Fallen Humanity

©Thomas Dolhanty

Overview:

• It is hard for a man to imagine that he is thoroughly evil and that his situation is quite hopeless. However, the law of God acts like a mirror so that a man or a woman may see his or her true reflection. The law was given to teach man of his sin (Romans 3:20), and even to make sin "utterly sinful" (Romans 7:13 NASB) so that it might be exposed.
• Many who are inclined towards religion imagine that they can satisfy the demands of God by observing God's commandments. Such was the "rich young ruler" and such are many Christians. The law of love, however, immediately exposes the true inclination of the heart.
• From beginning to end the judgment of Scripture is that the human heart is "desperately sick" and beyond recovery. the prophet Jeremiah refers to it as a "heart of stone". Only re-creation, which is an act of God, can redeem man. Because the human heart is utterly depraved, the true disciple learns to trust the Word of God - not his own judgments - and this is especially true in matters of religion.
• What happened in paradise? Just what did our first parents do to plunge the entire race into such a catastrophe? Understanding the sin of Adam and Eve, and its consequences, is crucial to understanding the state of the human heart.
• Human society began as an attempt to deny God and establish humanity as independent and accountable only to itself (Genesis 11:1-9). This is the great motivation of the world system, and it is the foundation and the driving force for all that the world conceives and all that it does. Thus, Scripture judges that "the whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (1John 5:19). One very important outcome of this is that we must not take human society or its institutions or its declarations as our norm.
• Motive is everything in the kingdom of God and it is a simple thing to test the condition of one's heart by examining one's motives. 'What are my desires?' 'In what is my delight?' 'What do I dream about, when I find time to dream?' 'What governs how I invest my time, treasure and talent?'

"... through the law comes knowledge of sin":

"Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." Romans 3:19-20

Perhaps it is not too surprising to learn that non-believers do not normally see themselves as sinners - at least not as utterly depraved sinners beyond all hope. Scripture, after all, does describe their condition in terms such as "blind", and "deaf", and "dead in trespasses and sins". in the sense of the Gospel, they just can't understand their position. What is astonishing, though, is that the typical modern North American Christian is just as fervent in his denial of the depravity and hopelessness of the human condition as the non-believer. Decade after decade of embracing a false Gospel and refusing to receive true teaching has served to suppress the truth of the Gospel in the very house which bears the name of Christ. Just as Israel of old had clung stubbornly to a form of Judaism, but robbed it of its vital truth, so the Christian Church of the 21st Century has abandoned the heart of the Gospel and embraced "another gospel" which is self-centred, and fully in harmony with the spirit of this age. To tell the typical modern Christian that all of humanity is utterly depraved and always "suppressing the truth" is to bring upon oneself real contempt. To explain to the modern Christian that it was Christ who saved him, and not his own faith, goodness, desire for God, or anything else is to earn a blank stare. To explain to this man or woman that even for those in Christ, the natural person battles against the Holy Spirit continually (Galatians 5:17) is to trigger an awkward moment in the conversation.

Below we will examine the Scriptural case against all human beings, but first let us examine a little more closely this universal tendency to deny the truth about ourselves - what the Scriptures call "suppressing the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18 NASB). As I've said elsewhere, if it weren't so tragic it would be comical how the most foul-mouthed, lustful, covetous, and ungodly non-believer is deeply offended should someone dare to suggest to him that he is an offense to God and worthy only of God's wrath. Even by the standard of an adulterous and perverse generation this man is not very nice, but he imagines that a holy and glorious God would be quite unjust to give him anything more than a slap on the wrist as a judgment on his life. The typical Christian of this age, moreover, cannot bear the thought that he is not quite superior to others and that by his own 'decision' and by his own 'faith' he has become acceptable to almighty God. Though he sort of agrees with the theory (or so he thinks) of salvation by grace alone, he utterly rejects the explanation that he was saved simply by a sovereign act of mercy by a holy and just God. He rejects the very idea that he was saved not when he was seeking God but when he was opposing God and fleeing from the truth (Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 2:1, 4-9), and that he was saved because God, for reasons known to Him alone, chose a company of people to whom He would show mercy (Ephesians 1:3-6). This, of course, is assuming that he is saved at all, which sadly is often not the case.

