day no. 15,703: ashamed of what we can't help

“I felt ashamed."
"But of what? Psyche, they hadn't stripped you naked or anything?"
"No, no, Maia. Ashamed of looking like a mortal -- of being a mortal."
"But how could you help that?"
"Don't you think the things people are most ashamed of are things they can't help?”
― C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces

It is an error to assume that we can and should only be ashamed of those things which we had something to do with. On the one hand, if you are tall or short, white or black, young or old, you have nothing to be ashamed of. It is not a sin to be what you are in that regard. But on the other hand, if you are alive, you are a sinner by nature and by choice and for both of those you should feel shame if you are not in Christ.

We didn't choose our face, our age, our height, or our complexion and yet we can be ashamed of them as though we did. Though we know we had nothing to do with choosing them, we still can feel ashamed somehow that our unfashionable flaws have chosen us. And not being able to help it is no security against feeling embarrassed about it.

We ought to be ashamed of the flaws we have helped cause, but what about those we haven't? To be alive is not a sin, but to be alive is to be a sinner. To be a Son of Adam is not a sin, but to be a Son of Adam is to be a sinner. We are sinners by nature and by choice. But why should we be ashamed for something we had nothing to do with? Because we need to be saved not only from what we do, but from what we are.

"According to the Augustinian understanding, moral obligation is created by the Word of God. Morality is defined by the law of God. If Scripture says not to do something, then doing it is sin. Pretty straightforward.

But according to the Pelagian understanding, moral obligation is defined by our abilities. Put another way, there is no moral responsibility that can be assigned to inability. According to Pelagianism, sin is not sin unless it can actually be avoided. Sin is always a function of free choice, and hence cannot be grounded in our nature. There is no such thing as a constitutional or natural depravity.

The Augustinian answer to this, of course, is a raft of Bible verses. We are by nature objects of wrath (Eph. 2:3). Evil men make choices in accordance with their evil hearts (Matt. 12:35). We are slaves to sin (Rom. 6:17). We are dead in our trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1-2). We could make a much bigger pile of verses if you wanted.

What this means is that the Augustinians believe that the free offer of the gospel is presented as a way of saving us from what we are. We do of course receive forgiveness for the things we have done, but that is downstream. God does forgive us for the dirty water, but He also redeems us from having been a filthy font from which that dirty water came." -- Douglas Wilson, Emoting Like Pelagians