Patch Blakey
The U.S. Naval
Academy in
In
an
effort to prepare them morally, mentally, and physically, the Plebes
are
frequently exposed to rigorous physical exercise (with due concern
being
provided that it's not overly demanding for the level of humidity).
This training
often occurs just before noon meal formation when the Plebes are
expected to
look their best for visitors and for inspecting officers.
At
noon
meal formations, the midshipmen may be inspected by a Marine Major,
with a
crisply pressed uniform, closely shaven head, and penetrating,
unsympathetic
eyes, without the slightest hint of moisture on his person. Conversely,
the
Plebes, at rigid attention, would, like the Wicked Witch of the West,
look to
all the world as though they were melting in a pool of their own sweat.
And
then the Major would chance upon some hapless Plebe and, with a
piercing gaze,
ask, "Are you sweating?" The fearful Plebe would croak back with as
much chutzpah as he could muster, "YES, SIR!" To which the Major would
respond, "Well . . . knock it off! That's an order!"
To
many
Christians, this is the same kind of absurdity that they imagine when
someone
suggests that God commands men to repent and believe, but that men are
unable
to do so in and of themselves. "How can God hold men responsible for
something that they do not have the ability to do?" they ask. This,
they
assert, would make God out to be unfair or unjust; a sadist who
delights in
watching men try to do the impossible. And because such a god does not
coincide
with their imagination, he could not be God, Who would "never"
require men to do something that they can't.
I
would
readily agree with them that God is no sadist. However, is it true that
the
Bible teaches that God never requires men to do what they are unable to
do? Or
another way of stating it, are men responsible for what God has
ordained them
to be? Let's look at some examples.
In
2 Samuel
24:1, it reads, "And again the anger
of the Lord was kindled against
So
even
though it was God who moved David to give the order, God still
held
David responsible.
God
had
ordained for Jesus to be put to death by ungodly men at the instigation
of the
Jews, "Him, being delivered by the
determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by
wicked
hands have crucified and slain" (Acts 2:23). Yet God held those
same
Jews responsible for their evil deed: "Therefore
let all the house of
God
commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). But the Scriptures
teach
that it is impossible for men to repent in their state of sinfulness: "Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God" (
Since
the
Scriptures demonstrate that God does hold men responsible for
their
actions despite their inability, then the Church needs to re-evaluate
its
position on this issue. The Bible testifies that salvation "is
not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that
shows mercy. . . . Therefore he has mercy on whom he will have mercy,
and whom
he will he hardens" (Rom. 9:15, 18). Yet someone is bound to ask,
"How can God hold men responsible for their inability since no one can
resist His will?" "Nay but, O
man, who are you that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say
to him that
formed it, `Why have you made me thus?'" (Rom. 9:20).
God
is not
on trial before us. Rather it is we who are ever under the scrutiny of
a
righteous and holy God, our Creator, Who is far more demanding
and just
than any Marine Major conducting a noon meal inspection of Plebes at
the
De
Credenda Agenda http://www.credenda.org/issues/10-2doctrine101.php