Hello Ruth,<br><br>I took nothing out of context at all. There is no contradiction with Eph 2 or Ps 51. <br><br>Fact: Paul said that he WAS alive WITHOUT the law. AFTER that the commandment came and THEN he died. Was Paul born with a sin nature (Ps 51)? Absolutely. But God does not impute sin without law. And until Paul KNEW the law and KNEW he was guilty before God, God did not impute sin to him. Paul became ALIVE again when he trusted Jesus Christ as his Saviour (Eph 2).<br><br>There is a contradiction with Calvinism, though, and that is what you rightly perceive.