Our contemporary culture runs after many pragmatic endeavors to gain the things of the world. We run after finances, sports, fashion, power, possessions, status, and pleasure. With the abundance of freedom in our country we are able to pursue the things of the world with abandon. More often we pursue the desires of our hearts without too much aforethought to our actions. We simply follow the ways of the world and our natural inclinations.
The freedom we have most often leads us to pursue self-centered goals. This comes from a faith that we are basically good people and that pursuing our interests is a good activity. But as we do the analysis on our freedom and our essential nature, we have to admit that we are not fundamentally good people. We do not have a good nature in our natural selves. But many people believe we are essentially good because we seem to be good on average, as we compare ourselves to vile offenders and see that basically, most people are good. But how can we explain it when we sin? How can we understand ourselves when we really blow it, when we make obvious mistakes?
It's clear that our faith can be biased and distorted to ourselves. We don't see ourselves for the most part as being sinners. But when we turn to the Bible we must read it as it is, for it indeed declares that all people are not good and that the truth of the matter is that we are sinful. We do not just make mistakes sometimes, we are sinners by nature. This is what it means to be full of sin, to be sinful. And it is clear that we do not want to admit that we are sinners. We prefer to be good people and to be accepted by each other, even to be esteemed by each other. Even more, we seek to be loved and respected, and admired by each other.
From a biased view of being basically good people, we have a biased view of the Bible. Beginning with an assumption of our goodness we see the doctrine of sin from a distorted view. We can either believe that it doesn't mean we are really all that bad and therefore it doesn't really teach that we are totally depraved. Or we believe that no matter how sinful we are, for the sake of grace, we should emphasize the positive and focus on the love of God instead of the condemnation of sin. Our faith becomes biased upon the belief that the more gracious we are the more gracious we will become. And before long the central teaching of the Bible becomes the gospel of grace without an affirmation of needing grace. We lose the gospel however if we forget our need for grace is due to our sinfulness, or we choose however deliberately to overlook our sinfulness.
The Bible to the contrary needs to be understood from a truth basis instead of a faith foundation. We need to acknowledge the truth of our sinful condition to understand the truth of Scripture. We must confess that we are sinful and that our every natural inclination is to deny or reinterpret ourselves and thus the Bible. Our natural faith is that we are not sinful. The truth of our sinfulness needs to be proclaimed however and this is not a bias or a deception, it is reality, and it is the truth we see in everyday life. And this is what we also see in Rom. 3:10-12 as it states, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” When we accept this foundational truth we then can begin to acknowledge all other truths in Scripture.
As we study the Bible from the truth that we are sinful, (that I am a sinful person and God is not sinful, that indeed God is holy and without sin), then we can begin to see the importance of truth in the Word. We can see the priority of a truth-based faith instead of a faith-based truth. We can recognize more and more our subjective perspectives and distortions and that we naturally seek to twist the Bible to a sinful man-centered basis. With a commitment to the truth of the holiness of God, and thus the sinfulness of man, we can change and grow Spiritually by truth. This sanctification in truth is our calling, and it is necessary to grow in the image of Christ to be a follower of Christ.
If we are left to ourselves we will not believe that we are all that bad, or that we are sinful. But we must humbly accept our total depravity and see it is true that we need Christ completely. The manifestation of our own sinfulness is just one way that we can see the truth of God in the world. We need this objective truth to understand the truth of Scripture and to understand the grace of Christ. Amen, it is true.
The freedom we have most often leads us to pursue self-centered goals. This comes from a faith that we are basically good people and that pursuing our interests is a good activity. But as we do the analysis on our freedom and our essential nature, we have to admit that we are not fundamentally good people. We do not have a good nature in our natural selves. But many people believe we are essentially good because we seem to be good on average, as we compare ourselves to vile offenders and see that basically, most people are good. But how can we explain it when we sin? How can we understand ourselves when we really blow it, when we make obvious mistakes?
It's clear that our faith can be biased and distorted to ourselves. We don't see ourselves for the most part as being sinners. But when we turn to the Bible we must read it as it is, for it indeed declares that all people are not good and that the truth of the matter is that we are sinful. We do not just make mistakes sometimes, we are sinners by nature. This is what it means to be full of sin, to be sinful. And it is clear that we do not want to admit that we are sinners. We prefer to be good people and to be accepted by each other, even to be esteemed by each other. Even more, we seek to be loved and respected, and admired by each other.
From a biased view of being basically good people, we have a biased view of the Bible. Beginning with an assumption of our goodness we see the doctrine of sin from a distorted view. We can either believe that it doesn't mean we are really all that bad and therefore it doesn't really teach that we are totally depraved. Or we believe that no matter how sinful we are, for the sake of grace, we should emphasize the positive and focus on the love of God instead of the condemnation of sin. Our faith becomes biased upon the belief that the more gracious we are the more gracious we will become. And before long the central teaching of the Bible becomes the gospel of grace without an affirmation of needing grace. We lose the gospel however if we forget our need for grace is due to our sinfulness, or we choose however deliberately to overlook our sinfulness.
The Bible to the contrary needs to be understood from a truth basis instead of a faith foundation. We need to acknowledge the truth of our sinful condition to understand the truth of Scripture. We must confess that we are sinful and that our every natural inclination is to deny or reinterpret ourselves and thus the Bible. Our natural faith is that we are not sinful. The truth of our sinfulness needs to be proclaimed however and this is not a bias or a deception, it is reality, and it is the truth we see in everyday life. And this is what we also see in Rom. 3:10-12 as it states, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” When we accept this foundational truth we then can begin to acknowledge all other truths in Scripture.
As we study the Bible from the truth that we are sinful, (that I am a sinful person and God is not sinful, that indeed God is holy and without sin), then we can begin to see the importance of truth in the Word. We can see the priority of a truth-based faith instead of a faith-based truth. We can recognize more and more our subjective perspectives and distortions and that we naturally seek to twist the Bible to a sinful man-centered basis. With a commitment to the truth of the holiness of God, and thus the sinfulness of man, we can change and grow Spiritually by truth. This sanctification in truth is our calling, and it is necessary to grow in the image of Christ to be a follower of Christ.
If we are left to ourselves we will not believe that we are all that bad, or that we are sinful. But we must humbly accept our total depravity and see it is true that we need Christ completely. The manifestation of our own sinfulness is just one way that we can see the truth of God in the world. We need this objective truth to understand the truth of Scripture and to understand the grace of Christ. Amen, it is true.
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