Greg Anderson

Re Cheryl #63 & #76

1) When I argued that humankind also has the ability to fulfill the law of Christ, I was thinking in terms of Galatians 6:2.

Restoring, helping, and doing good to one another does indeed fulfill the law of Christ, whether it is done by Gentiles outside the house of Israel, or done by the Jews within.

If man’s default condition can only be evil by nature, how can he by nature (Romans 2:14) do the things contained in the law as Paul claims?

I am simply affirming that humans are born with a spark of the divine (made in God’s image) and the free will to exercise that spark.

caveat: This in no way says, nor does it imply that I can effect my own resurrection (apart from Christ) into a brand-new corporeal (flesh) body (Job 19:25-27) that does not wear out and die (Revelation 21:1-6). Only Jesus can do that for me.

2) I do NOT agree for a moment with the world view of modern humanism (Rogers et. al.).

But I do agree with the classical humanism of Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) as touching his call for moderation and tolerance in stark contrast to the dogmatism of the reformers (Luther & Calvin).

caveat: The humanism of Erasmus is NOT the same as the secular humanism of today.

3) I do not deny that we all wage an inner war between choosing to do good things or opting to continue in the pursuit of wickedness.

And yes the heart is deceitful and wicked (Jeremiah 17:9); no contest, but the Bible also speaks of a merry heart and a clean heart.

In context, Jeremiah 17 is about the sin, idolotry, and ill-gotten wealth of Judah, not the default condition of the human heart, because in verse 10, God says that he searches the heart to see what its real motive is and what the payout will be.

4) I believe that we have inherited physical death from Adam in conjunction with the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17)

Genesis 4:7 also tells me that I have been given the ability to do the right thing and slam the door in sin’s face.

Unless this set-up has somehow been changed or abrogated in the remainder of scripture, I am having a difficult time finding an inherited trait that forces me to open the door, make nice with sin, and let it have its way with me.