So, you thought I was making it up?
BTW thanks annalex for beating me to the post. Very impressive.
The error of Luther was his rationalization. Rationalization leads to rationalism, not faith. Luther figured that since we are slaves to sin, we shouldn't even try to not sin. He excused our sin! By denying the free will, he did exactly what Adam did -- arrogantly transferred the responsibility for our disobedience and ingratitude to God on God! So, he said, since God made me a sinner, I will boldly continue to sin, but as long as I give all the credit to God for my sin, He will save me. Truly grotesque!
But, the Church history is full of people who have sinned a lot less than your average bear. We call them saints. They are real Christian action heroes. We look upon them with hope because they show us that we can be holier than our nature makes us through their faith and complete devotion to God. The Ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of God, lived without sin. She was not some God-made robot, but a mortal human being who chose not to sin. Which is why the Protestants consider her just another woman in the Bible! After all, she doesn't fit the Protestant notion that we can't chose anything, especially not to sin. I suppose if we are all robots with pre-programmed minds and acts, we are all the same, right?
I know, you will come out with another quote, such as "none is righteous, not one..." but when we accept God we are, and what we do with the faith with our talents makes us less than equal when it comes to achieving the likeness of Christ. And, unlike your confused founder, Martin Luther, we truly believe that few shall find the path, not because God pre-ordained only a few, but because only a few of us will be humble enough to achieve the likeness of Christ.
LOL! Now come on, Kosta. You know I wasn't accusing you of making anything up. I just said that what you said didn't match what I thought I knew about Luther, so I asked for a source. Even after Annalex gave it to me, I admitted that I couldn't explain it. Such a statement (that we should "sin boldly"), unexplained and by itself, is certainly not something I would stand behind.
Luther figured that since we are slaves to sin, we shouldn't even try to not sin. He excused our sin! By denying the free will, he did exactly what Adam did -- arrogantly transferred the responsibility for our disobedience and ingratitude to God on God! So, he said, since God made me a sinner, I will boldly continue to sin, but as long as I give all the credit to God for my sin, He will save me. Truly grotesque!
I would agree that in our natural born state we are slaves to sin. I would add that in such a state, our natural choice will be to sin, and so we will in abundance. Thus, we are not free to do good in God's eyes, because we do not possess the ability or nature to do so. Only through regeneration are we able to do what is pleasing to God.
I do not think I am breaking any new Protestant ground here. However, your account of Luther is nothing like this. If your account of his core theology is fair, then I would suggest that he does not have many followers today. I do not know anyone now, nor have I ever heard of anyone in my "church world" who believes that God is to blame for our sin and that we can sin all we want after salvation because we are forgiven. "We" simply do not believe this at all.
The Ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of God, lived without sin. She was not some God-made robot, but a mortal human being who chose not to sin. Which is why the Protestants consider her just another woman in the Bible! ...
I know, you will come out with another quote, such as "none is righteous, not one..." but when we accept God we are, and what we do with the faith with our talents makes us less than equal when it comes to achieving the likeness of Christ.
We don't think Mary was just another woman, we say she was very favored by God. Our view of Mary has nothing to do with what she chose, it has to do with that she was, in fact, human. You are right about my quote: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". :) Since Jesus can't fall short of Himself, a pass is implied. But Mary does not receive such a pass according to scripture. Now, it sounds like you may be hinting that Mary chose to not sin after she was saved (when we are saved we are righteous). Now while there is absolutely no evidence of it in the Bible, I might be able to hang with you for a little bit, at least in the theory of possibility. Is this your position? Therefore, did Mary sin before she was saved?