Anyone who doubts the strength of this inclination to deny guilt ought to go out on the streets of his or her town and begin to preach the Gospel to whomsoever should happen by - preach the real Gospel, that is and not the modern facsimile. The true Gospel begins with the law and the accountability of every human being to God. The real Gospel shows all men to be liars and thieves and murderers and idolaters, as the Apostle Paul shows in the first three chapters of the Letter to the Romans, and as the New Testament affirms everywhere. The real Gospel teaches that "He who has the Son has love" while all others will be cast into a place of eternal suffering. The modern corruption of the Gospel, of course, will not offend anyone, This is the foolish lie that teaches 'Jesus will fix all your problems if only you will just be kind to him and acknowledge him'. When one declares the truth of Scripture to this God-hating generation, and instructs men and women to either repent and believe or else face the wrath of God, then one will experience first-hand the commitment of the human heart to suppress the truth and promote the lie. Of course, if one preaches anything other than the true Gospel then one may gain a hearing, but the fruit of a false Gospel can only be a false conversion.

So, then, what exactly does the law of God say to all human beings? This is a very easy question to answer because the Lord Jesus Christ has gathered up the whole expectation of God into a very simple command. Here is the entire requirement of God's law:

"And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:35-40

This was the requirement for our first parents, and this is the requirement for all of their children. This is the law of the New Testament and it is the law of the Old Testament. The nation of Israel was singled out by God to receive the Word of God and to bring forth the Messiah, but this commandment to love God with all my being and to love my neighbour as myself applies to all men everywhere. What is more, this commandment is just as true today as it was for our first parents in paradise and for the nation of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai. God does not change. The laws of God do not change. The ten commandments, which are summed up in these two, will not change in even the slightest degree as long as the earth lasts (Matthew 5:18). If anyone is preaching a gospel that does not teach this, then they are preaching a lie and ought to be rejected. If anyone thinks that the New Testament has removed this requirement, then they are calling the Lord Jesus Christ a liar (Matthew 5:17-20), and they have not even begun to understand the Gospel. To love God with all my being, and to love my neighbour as I love myself is what God requires of me.

What do these commandments mean for me in a practical, day-to-day sense? One would think that the answer would be quite obvious but because the modern Church is so confused, we must consider just what it is that God expects of us in these commandments. Let us be clear, also that these are COMMANDMENTS - not suggestions. This is not some sort of 'bar' that is set for us to try to attain to. These are not ideals that we are to dream about, or directives for the most saintly only. This is what our Creator, and Lord and Judge commands of all men, and this is what He requires us to obey with perfect obedience (Matthew 5:48). We must not say 'I can't do that, and therefore it is not required', or 'No one does this, therefore God doesn't expect it', or 'God will accept my best effort', or ' Everything is different in the New Testament'. We are speaking of the law of God here, and this is the law of God. Moreover, God's law requires perfect obedience. To fail anywhere is to fail utterly. False preachers may have changed the message, but the Word of God does not change.

It is ever so important that I do not begin with my ability - or my perceived ability - to keep the law of God when we begin to consider God's requirements. To confess to God that I am not able - not even inclined - to obey His commands, is simply to confess my depravity. It is, in fact, the beginning of true salvation. After years of great anguish and terror and fear of God and wrestling to become acceptable to Him, Martin Luther had finally to confess that the more he tried, the more he fell short of doing the thing that God requires. It is a confession of the depravity of the human soul. It is, in the end, what the law accomplishes in the hearts of lost humanity - to show men and women just how wicked they are. But do not commit the error of so many and say that "I cannot do this, therefore God does not require it." That is just to confuse my depravity with God's holy requirement. Say, rather I:

"...know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin" (Romans 7:14).

