What can unregenerate man do?

Am I not worth applauding? :laugh: :tongue3: :love2:

 

I like what Franklin Graham says.

"You can stand there with your hands in your pockets and refuse the gift of God or you can take your hands out of your pockets and reach out and receive the gift Christ offers".

Why do some refuse? The bible says because they have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. They are too prideful. This is the sad part of free will. But without it, we could not freely love God. We would just be programed to love Him.

 

I think there were some good points made after I read through this

I think God's common goodness to all helps lost people to do certain good things that have been mentioned, namely love their own. Some even die for strangers (like fireman for example) but it is impossible to judge their motives.

I don't think all people are as bad as they can be, but even while an unregenerate person is doing good, is he not sinning also? That probably even applies to believers as well. Either way it is impossible to deny that an unregenerate man can and does do good things. Because they do good things does this tell us that their heart is 100% wicked or maybe has a little good mixed in with the bad?

Can an unregenerate man glorify God by dieing for a complete stranger? Where does that action come from? what possible motives could this brave man have? Is God pleased with that particular work he did?

 

I was just messin' with ya, but thanks for the compliment.

 

Titus 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

Luke, the scriptures do not teach that a man is born corrupt, they teach that a man goes astray (like a sheep running away from the flock) and becomes defiled and corrupt.

And notice it says their conscience is defiled. As I wrote before, conscience by definition means all men know right from wrong and have an internal desire to do that which is good.

But you can defile your conscience, you can sear it. Every time you do wrong your conscience becomes weaker. The more you practice evil, the less your conscience bothers you. This does not negate the fact that all men start out with a conscience, they do.

Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Calvinists love this verse, but misinterpret it. How can you go astray from the flock if you were never in the flock? You can't.

Men are not created evil, we are created in the image of God. Even after Adam and Eve sinned the scriptures say several times that we are created in the image of God.

James 3:9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

This is New Testament, and James says men are made after the similitude (likeness) of God.

Ecc 7:29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

God creates all men upright, but men choose to corrupt themselves, they choose to run away from the flock and go astray.

The very word "corrupt" means for something to go from a state of goodness to bad.

Corrupt (verb) from the dictionary

You can't ruin or corrupt something that is already evil from the beginning. To corrupt something means to ruin it, to contaminate it, to spoil it from it's original state.

Gen 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

God doesn't make men corrupt, he makes them upright, but men corrupt themselves. They go from a good state to an evil state of their own free will.

 

Luke

I have to go in a minute, but I absolute disagree with you, it is of critical importance to know that man are not born evil. God makes men upright, but of their own free will they choose to corrupt themselves. This refutes the false doctrine of Total Depravity as Calvinists understand it.

You can't "go astray" from the flock unless you were in the flock originally.

You cannot corrupt something that was already evil. To corrupt something by definition means to contaminate or spoil something that was good.

You cannot understand because you have your Calvinist blinders on.

I'll get back tomorrow if possible.

 

We have been redeemed by Christ. How can Christ redeem us if we never belonged to Him? To redeem means to buy back. An infant belongs to the Lord, but when he sins deliberately, he is separated from God and must be redeemed. Only God knows at what point in a person's life this happens. (age of accountability)

 

Men are created good? You are confusing Adam and the rest of mankind. Mankind is born in sin. They have a sin nature they inherited from their parents. Man is born corrupt. If man is born good with no sin nature, then how does he become corrupt? How does his nature change. You make choices based on your nature.

Total depravity doesn't teach that you are as evil as you can be. Total depravity has to do with your nature. Going astray has to do with your actions. This is why regeneration is so important. While man can do "good" things before he is regenerate, he doesn't do anything good in the eyes of God. He doesn't do anything as an act of worship. Not because God doesn't let him, but because he chooses not too. His nature is evil. He is born that way. Again, that doesn't mean he is as evil as he can be.

Why don't we just stick with Scripture instead of childish comments. I could say you cannot understand because you have your anti-calvinist blinders on.

 

Incredible....even with proof of scripture staring him in the face he rejects.

 

Because John was given the irrestable grace & Jack wasnt :thumbsup:

 

Uh...you're not doing very well because I didn't say any of that. :laugh:

I said Jack exchanged the truth of God for a lie. He was full of pride. He thought he could "good work" himself to heaven.