Did you ever hear the name Pelagius

Pelagius was a monk who argued with Augustine that men are not really "dead" spiritually, they retained he asserted, the capcity to choose God or not.

That argument ensued about 400 AD and it continues to this day. The end result for us modern Americans is that we that we still have to pick which side we are on: Agustine's or Pelagius'.

Dr. Michael Horton has an article which makes the choice quite clear. Choose Pelagius - you lose.

Augustine taught that human beings, because they are born in original sin, are incapable of saving themselves. Apart from God's grace, it is impossible for a person to obey or even to seek God. Representing the entire race, Adam sinned against God. This resulted in the total corruption of every human being since, so that our very wills are in bondage to our sinful condition. Only God's grace, which he bestows freely as he pleases upon his elect, is credited with the salvation of human beings.

On the other hand, Horton says this about Pelagius:

According to Pelagius, Adam was merely a bad example, not the father of our sinful condition-we are sinners because we sin-rather than vice versa. Consequently, of course, the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, was a good example. Salvation is a matter chiefly of following Christ instead of Adam, rather than being transferred from the condemnation and corruption of Adam's race and placed "in Christ," clothed in his righteousness and made alive by his gracious gift. What men and women need is moral direction, not a new birth; therefore, Pelagius saw salvation in purely naturalistic terms-the progress of human nature from sinful behavior to holy behavior, by following the example of Christ.

So, if we go along with Pelagius's belief that we are not really "dead" in our "trespasses and sins," as scripture states, then of course we can "choose" to believe - or not. Horton adds this about Pelagius:

In his Commentary on Romans, Pelagius thought of grace as God's revelation in the Old and New Testaments, which enlightens us and serves to promote our holiness by providing explicit instruction in godliness and many worthy examples to imitate. So human nature is not conceived in sin. After all, the will is not bound by the sinful condition and its affections; choices determine whether one will obey God, and thus be saved.

This is what Oprah believes. I think I believe what Augustine, Luther, etc., believed. If God doesn't change us we don't get changed.