Inability and Accountability
"Can a ... leopard change his spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
" - Jeremiah 13:23
There are a number of professing Christians who have actually been taught that God would never require us to do anything we are incapable of doing. But does not the whole Bible teach that we are required to obey the Law? Yet not one person, save Jesus, can perfectly obey the law? In fact, Paul declares that the purpose of the Divine legislation was not to show our moral ability, but to reveal sin i.e.. our utter inability and impotence to obey the law (see Rom 3:19, 20). Further, there was nothing that obligated God to send His Son to redeem us. He could have justly required the fallen human race to obey the Law and left us to ourselves to try ... and then He could have swept us all away in judgment when each of us failed to do so.
That people are accountable to do things they are incapable of doing is also evident in every day life. Consider those who borrow large sums of money from the bank and then lose it all through some foolish act. Their inability to repay the bank in no way alleviates them from the responsibility to do so. If the Arminian makes the charge that inability alleviates responsibility, then it follows that once I squandered the money away then I am no longer responsible to repay it. That I am off the hook. But we all know this is not the case. Likewise, in Adam, we all owe a sin-debt that we cannot repay. The Arminian reasons that we are therefore no longer responsible for it if we can do nothing about it.
Visitor: 4-point Calvinists like Bruce Ware affirm 'multiple intentions' for the atonement, all shared symmetrically within the Trinity. The Father employs election and preterition, the Son atones generally and redeems particularly, and the Spirit calls both effectually and non-effectually (or something to that effect). No disharmony in that economy.
Brothers and sisters, let's acknowledge reality: we are no longer on a slippery slope. We have already hit bottom and the edifices of the new order are already being erected there. But do not fret - it is not the end ... far from it. The gospel can flourish in any and all environments. In fact, that "plant" we call the gospel does best in the harshest of conditions. I have seen it with my own eyes. I lived in a communist country for 10 years where atheism was the official religion and Christianity suppressed, yet, in the midst of it, I witnessed one of the greatest revivals in history. Remember Paul, when in prison, said, "I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained." (2 Tim 2:9) And after saying this the gospel spread wildly through the then known world for the next 300 years under great persecution, tribulation and hardships. So do not view current events necessarily as evil things which make one lose hope. On the contrary view them as that which gives you hope and joy because you know it is carried out by the sovereign LORD, for the purposes of advancing His kingdom, though in ways out of the sight of man. God's power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9)
Did you ever notice that the persons who love to claim that Christians are out to quash everyone's freedom; and want to oppress everyone, are the same persons who have so strenuously and forcefully fought to have a monopoly on what our children learn in public schools? i.e.. to push their views of sexuality and the origin of humanity as the only ones allowed to be taught, etc The irony should not be missed.
Subvert: to undermine the power and authority of (an established system or institution).
I was reading Challies blog yesterday and came across his 
by John Hendryx