[jo kus]

what would you say about a poor man who leaps off a building so that his family can collect on a life insurance policy? Assume he genuinely thought he was doing it out of love. Did he sin?

I don't know, but he isn't too smart, because life insurance doesn't pay out in suicides...

I don't think of us as puppets because none of us experiences it like that. After regeneration, we do have new abilities. One is the ability to please God. Another is the ability to be sanctified.

Well, this is not classic Protestantism, to my knowledge. It sounds Wesleyian. Luther and Calvin claimed that man continued to be "sin", even after regeneration, since he had no ability to participate in salvation, even after regeneration. God did everything. No free will. No responsibility. No perseverance. No obedience expected. What you say makes more sense than Luther and Calvin claims that man is spiritually dead and must take on some sort of legal, external justification to be saved. This sounds a bit different than FK from a few weeks ago...

Regards

[Forest Keeper]

FK: "I don't think of us as puppets because none of us experiences it like that. After regeneration, we do have new abilities. One is the ability to please God. Another is the ability to be sanctified."

Well, this is not classic Protestantism, to my knowledge. It sounds Wesleyian. Luther and Calvin claimed that man continued to be "sin", even after regeneration, since he had no ability to participate in salvation, even after regeneration. God did everything. No free will. No responsibility. No perseverance. No obedience expected. What you say makes more sense than Luther and Calvin claims that man is spiritually dead and must take on some sort of legal, external justification to be saved.

Well, I'll have to ask for some help then, because if you had asked me I would have said that this is EXACTLY classical Protestantism. :) At regeneration, I do believe that the old (sinful nature) is gone and the new (God-pleasing nature) has come. However, a remnant of the sinful nature remains, hence we still sin. I don't understand the concept of us actually "being" sin, although I would say that we are born dead "in" sin (i.e. much worse off than only wounded).

I do think that man is responsible for his sin, that the elect do persevere, and that obedience is expected of men. I just give God all the credit when this (the good) happens. Certainly, whenever I face a moral dilemma I perceive that I have a choice. When I choose poorly, then that is my responsibility and I should seek forgiveness. When I choose correctly, then I give thanks to God for His working through me.