tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859222.post114623904115512113..comments2023-07-06T14:46:27.373+01:00Comments on John Camp: Articles 9, 10, & 11 (of The 39 Articles):Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859222.post-1146259818674881662006-04-28T22:30:00.000+01:002006-04-28T22:30:00.000+01:00Errata:First paragraph: "And thereforth no person ...Errata:<BR/><BR/>First paragraph: "And thereforth no person deserves to be in God's good graces."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859222.post-1146259656246799952006-04-28T22:27:00.000+01:002006-04-28T22:27:00.000+01:00Articles 9, 10, and 11 (translated):ARTICLE IX.Ori...Articles 9, 10, and 11 (translated):<BR/><BR/>ARTICLE IX.<BR/>Original Sin is not the result of an individual's disobeying God the way that Adam disobeyed God (and therefore a problem of wrong ACTION), but is rather in the ontological being of the person (and therefore a problem of wrong NATURE). Every person shares the same human nature, and that nature is not righteous as God intended it to be, but is rather inclined toward self-interest and the survival of the individual alone at all costs. Human nature will always resist God's right intentions, and therefore no person deserves to be cut out of God's good graces. <BR/><BR/>---> This human nature is not changed when a person becomes a Christian, but remains always with him. For some people this nature is most strongly expressed as human wisdom, for others as love of worldly things, for others sexual desire, but it remains in some form in every person. It resists God's commandments and refuses to be tamed! Those who have faith in Christ are not condemned because of this resistance to God that dwells in their very being. We confess, however, that the issue is not merely temptation that a person can resist by application of his reason or will, but rather a sinister force from within that resists God until the very last breath is drawn. <BR/><BR/><BR/>ARTICLE X.<BR/>No human being will ever again posses the freedom from that sinister force to turn himself toward God. Though we may think we have, under our own power, "made a decision for Christ" or "submitted ourselves to the authority of Christ's Church", really we have made a calculated decision regarding our own survival. We've engaged in Pascal's wager and attempted to find the safest bet in our own interest! As said above, self-interest is not a rational good, but rather the very problem that estranges us from God. <BR/><BR/>Thus, if we do turn to God, it is because God has himself turned us. Unless Christ makes a decision for us, our decisions never cease to be sinful, and we are not saved.<BR/><BR/><BR/>ARTICLE XI.<BR/>God chooses to love us not because anything about us is loveable, but because he has promised that those who believe Christ has payed the price for their sins will not be held accountable for them. An invidual's faith in God's promise is what lays claim to the love that God has for the sinners who know themselves to be so desperately lost that only a miracle could save them. <BR/><BR/>For those of us who know the depth of our sins and wickednesses, the idea that the cross is proof of God's love for the unloveable provides the only hope we have! It confirms the blackness of our hearts (that we wish we didn't know to be true!) and assures that God has acted in our favor anyway. <BR/><BR/>All SSRIs and self-help books aside, this doctrine is the only source of positive mental health and emotional integration that weak, selfish, and failure-prone people have!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com