So, while that sounds like an interesting theory (mutability), it is nothing but speculation.
Mutability in Adam's case was for the good or the bad.
After Adam, the only mutability of his progeny is for
more or less bad,
yet bad always,
unless God first acts making it such that his progeny are now mutable for the good, as was Adam in his original estate.
If the unbeliever possesses the ability to not sin, then
perfectionism is a warranted expectation. Such a perfecting expectation was possessed only by Adam for an indeterminate time. He failed to demonstrate it. Had Adam done so, he and his offspring would have been granted eternal and glorified life. Such was the essence of the covenant between Adam and God—do
this and
live.
Theories are just suppositions seeking to explain something based upon generalizations. In our case, the facts overrule the suppositions with the particulars. None of Adam's ordinary progeny are able to
not sin, unless God graciously acts first, quickening them from this dire state of affairs.
Of course we have the ability to choose.
Who has denied such a thing? :idunno: I think this business of
the ability to choose gets used without much careful consideration of exactly what is meant by
choosing. It is often teed up at the Calvinist, who many think deny man's ability to choose. Being one of those Calvinists, and
speaking for all of them, let me make it clear that all men are created with the ability to choose—our very
liberty of spontaneity.
The
choices we make are self-determined by our
inclinations, else we would never choose or be but randomized automatons, indifferent to all we have chosen. Scripture is clear,
the unbeliever's inclinations are wholly at enmity with God. In plain words,
all unbelievers hate God. Given their state of being
in Adam from birth, unbelievers cannot choose such that their choices are for the ultimate reason to glorify God. If they could, they would be like us,
believers, born anew with hearts of stone replaced by hearts of flesh by God's gracious initiative (
monergism), penultimate to
our choosing to believe (
synergism), and well on their way to their glory. Instead, the unbeliever is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, from which proceeds all actual transgressions. The sins of the unbeliever serve to confirm their state of affairs and the righteous judgment of God.
When it comes to our eternal destinies, we need to step back from the notion that we are basically
good persons, that we all possess some "
seed" of goodness that enables us to choose wisely. If this were the case, then those that choose wrongly can be pointed to with disdain, for after all, we did other than they did, all things being equal.
Those poor fools.
If only they were like us, for we made something of what was given us. These notions are part and parcel the views of Rome that have been smuggled into Protestant traditions.
"
Oh, it is sad that Jim passed away. He was such a good person." Yet, Jim never called upon the name of the Lord to be saved. Sure, he gave to charity, walked old ladies across the road, loved his family, provided for them, too, a veritable pillar of the community. Yet, in the final analysis, he
hated the One who made him, else he would have obeyed Him (John 15:15; Rom. 10:13).
Now a
legalist reads this backwards: “
You will keep my commandments if you love me.” In other words, we must
prove our love for God by doing what He commands. Apparently, commandment-keeping is our
duty, a
condition we must meet if we are to enjoy His love. But someone who is walking in grace reads it just as Jesus said it. Our Lord understands that keeping His commands is a by-product of our love for Him, incorporating our desire to glorify Him in all that we think, do, or say (1 Cor. 10:31).
We are not just like Adam. He was made by God to be the best representative of all mankind. God elected Adam—by a vote of Three Persons, if you will pardon the metaphor—to stand in for all of us. Can we honestly say that we could have elected a better representative than God (see the Politics section of this site)? :AMR1: Indeed, Adam possessed all the moral equipment to fulfill his duty to his Maker. God made Adam with the ability to choose the good or the evil. God even condescended to Adam, speaking to him directly and telling him exactly what he must do. Yet, this man, Adam, failed to maintain his original estate.
The image of God in which Adam was originally made is not the image possessed by His progeny. That original image has been
corrupted. No amount of self-oiling and maintenance can fix it. Only He who made that image can restore it as it was originally intended. Once God so firstly acts to restore that image, those with this restorative image will choose the right thing.
If a person wants to be saved, he will be saved. None can claim that
want without first having been acted upon by God. A person may think and even sincerely believe that their want rose up within themselves, for they believe they possessed some "
seed" of goodness giving them that autonomy. I argue and maintain that this
want was the work of God alone in His regenerating the person
first. They chose wisely
second. Why? Their
inclinations became for the good after their regeneration, hence they chose accordingly. Furthermore, this
want was not some lengthy wooing and pleading by God. After all, if a person is inclined for the good, they will do the good. That they did not do so means they really were not
that inclined, for some other greater inclination took them in another direction. All of which to say is that when God regenerates a person, the person's choosing to believe
immediately follows, for that is the greatest inclination when they so chose.
AMR