Sin as a Tool to Bestow Mercy or the Result of Mans Free...

Sin as a Tool to Bestow Mercy or the Result of Mans Free Will in Turning Away from God Is sin and its consequential hardening of heart used as a tool through which God bestows mercy, or is it solely the result of mans free will in turning away from God? To fully understand the import of this question, we must first examine its language, and define hardening of heart and free will. For the purpose of this discussion, spiritual hardening of heart is the souls inability to receive the grace of God. Thus a human is led into more and more sin, as it lacks the grace necessary to resist sin or, at times, recognize the wrongdoing as such. To the same end, free will can be defined as the ability to choose between good and evil†¦show more content†¦While God may not have caused the initial sins, he is responsible for subsequent ones because they are the direct result of the removal of his grace. At another point in the letter (Rom 5.12-21) Paul speaks of the law, the Ten Commandments, and how as a result of such law sin itself increased because it could now be counted a gainst a standard. However, in Pauls view, this was part of Gods plan, so that through this accounting he could overflow his grace and mercy all the more. He cites that from the time of Adam, the first sin, through the time of Moses, death and hardness of heart reigned even over those who did not sin, because of the lack of law. But the addition of the law, and consequently a greater amount of sin, into the world, was the vehicle for the outpouring of Gods grace, especially through the sacrifice of Jesus. The law entered in so that transgression might increase but, where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace might also reign through justification for eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 5.20). The most pertinent example Paul provides is his concern with the unfaithfulness of the Jews. (Rom. 9.1-ff) Their lack of belief greatly sorrows him, because he views them as the chosen people of God,Show MoreRelatedThe Case Of Spousal Murder10772 Words   |  44 Pagesprisoner to transportation meant that the prisoner had to be held in goal (in most cases) until a ship was available and then transferred to port, a process that could be cost prohibitive. Further, while criminal procedure in early modern Britain may, from a distance, seem to be uniform in legal procedures, studies of individual counties show this to not be the case. It is not the intent of this chapter to reproduce studies that focus on the vagaries of English law and its application, but to look broadlyRead MoreSda Manual Essay101191 Words   |  405 Pagesindicated, all Bible texts are from the King James Version. Scripture quotations marked NASB are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright  © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Texts credited to NEB are from The New English Bible.  © The Delegates of the Oxford University Press and the Syndics of the Cambridge U niversity Press 1961, 1970. Reprinted by permission. Texts credited to NIV are from the Holy Bible, New InternationalRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 Pagescolloquial conjunction demonstrative English enclitic especially extensional suffix Hausa inflectional suffix interjection interrogative literally noun numeral proper name preposition pronoun possessive pronoun quantifier usually verb Yoruba derived from Igbo Dictionary: KayWilliamson. Draft of Edition II Editor’s Preface The present Igbo dictionary is a much revised and expanded version of the Igbo dictionary published by Kay Williamson, Ethiope Press, Benin City in 1972. Professor Williamson