I'll start.
I believe in election; due to the total depravity of man.
Total depravity does not mean totally depraved in the moral sense, - as in Hitler, or a serial murderer, or a reprobate.
It means the nature of mankind is towards sin-(falling short).
It means the nature of man is not towards righteousness-(God likeness).
The scriptures clearly teach that the nature of man can go both ways.
This is one way...
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among
whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
This is another way...
Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law,
do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another
Rom 2:16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
The term NATURE (PHUSIS in the Greek) is clearly used to describe a natural state towards either lawfulness or lawlessness.
All men have been given a measure of light.
Joh 1:9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
God has given this light to all men by his grace.
Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
It is up to men to choose whether to yield to the light or reject the light. If one yields to the light then they rule over sin, if they do not yield to the light then the sin rules over them. Here is a clear example of this taught in the Bible...
Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Which agrees perfectly with what Paul taught in Romans...
Rom 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Human beings are living souls in a fleshly body. The fleshly body has natural passions and desires like hunger and sex (lusts of the flesh). These desires are not evil, they are simply the natural base desires of a human being. James clearly states that it is these natural desires which draw people into sin.
Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
We see these natural desires at work in the garden BEFORE the sin of Adam. Eve was drawn away by her own lust and sin was conceived.
Gen 3:6 And when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
This temptation of the lusts of the flesh are common to man.
1Co 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Jesus Christ was tempted in exactly the same manner but he ruled over these desires in perfect righteousness.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Augustine of Hippo spoke of "concupiscence" which is defined as...
Concupiscence (from the Latin: con-,
with + cupi,
cupid - desire +
-escere - suffix denoting beginning of a process or state) is often defined as an ardent, usually sensual, longing or lust.
Here is what Augustine wrote in Chapter 24 of Book 13 of his confessions...
If the motion of concupiscence in the unruly members of our first parents arose out of their sin, and only when the divine grace deserted them; and if it was on that occasion that their eyes were opened to see, or, more exactly, notice their nakedness, and that they covered their shame because the shameless motion of their members was not subject to their will,— how, then, would they have begotten children had they remained sinless as they were created?
CHURCH FATHERS: City of God, Book XIII (St. Augustine)
Here Augustine clearly states that the motion (or action) of concupiscence arose as a result of the first sin. Yet Augustine has erred because he does not apply Genesis 3:6 to his thinking and thus understand that the natural desires of the flesh have nothing to do with a sin nature. To Augustine concupiscence was proof of being born with a sin nature.
Original Sin is a fourth century doctrine that teaches that Adam's sin is propogated to all his offspring through natural reproduction of divine imputation.
The view that it is propogated through natural reproduction is called Seminal Identity or Traducianism and is also known as the Natural Head Theory. This is the view that Augustine held to. Augustine used Romans 5:12 and Hebrews 7:10-11 as proof texts to support his contention.
Augustine was not very comfortable with Greek and thus used the Latin Vulgate as opposed to the Greek texts. The Latin Vulgate translates Rom 5:12 like this...
Rom 5:12 Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world and by sin death: and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned. [propterea sicut per unum hominem in hunc mundum peccatum intravit et per peccatum mors et ita in omnes homines mors pertransiit
in quo omnes peccaverunt]
"In Quo" = In Whom
By reading Heb 7:9-10 and combining it with Rom 5:12 "in whom" Augustine concluded that all of humanity was actually present in the loins of Adam and thus was directly implicated in his sin.
Heb 7:9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.
Heb 7:10 For
he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.
Thus Augustine taught that sin was actually somehow propgated to posterity through the flesh. This doctrine was in perfect agreement with the Manichaen philosophy he had previously subscribed to before converting to the Catholic faith. Augustine did not invent this doctrine because it can be found being alluded to by Tatian in the Second Century. What Augustine did was bring it into acceptance in Orthodox Christianity.
Pastor John MacArthur is a strong adherant to the Augustinian view (Traducianism) and here is a quote which I often use to illustrate this fact...
God ordained it as a symbol, as a sign, a very important one. Not just for physical benefit but as a spiritual reminder. And the reminder is simply this, and I'll see if I can give you a full understanding of it. Nowhere or at no point is a man's depravity more manifest than in the procreative act. You say, "Why do you say that?" Well, we know man is a sinner by what he says, we know man is a sinner by what he does. We know man is a sinner by the attitude, the bearing that he carries. We can see on the outside sinful deeds. But how do we know man is a sinner at the base of his character? How do we know man is a sinner at the root of his existence? The answer, by what he creates. Whatever comes from the loins of man is wicked because man is wicked. So I say to you, nowhere then in the anatomy of a man or in the activity of a man is depravity more manifest than in the procreative act because it is at precisely that point which he demonstrates the depth of his sinfulness because he produces a sinner. And I would remind you that Jesus Christ had no human father because there was no human father who could produce a perfect person. The Spirit of God had to plant a perfect seed in Mary and bypass a human father.