When we ask how we are to interpret the commandment "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.", the simple answer is to look at the life of Jesus Christ. Here is a man who obeyed this command as God requires it to be obeyed. We are not, of course, expected to show forth the power that the Lord Christ showed, nor to exercise the ministry that belonged only to Him. We are, though, expected to love God just as Jesus of Nazareth loved God - with our entire beings. We are to love our neighbour as Christ loved all and laid down His life for His friends. This is the ancient command of God for all mankind. It is just as alive and just as applicable today as it ever was.

Thus Jesus tells us in His great Sermon on the Mount that we are to "seek first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33). 'First' over what, we might ask? The answer is made clear by the context - first over everything, including food and clothing and shelter (Matthew 6:19-34). To do anything else, taught Jesus, is to attempt to serve two masters, and that is not possible (Matthew 6:24). One will always end up loving one master and hating the other. When we look at this one application of the great commandment, we see that God, and service to God, is to have precedence over my career plans, my retirement plans, my marriage plans, and even my own self-preservation (Matthew 16:25-26). My life no longer belongs to me - actually it never did! My love for God calls me to put His interests and the interests of His kingdom above my own always. This is not some radical version of Christianity. This is what is taught everywhere as the meaning of loving God with my whole being.

Is this what we observe, then, as the norm for the modern Christian? To ask the question is to answer it, isn't it? Of course there is the perennial game of seeking my own life and then attempting to prove that this is really what God wants for me. It is really quite silly, and only the most shallow observer believes any of it. What the typical Christian does, rather, is to pursue his own interests in exactly the same way the world does - to seek his own interests everywhere and in everything - and then to 'carve off a bit of the take' for the Lord. Whether it is a "tithe", or attendance at Sunday service, or helping out with Church activities, or avoiding drinking alcohol in public bars, or whatever - the typical modern Christian often feels very good about himself if he breaks off a little of his time, talent and treasure to 'give to God'. Very often, even in this, he does less than people of other religions.

It would be untrue to say of this man that he has "fallen from his first love", because he has NEVER loved God as God has commanded. He loves himself and he loves the present world, and, amazingly, he has been taught that God is there to serve him in this self-love and his love of this world. We could go on and on. This man does not weep over lost sould. Indeed, often he does not even believe that they are lost, because he does not believe in the judgment of God even though it is taught in Scripture everywhere. Nor does he give much thought to the glory of God or the honour of God or the interests of the kingdom of God. Rather, he is human-centred, and a creature of his age. And he feels very safe, because he is a little better than some others who profess Christ, and most others who don't.

When we ask whether this man at least loves his neighbour as himself, we also find the question begs the answer. To love my neighbour as myself is surely to consider his interests as if they were my interests. It is to identify with my neighbours pain and loss, and to undertake for him in the same way that I would undertake for myself. It is to rejoice in my neighbour's triumphs and victories as if they were my own, rather than to feel envy or jealousy or loss when my neighbour is blessed or excels in some area. Again, if we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, or if we look at the Apostle Paul, we begin to understand the meaning of this teaching. It is said of Christ that he was "poor while making others rich". This is also true of the Apostle Paul and countless other true disciples. Can this be said of the modern believer? Has he denied himself for the sake of his neighbour?

When we apply the great commandment of the law to the non-believer, of course, we expose just how irrational the human soul is in its wicked defiance of God. Here is one who denies the very existence of God. Here is one who has never thanked God for his life, or the blessings of his life, or even acknowledged his Creator! He imagines that he is good - or at least not too bad - and yet he acts as if he is completely independent of the God who gave him life, and who sustains him every minute of every day of his existence. He is quite impressed with himself if he does some kindness towards his fellow human beings. In fact, he sees this as proof that he is really quite good, and God should be rather impressed with him. He does not ever seem to grasp the point that the very "good" that he does is his most wicked rebellion, because he has attempted, like our first parents, to establish goodness as something separate from obedience to God in whom all goodness dwells. He has, in fact, like our first parents, set himself up as God, and made himself the judge of what is right and wrong, darkness and light, good and evil. He is an enemy of God.

