wisdom to convince sinners to voluntarily give up their sins and to start loving God supremely. ‘Come let us reason together,’ says the prophet Isaiah on behalf of God. Those who will repent of sin and live righteous lives will be forgiven and pardoned. All who will not repent will suffer damnation.
Mike says this: “My initial thought is basically this…I would agree that unconverted (natural) man is unconcerned regarding the things of God, that is, he (unconverted man) is living according to the flesh, therefore, carnally minded, separated from God and abiding in a state of death. I see this condition being obtained when one knows to do right and does wrong, that is, they sin and willingly choose to suppress light and move towards darkness. I agree with Mike’s comments.
When God convicts a sinner of sin, they must necessarily amend their ways and their doings, seek to clear themselves through genuine repentance, and cry to God for mercy and pardon. They must lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness before they can receive the implanted word. This process is evident in 2 Corinthians (2 Cor. 7:10-11). This passage reveals true godly sorrow that works repentance leading to salvation. Repentance from sin includes diligence, clearing of self, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal, and vindication. This scripture clearly explains the mind, inclinations, and desires of the repentant person. The Greek word metanonia, or repentance, must lead to an immediate change in conduct (conversion) if it is real.
Mike continues, “I also recognize this process of 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 to be in perfect harmony with Acts 15:9. If man is incapable of any good prior to conversion (because of unwillingness to do what is right and depraved) then it makes me question what is written regarding Cornelius in Acts 10 & 11. How could he be a devout God-fearing man, who gave alms and always praying BEFORE he received Baptism of Holy Spirit with Peter? How could Peter say, “In truth, I perceive that God shows NO partiality. But in every nation WHOEVER fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him….” Acts 10:34-35.
Mike is correct. It makes no sense, and the street preacher is wrong on this point about the unconverted being totally depraved and unable/unwilling to do anything from a pure motive. If that were true, if inability were true, then there could not be any sin involved, for involuntary sin is not sin and can’t be blameworthy.
We all know that God is unwilling that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. That expresses God’s desire to save everyone. As a result of God’s desire to save everyone, God is calling and drawing all people to Himself (See 2 Peter 3:9). People must answer the call of God, and God will not do it for them, contrary to Augustinian Calvinism’s determinism. Answering the call is man’s responsibility, and he has the ability to do it in repentance and faith with his free will. Putting off the old man is the same as putting off our unwillingness. Putting on the new man is equivalent to becoming willing to submit to God in all things.
Mike writes, “Although we (Mike and the street preacher) appear to be practically on the same page here, as purely a matter of semantics, I am convinced that the street preacher’s message of repentance (although better than most today in the system) is much more widely accepted in the system than ours. It could be mainly because he fails to Pull Down many of the Strongholds of false Doctrine and expose the false teachers as wolves in sheep’s clothing. With the exception of Calvinism, he entirely neglects the glaring errors of the so-called holiness reformers and wholly embraces MANY of the present-day pundits who promote the saved in sin message. Disturbing indeed!”
And I would agree with Mike on that point. No matter who presents the gospel, if their presentation is founded on the false hope of being saved “in” sin, it must be rejected. Moreover, those who lead people astray must also be exposed and warned. Walking with God is very often a lonely road. When Jesus came to earth, most everyone rejected Him and His message. Do you really think things are any better today?
Salvation is conditioned on faith in Christ and repentance from sin. This is real repentance and faith, which are validated and proven by deeds (righteous deeds, not sinful deeds). Who gets the glory and credit? Christ but His gift can only be received by faith and repentance. Christ made salvation possible to us, but unless we are willing to stop sinning and start practicing righteousness, we can’t be saved. I am well aware that most of the entire evangelical church movement does not agree with my last statement and would call me a heretic, a false teacher, a legalist, and a Pelagian. But the most important question is not about how many agree with me, but what the Word of God proclaims.
Men and women are free to accept or reject the gift of salvation of God in Christ. But to accept the gift of salvation, we must be willing to confess and forsake our sins and start living a righteous life from pure motives. We must meet the conditions of faith and repentance to receive the free gift. We have the ability to do all that God’s grace requires of us; all that is missing is our willingness. We have free will, but we must use it for God.
In Part 3, we will consider “The Root Cause” of the corruption in our churches and many Christians’ lives.