The male organ then is the point at which human depravity is most demonstrated. You see not the deeds of sin but the nature of sin passed on to the next generation.
Source:-
The Distinctive Qualities of the True Christian, Part 1
Other theologians reject Traducianism/Natural Head Theory and instead believe that sin is imputed to the soul by God at birth. This view is called the Federal Head Theory or Creationism. This view teaches that Adam was the covenantal representative of all mankind and that when he sinned he broke a covenant that he had with God and that all his descendents are thus imputed guilty by God.
It really does not matter which view one holds pertaining to the doctrine of Original Sin. Original Sin by necessity brings with it an understanding of the base nature of man.
The problem with all this is that it
sin is redefined from being the result of a natural choice to that of being a result of being the result of the natural birth state. Those who believe in this doctrine MUST put the ultimate blame for sin on their birth and not on the choices they made. Due to this perspective the nature and work of repentance is completely redefined. It is practically impossible to be truly broken and contrite over your sin if you truly believe that the at the base level IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT.
Here is what the Westminster Confession states...
Chapter VI
Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and the Punishment thereof
I. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtilty and temptations of Satan, sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit.
[1] This their sin, God was pleased, according to His wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to His own glory.
[2]
II. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion, with God,
[3] and so became dead in sin,
[4] and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body.
[5]
III. They being the root of all mankind,
the guilt of this sin was imputed;[6] and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation.[7]
IV.
From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good,[8] and wholly inclined to all evil,[9] do proceed all actual transgressions.[10]
V. This corruption of nature, during this life, does remain in those that are regenerated;
[11] and although it be, through Christ, pardoned, and mortified; yet both itself, and all the motions thereof, are truly and properly sin.
[12]
VI. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto,
[13] does in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner,
[14] whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God,
[15] and curse of the law,
[16] and so made subject to death,
[17] with all miseries spiritual,
[18] temporal,
[19] and eternal.
[20]
Westminster Confession of Faith
Under this doctrine all human beings are born already guilty and evil. Sin has nothing to do with free-will or the choices that human beings make under this doctrine. Under this doctrine human beings can only choose evil.
This is why those who teach it will NEVER point to Gen 3:6, Gen 4:7, Jam 1:14-15 and connect them together to show that the reason people sin is because they yield to the lusts of their flesh in disobedience to God which is A CHOICE.
This is why those who teach this doctrine will NEVER point to Gal 5:24, Rom 6:4-17, 1Pet 4:1-2, 2Pet 1:3-4 and connect them together and show that a Born Again Christian DOES NOT WALK ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. The possibility of ruling over the flesh by the power of God (through His grace) IN THIS LIFE has been totally NEUTRALISED. Due to this these people, while preaching a seemingly moral message, will ALWAYS defend the continued dominion of sin over a believer. Original Sin is a DEADLY HERESY.
all under sin[/b]. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one."
It is VERY DANGEROUS to ISOLATE and PROOF TEXT verses out of context in support of a doctrine. This is what you have done here.
The whole context of Romans 1-3 is the conclusion that both the Jews and the Gentile people have sinned and are thus guilty before God and thus need the Saviour.
Rom 3:9-10 is not a proof text for Original Sin. You are injecting your doctrine into the text because you already believe it because that is what you have been taught.
Rom 3:9-10 is an allusion to Psalm 14, Isa 53:6 and Jer 50:6. Go read them.
The Bible is replete with examples of righteous people. Righteous people are simply those who have submitted their wills to God and thus walk in the light they know by doing the right thing (1Jn 3:7).
Those who use Rom 3:10 to teach that there is none righteous EVER do not point out these verses...
Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that
he was righteous,God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Luk 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
Luk 1:6 And
they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Eze 14:14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls
by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
Now this is not to say that they do not need a Saviour because the context of those verses is the present state. Past sin cannot be undone by present obedience which is why we all need the blood of Christ.
Nor is a present state of righteousness "self righteousness" as many falsely assert because true righteousness is simply wrought in submitting oneself to the Creator who sets the standard of righteousness. Hence...
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Hence...
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The natural state of a man can go either way. No-one is born naturally inclined to sin, they are born with a natural inclination to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Sin is only manifested when these lusts are yielded to unlawfully in violation of a direct command of God or as a violation of the conscience.
Repeated habitual sinning certainly becomes natural as the brain forms pathways and thus the bondage of sin increases. No-one is BORN in bondage to sin.
I'll try and write more later as I have work to do now.
God bless.