I want to continue to speak to what the natural state of all men is so that no one can boast about their own righteousness or goodness before God.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
We may become self-righteous because we have not acted upon our sinful desires; we may deceive ourselves into thinking that because we can hold back that we are righteous, but in reality it is God’s restraining hand that keeps us from being and doing all the evil that is in our hearts. In God’s mercy he doesn’t allow us always to act upon every evil impulse or we would all be imprisoned for our crimes against humanity.
“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)
While this passage is speaking about the way of mankind before the flood, Jesus said:
“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot–they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26-29)
We are in that generation that Jesus talked about. When compared to God’s righteous, holy standard, we truly are living in times when “the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
“The generations of mankind on the earth did not begin until after the fall. The beginning of the posterity of our first parents was after the fall. For all their posterity, by ordinary generation, are partakers of the fall, and of the corruption of nature that followed from it.” (Jonathan Edwards “The History of Redemption”)
“The generations of mankind on the earth did not begin until after the fall. The beginning of the posterity of our first parents was after the fall. For all their posterity, by ordinary generation, are partakers of the fall, and of the corruption of nature that followed from it.” (Jonathan Edwards “The History of Redemption”)
The universal state of human kind can also be summed up in these words from the prophet Isaiah as he talked about the coming Messiah:
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6)
No one, either Jew or Gentile is free from this judgement:
“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “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.” ‘Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ ‘Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.’, ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’” (Romans 3:9-18)
“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “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.” ‘Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.’ ‘The venom of asps is under their lips.’ ‘Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.’, ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’” (Romans 3:9-18)
You will notice that most of this passage is quoting other passages of Scripture some of those references are: Psalms 14:1-3, 53:1-3, 53:1-6 and14:1-7, with some slight variations.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23)
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23)
Every person who has ever lived since the time of Adam has sinned against God except one; Jesus Christ. We all were dead in our sins (most still are) and none of us could do, or even wanted to do anything that would free us from the bondage of sin that we were under. We loved our sin and hated God. We were totally dead to the things of God and were spiritually dead, “…having no hope and without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:12
Tags: Bible, Calvinism, Christianity, Election, God, Gospel, Jesus, Predestination, Religion
