<< So it seems that you are content with the condemnation you have heaped on yourself. >>
I leave condemation to yous guys. LOL!
<< We choose to sin. >>
Can we choose not to? Are we able to avoid sin? A large segment of Christianity says no -- another large segment says yes. When y'all get it worked out, let me know.
From my fifty years of studying the Bible, it seems to clearly say that we sin because we are sinners. The sin nature is inherited from Adam. We are condemned because we are "in Adam."
If you are in that group that says we can avoid sin entirely, but we "choose" to sin anyway -- are you ready to accept that someone, somewhere may have avoided sin entirely by "choosing not to"? If not -- then saying "we choose to sin" is meaningless.
<< Whether or not we like it we have earned death (eternal separation from God)by our sinning. This world is condemned, whether we like or not. >>
Hank will beat the hell out of you forever and ever because you are incapable of kissing his feet. Why are you incapable? Because he made you that way? Why did he make you that way? Because your great-great-great-granddaddy ate a piece of off-limits fruit.
<< We are all stand guilty before God. We, in ourselves, cannot change that condition. >>
AHA! If we cannot change it -- then we didn't "choose it." You can't have it both ways. If we can "choose to sin" then we can "choose NOT to sin." If we can "choose not to sin," then we CAN help it. Your argument is running in circles.
<< God's nature is sinless. He lives in a sinless place. Only God can change a human, making him fit for heaven. Our only hope is someone who has paid our sin debt which is Jesus Christ. >>
Unless you kiss Hank's feet, he will beat the crap out of you forever. You don't have the ability to do so, unless he gives you that ability. But it's your fault.
I preached it for thirty-seven years. Ran myself in circles just as you are doing to yourself. But since, according to you, I am condemned to getting the crap beat out of me for eternity -- why not just leave me alone and let me enjoy what little time I have here before all that starts?
I like Christians. I like Christian ethics. You won't have any success getting me to accept Christian doctrines about sin and salvation -- so it would be a better use of your time to just "shake the dust off your feet" with respect to me and my "condition" -- and take comfort in your assurance that Hank will beat the crap out of me forever.
But since, according to you, I am condemned to getting the crap beat out of me for eternity
No; according to the Book......
NIV Proverbs 4:13
Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.
NIV Hebrews 3:6
But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
NIV Hebrews 3:14
We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.
NIV Hebrews 6:11
We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
NIV Hebrews 12:3
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that
you will not grow weary and lose heart.
NIV 2 Timothy 2:11-13
11. Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him;
12. if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us;
13. if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
NIV 2 Peter 2:20-21
20. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.
21. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.
NIV 2 John 1:8
Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.
NIV Jude 1:21
Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
NIV Revelation 2:25
Only hold on to what you have until I come.
NIV Revelation 3:11
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.
I preached it for thirty-seven years. Ran myself in circles just as you are doing to yourself.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
24. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
25. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
26. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
27. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Paul saw the problem that you describe, and took pains to avoid it.
To me, I see faulty logic in your conlusion. Starting with THIS premise -
If you are in that group that says we can avoid sin entirely, but we "choose" to sin anyway --
you build on it to a conclusion: But it's your fault.
When I was born, I could not swim, but it was no more my 'fault' than my mother who bore me: it's just the way it is.
However, I learned to swim, thus 'saving myself' from the sentence of the water.
Because I have a 'sin nature' is also not my 'fault'; it's just the way it is. But I CAN do something about it.
You are not completely doomed - there's a verse somewhere that says - "come to your senses".
It's my opinion that....
Ol' Hank wouldn't done it thataway!