A very clarifying post

http://www.kencollins.com/speedbump-02.htm

“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” is why we quote this passage in the first place, to show that all are sinners in need of Christ. However, have you noticed that it does not say, “All have inherited Adam’s sin and are in a status of sin, even if they haven’t done anything bad in their lives”? Under St. Augustine’s influence, that is what we think this says. Maybe it is even true, but that is not what Paul says. He says, “all have sinned.” In other words, we have all actively and deliberately made sinful choices. We can’t weasel out of this one at all. We have to accept some responsibility for our lives. Does this mean that little babies have deliberately committed sins? On the basis of this passage, we don’t know whether Paul would answer that question ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ We can derive nothing about the spiritual status of infants from this passage, because Paul isn’t writing to infants. They are not his audience.

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This does not mean that everyone is already saved. It says justified, not saved. The word “justified” simply means that Jesus made it possible for them to choose salvation. It means, in effect, that Jesus has purchased tickets to heaven and has graciously pressed one into the hand of each and every human being. Everyone is predestined to go to heaven. Predestination is not the same as predetermination. For example, if you go down to the bus station, you will notice that all the busses have signs on the front indicating their destination. If you see a bus with a sign that says “New York City,” you could say that the bus is predestined to go to New York City, because its destination has been set in advance. It does not follow, however, that all busses that are marked New York City actually get there.

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All the early church fathers except St. Augustine disagreed with Calvin’s ideas about free will and predestination. For example, Irenaeus (the disciple of Polycarp, who was the disciple of the Apostle John), wrote an extensive essay on how we have free will.