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From: ken@qantel.UUCP (Ken Nichols@ex6193)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: sinner by birth, sinner by choice
Message-ID: <275@qantel.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 31-Oct-84 11:55:51 EST
Article-I.D.: qantel.275
Posted: Wed Oct 31 11:55:51 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Nov-84 05:33:30 EST
References: <575@watdcsu.UUCP>
Organization: MDS Qantel, Hayward, CA
Lines: 32

>> 1. [Admit] you are a sinner by birth and by choice, and that you can nothing
>>     to get rid of your sin.   
> 
> If I am a sinner by birth, then I have had no *choice* in the matter.  
> Make up your mind:  are we sinners by birth, or are we sinners by choice?
> 
> 	David Canzi

This is a very difficult concept to explain, but let me give it a shot.  You
are a sinner by birth by the original sin of Adam which caused all men to have
a nature contrary to God's will.  However, you still choose to sin.  If you are
tempted to commit a sin, you make the choice whether to do so or not.  There
is no such thing as 'The devil made me do it.'  

The same kind of thing applies when speaking of salvation.  A man can chose to
try and find God, the God of the Bible.  Chances are, the Holy Spirit will
reward a man in this search by opening his eyes to the scriptures so that he
might see the truth of Jesus Christ's redemptive work on the cross.  Without
the Holy Spirit, no man can fully see how to be saved.

What I meant when I said that there is nothing that we can do to be saved was
that doing 'good works' and the like can't save you.  Even seeking after God
can't save you, but it is the best way to start if you wish to know the truth
about the Bible.  

Even after the Holy Spirit shows a man the truth of the Bible, a man still has
to make a choice about whether to believe it or not.
--

"...holding forth the                             Ken Nichols
 word of life..." Phil. 2:16                      ...!ucbvax!dual!qantel!ken
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