Rescuing Scripture, Theology, & Church from the Shackles of Religion
The Bible teaches that humans consist of three parts: the body, the soul, and the spirit. This helps us understand what happened in the fall, how sin occurs in our lives, what God does through regeneration, and why we are still awaiting glorification.
In Romans 3, Paul quotes several verses from the Hebrew Bible. Despite what Calvinists say, Paul is not teaching total depravity or total inability in this text. He is teaching universal sinfulness, but this does not keep a person from believing in Jesus for eternal life.
Romans 3:10-12 is not about the Calvinistic ideas of Total Depravity or Total inability. Yes, universal sin is taught, but Paul’s point is to put Jewish people on the same footing as Gentiles regarding their standing before God. To see this, we need to understand the context of Romans 3 in light of the overall structure and argument of Paul in his letter to the Romans.
John 15:4-5 is talking about total inability, but not the total inability of unbelievers. Instead, Jesus is teaching about the total inability of disciples to do anything in the Kingdom of God by their own strength and resources.
John 8:43 is not a statement about the lifelong inability of some people to believe in Jesus for eternal life, but is a warning to those who reject the Gospel, continuing instead to deceive themselves.
John 6:44, far from being verses about exclusion and inability, are staggering statements from Jesus that in Him, all are accepted, all are invited, and all are welcome. John 6:44 does not teach anything related to Calvinism, but the very opposite.
Calvinists use John 3:3 to defend Total Inability, but when John 3:3 is understood is context, it teaches the exact opposite. It is because people can understand the hope, grace, love, and mercy found the gospel of Jesus Christ that so many people find the gospel compelling.
Calvinist use Jeremiah 17:9 to say that humans are deceived and cannot believe. But Jeremiah 17:9 is actually an encouragement to believe in God! Jeremiah 17:9 does not teach total inability or total depravity.
Isaiah 63:6 and Isaiah 64:6 are about faked religious works, not about the total depravity of all mankind. Yes, all people are sinners, but the worst sins are those that are done out of proud and pious religious activity to impress others with our holiness.
Several verses from Ecclesiastes 7 are often used to defend the Calvinistic idea of total inability, but all they really teach is that all people sin.
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