Luther’s teaching: men are completely
hopeless, helpless, corrupt and
depraved and can accomplish no good thing in and of
ourselves;
as a consequence of original sin, was totally depraved,
destitute
of free will, that all works, even though directed
towards the good,
were nothing more than an outgrowth of his corrupted will,
and in
the judgments of God in reality mortal sins. God
“imputes”
justification which is not the eradication of original
sin but a
juridical state as snow covers dung.
Biblical argument:
Romans
5: 15-18 But the gift
is not like the transgression. For if by
that one person's transgression the many died, how much
more
did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one
person Jesus
Christ overflow for the many. And the gift is not like the
result of
the one person's sinning. For after one sin there was the
judgment
that brought condemnation; but the gift, after
many transgressions,
brought acquittal. For if, by the transgression of one
person, death
came to reign through that one, how much more will those
who
receive the abundance of grace and of the gift
of justification
come to reign in life through the one person Jesus Christ.
In
conclusion, just as through one transgression
condemnation came
upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal
and life came to all.