From: johnson@elec.uq.oz.au (Craig Johnson)
Subject: Re: God's enabling, and our moral ability
Organization: Prentice Centre, University of Queensland
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 06:34:12 GMT

"(MARK DRAKE)" <DRAKE@ASUCHM.LA.ASU.EDU> writes:

...

>Not that I write perfectly, but this paragraph is not very clear to me.
>So I think I'll start at the beginning.  I'll be quoting R. C.
>Sproul from his book Reason to Believe.  I believe Lon said
>recently that Dr. Sproul is a Reformed theologian.

>p. 91 ff

>     "If we ask why it is necessary for grace to be central to the
>Christian life, the answer is very simple:  * Man is morally
>incapable of earning his way into the Kingdom of God.  Man is not
>Good enough to merit an eternal relationship with God. *

>     The N.T makes it abundantly clear that our noblest efforts at
>self-reformation or human virtue fall short of what God's holiness
>requires  The Apostle Paul states it succinctly when he declares,
>"No flesh shall be justified by the works of the law: (see Rom.
>3:20).

>     Not only does the NT make it clear that our feeble efforts at
>righteousness do not measure up to the demands of the law, but it
>adds the radical notion that we are morally incapable of doing what
>God requires....The NT describes us as being flesh by nature.  That
>condition of flesh involves such a moral weakness that we cannot do
>what God requires" (see Rom 8:7)
>How can God hold us accountable to a law that we cannot keep?

>     To answer that question, "Jonathan Edwards provides a
>distinction that is helpful.  He distinguished between what he
>called man's natural ability and man's moral ability.  Natural
>ability means the necessary power or equipment to perform a task.
>For a being to do moral works he must have mortal powers.  He must
>have a will and a mind, for example.  A creature without a will
>cannot make moral decisions.  A creature without a mind cannot
>respond with understanding to moral concerns.  Thus, for man to be
>able to be a moral creature, there is certain basic "equipment"
>necessary.  If God commanded us to fly, we would not be able to
>comply, not on moral grounds, but on natural grounds.  We lack the
>ability to fly, not because we are sinners, but because God has not
>provided us with wings....
>     Man does have the natural ability to be morally perfect
>inasmuch as he has the necessary natural equipment to perform moral
>acts.  Yet, the Bible says that there is a sense in which man
>cannot do what he is required to do.  Edwards calls this a "moral
>inability."  Man has a mind and a will;  but in order to exercise
>that mind and will to obedience, what else would man need to have?
>He would have to have some kind of inner disposition or inclination
>toward God.  In simple terms, he would need to have a "desire" to
>please God.  Edwards maintains that when the NT says that man
>cannot keep the law of God, it is not because he lacks a will or a
>mind and cannot understand what God requires, but rather because
>man does not have a proper disposition toward God.  Man, in his
>fallenness, is in a state of enmity and estrangement from God.  The
>Scriptures tell us that the desires of man's heart are wicked
>continually.  The Bible acknowledges that man has a will, but that
>will is "under the power" of sin and in "bondage" to sin."


>So, I believe that God's enabling takes the form of provinding us with
>the inclination.  This neither causes salvation, because our will must act
>on it, nor is it synonymous with God giving people to Christ.  God gives to
>Christ those who believe in resonse to His action in their life, drawing
>(enticing) them to Him.

>I hope this gives a decent explanation of where I am coming from.

>Mark

Mark,
	(...I hope you don't mind me entering in on this, but I expect
since this is a public discussion its as good as an invitiation :-)...)

	You have said that you agree with Sproul and Edwards when
they say that man needs the God-given "inclination" to beleive and
serve God, yet I suspect that where I am sure Sproul (if not Edwards)
would say that "inclination" comes from being born again, or regenerated,
by the Holy Spirit, you would disagree with them.  In support of the view
of faith arising after the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit I would
suggest the reading of Romans 7 and 8.  Here I believe is strong support
for the fact that the carnal man (i.e. unregenerate) cannot please God
(i.e. has no inclination) but only the Spiritual man (i.e. regenerate).
I believe this is quite clear when we try to follow Paul's line of
reasoning or train of thought in these passages.  Paul speaks of his
own struggle with sin, because his mind is on the things of the Spirit
but his body the things of the flesh.  (Hence the "that which I want to
do I do not do, and that which I do no want to do I do"... Johnson's
paraphrase :-))  He ends with the remark and question, "O wretched man
that I am, who will save me from this body of death?", and his answer
is that God will save Him through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Paul 
continues his answer, showing that there are two ways in which we
have hope of being "saved from this body of death".  First he shows
that through the Holy Spirit, our minds are set on the things of the
Spirit an of God, i.e. we are inclined towards the things that please God,
but for those in whom the Holy Spirit does not move and quicken, they
cannot please God for they are carnal.  Hence we see, as you would
probably agree, that it is only through the work of the Holy Spirit,
i.e. the enabling of God, that anyone can please God.  But does this
mean regeneration?  Well, Paul goes on to say that it is this same
Holy Spirit, and part of the same work of Him, that we able to cry
"Abba, Father", and who also makes intercession for us, and who also
is the firstfruits of that which is to come, the redemption of our bodies.
Now surely this applies only to believers and Christians, and hence
the regenerate?  In other words, that inclination to believe and do
other things that please God, comes from a Spiritual mindset, which
only one who is reborn has through the regenerating work of the 
Holy Spirit.  As for the view that that "inclination" can come 
through the Holy Spirit, but prior to regeneration, I know of no
scripture which speaks of that "inclination" to please God apart 
from that in a regenerate person.

	Well, I hope that's been helpful.  Sorry if the exposition
wasn't that good, but I don't have a Bible with me (it seems I never
do when I write these things :-))  Please feel free to ask about
anything I've said that's not perfectly clear to you.

	But now I've got to go, 'cos I'm gonna get kicked out of
the Labs!

					In Christ,
					Craig Johnson
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU