day no. 14,932: inability limits obligation

Doug Wilson recently pointed out that the Pelagian impulse is to cry, "inability limits obligation."

In other words, if I had no choice in the matter, I can't be held accountable for my actions. I can only be held accountable for things over which I had free choice. You can't sentence me or judge me guilty for impulses over which I had no say.

I want to do sinful things, but I didn't choose to want to do sinful things. I never remember making a conscious decision to be a sinner, I just wanted to sin and saw sin as attractive. It was always the case. I have no responsibility, therefore, for the way I feel. And if I cannot be held responsible for how I feel, then why should I prohibited from acting upon my feelings? If the feelings can't be counted as wrong, then how can the actions that flow from those feelings be any less wrong?

This sounds right in way... right? But only in a way. And that being a way in which we have all been trained and led astray. We collectively, impulsively see the unfairness of it and relate to the plea-bargainer's reply, "How can I be fined for regulations I had no ability to obey? How can I rightly be held accountable for feelings I didn't ask to feel?"

But this is where the divergence between Augustinian Christianity and Pelagian Christiahhhh....ehhhhh.....errrrrr....nity is most obvious.

Scripture has already pronounced that we are born in Adam. We have a genetic marker that compels us to follow his example and sin. We are sinful because we are sinners, not the other way around. We are not counted sinful because of our sins, we can count our sins so easily because we are sinners and are so good at what we do, you can count on it.

We are commanded by God to die to ourselves. We are commanded to go against our impulses. We are not given vague impulses as excuses for disobeying clear commands. We know what we are to do and how we are commanded to feel about our feelings. You can appeal to thine own self staying true, but it will not hold up in God's court. He has gone on record as to what He requires and what He condemns. If you find yourself, by nature, feeling attracted to things He has declared abominations or feeling repulsed by things He has declared attractive, the problem lies in you and your obligation in response to them is to forsake your feelings and follow Christ.

Because we are all born into Adam, each one of us must die to ourselves on some points and go against our natural inclinations if we are to follow Jesus. No one follows Jesus and feels warm fuzzies about His commands without being regenerated from our old nature into a new nature provided by God.