Total Depravity

[JJoseph]

We are born without grace, and with a fallen sinful nature. But we are not born totally depraved, and we still have free will. When we are baptized, or give our life to the Lord, we pass from death to life and are born again. After that, we re-enter the State of Grace, and have power from God to overcome sin. I believe sinless perfection is possible, as John Wesley taught. "I write these things to you, little children, that you may not sin" (1 Jn 2:1), and "Be Perfect, therefore, as Your Heavenly Father is Perfect". (Mat 5:48). Wesley did not like Calvinism. I don't think God likes it much either. There may be Good Christians who believe those errors, but comparing it to the Scriptures and Church Fathers shows that it is a later novelty. Finally, God is not the Author of Evil, that's Satan. And that is the issue with confusing the two and saying God is as responsible for Evil as for Good. He is not. All good things, as Saint James says, are from the Father of Light above, but Evil is from Satan, or from us.

 

[PaulThomson]

He tells Abraham He has made him the father of many nations, long before it began to take place. That's the completed action, yes? While it is yet incomplete from an human perspective.

Similarly He tells His apostle:

Matthew 16:19​

and I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the heavens, and whatever thou mayest bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever thou mayest loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens.​

He breaks the boundaries of time and space. He does this frequently in our sight, see also:

John 17:11 ​

Now I am no longer in the world​

You are reading far more into actually in the language used than is in the language used. God is expressing His present determination and certainty concerning His plans for Abraham. He has just appointed Abraham to become a father of many nations. he calls things that are not AS THOUGH they are - to express His present certainty that by His omnipotent power they will be so.

He is not saying anything like "In future slices of time that are already as real to me as this present, which I am observing right now at the exact same moment as I am looking at you now, Abraham, you are already there in them a Father of many nations, even while at the very same instant here you are not yet a Father. "

 

[PaulThomson]

We do not depend on grammar to teach us the truth. Otherwise every Christian would need to be an expert grammarian.[/QUOTE0

Yikes!

The Bible is crystal clear that God sees the end from the beginning, but decrees only some things. Were He to decree everything He would be responsible for sin and evil. But God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all.

Well, at least we agree on some things.

 

[PaulThomson]

Who is like Him??
He is not like us, in these respects. i think it is very much a mistake to attribute the temporal limitations of humankind to the eternal God Who created time.

We were made in His image, so were all like Him in some degrees and manners.

However, the Bible does not say what you think we should all believe about God. Is it better to believe what the Bible says is the case, or what what you think should be the case?