***Huh? How do you come to that conclusion. We sin; we corrupt the creation around us. I would say it is the Reformed who have the deformed idea that somehow they can go on sinning and still be forgiven.***
Actually, it was the Lord that CURSED the creation for our sakes. And, yeah, if the Lord didn’t want it that way, it wouldn’t be that way.
Also, I’m into the “deformed” idea that I can go on sinning and still be forgiven. God isn’t an Indian giver. The plain truth is that all the saints “go on sinning” every day. It was this FACT which prompted Paul to cry out “who will deliver me from this body of death” (from memory).
It is the Catholic and her sister traditions that have promoted the truly deformed ideas about our justification. Ultimately, these ideas have led many down the path of the Galatians.
However, I do reject the absolute insanity which did pervade some Protestants that felt they could demonstrate their salvation by sinning wilfully and engaging in all kinds of debauchery. The simple fact is, as I noted by my reference to Paul, we are Simul Iustus et Peccator. I exist, not in some kind of uncertain LIMBO, but as an already perfect forever saint who still sees his sanctification being worked out by the Lord.
“Those whom, God effectually calls he also freely justifies, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them as their righteousness, but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness by faith, which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God”
I HAVE BEEN SIGNED. “My name is written upon the palms of my Lord.”
I HAVE BEEN SEALED. “I have been sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee.”
SURELY SHALL I BE DELIVERED. “I await on the redemption of my body.”
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. You have already been SEALED for the day of redemption. (Eph 4:30) Set aside false ideas of justification and faith. Embrace the Reformation and be reformed by the TRUTH.
Man's transgression caused it. The cause of corruption is sin. Adam did not repent and ask for forgiveness but blamed God for giving him "that woman."
God was not behind any of this, as God is not behind any of our sins. As we continue to sin, we continue in Adam's fashion, and God continues to curse the ground for our sake, for God can not bless our sin.
And, yeah, if the Lord didn’t want it that way, it wouldn’t be that way
Then read Gen 6:6. Why was He "sorry?" Because things were going His way?
Also, I’m into the “deformed” idea that I can go on sinning and still be forgiven
Not without repentance! The deformed idea of the Reformed theology is that one doesn't have to, because the elect have been forgiven before they even existed.
The plain truth is that all the saints “go on sinning” every day. It was this FACT which prompted Paul to cry out “who will deliver me from this body of death”
And the answer is: repentance.
It is the Catholic and her sister traditions that have promoted the truly deformed ideas about our justification
I can't vouch for the Catholics, since they drifted away from the Orthodox mindset long time ago, but I can say that justification is not what Christ's work is all about.
Christ, the Messiah, is the Liberator. He offered Himself as payment for our sins, a ransom paid to death, so that we may be free (again) to come to God. In doing so, He did not "justify" us but restore us.
And when we no longer sin, God no longer curses the ground for our sake, but blesses it. Just as sin corrupts, theosis (our obedience to God) restores.