It is not difficult to see my own depravity. It is really quite a straightforward matter to grasp the wickedness of the human heart. It simply requires that I consider - honestly - the law of God, and measure my own life by this standard. Any other standard is meaningless as a measure of my acceptability to God. Whoever judges himself by God's standard will have to confess that "in me dwells no good thing" (Romans 7:18). I find that I am an expert at suppressing the truth and obfuscating the true picture of my own heart, but I am completely unable - in fact unwilling - to obey the commandment of God. I am, in fact, a "slave to sin" (Romans 6:17). We are speaking here of the natural man, and not the "new man in Christ Jesus". We are speaking of the non-believer and the false Christian. We are speaking of what the law of God reveals about the human heart. The law of God reveals depravity in the human heart which is so wicked that it actually uses even the law itself to magnify its evil (Romans 7:8-14).

The law of love:

"And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth." And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." Mark 10:17-22

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." Matthew 6:24

Even though the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ on the meaning of the commandments of God is eloquently simple, still the human heart resists it and human reason seeks to corrupt the meaning of it. We are inclined to deny that this is really what God requires, or else to imagine that we are fulfilling the law in every aspect. For this reason we must linger over this discussion of the great commandment a bit longer. Let us remind ourselves once again just what it is that Jesus is teaching us.

The nation of Israel was set apart by God to show forth the goodness and the glory of God to the world, and to call the world back to God. The whole calling of this people was a calling to enter into a love relationship with the God who had delivered them from slavery, and then to act as ambassadors for the love of God to all mankind:

"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth." Deuteronomy 7:6

"and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." Genesis 22:18

"I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations, To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the dungeon And those who dwell in darkness from the prison." Isaiah 42:6-7

"Out of all the people who are on the face of the earth" Israel was to be God's "treasured possession". This is the language of love. It is a call to a relationship of love - a call to marriage, if you like. Marriage between God and His people, in fact, is one of the chief metaphors used by the writers of Scripture in describing God's relationship with His people. Indeed, this call was the call to the whole human race, but it was rejected by our first parents in the rebellion. In the calling of Israel, God gave His people the ten commandments of the law on mount Sinai, just after He delivered them out of their Egyptian slavery. The call of the people of God was not the external observance of a set of commandments, but rather the commandments were as a guideline or a standard for a fallen people to understand what it is to love God. Love for God begins with obedience to His commandments. Of course, God knew that fallen humanity could not keep His commandments, but it was necessary for the people to know the nature of God's calling and to learn of their utter inability to attain unto holiness. Coming to grips with just how fallen they were, would lead Israel to understand that only God Himself could deliver His people. This was the great realization of the prophet Isaiah when he had a glimpse of the holiness of God (Isaiah 6:1-5).

The people of Israel, however, utterly perverted the purpose of the law of God. Rather than entering into a loving relationship with the God who had saved them and blessed them, they interpreted the law of God as a set of religious observances, and they taught that fulfilling these external observances of the law was the whole duty of man to his Creator. Rather than honestly confessing that the could not keep God's law and needed a Saviour, they reduced the call to love God to a list of 'do's' and 'don'ts'. It was from beginning to end a matter of external observance of a set of rules. What was critical - what is always critical - was the attitude of the heart. And in their hearts, the people of Israel loved themselves, and they loved the world - and they loved sin. It is the relentless inclination of the human heart which does not desire true holiness, but desires what the eye can see and the hand can touch and what pleases the eye.

The "rich young ruler" who came to Jesus personifies the sin of the nation of Israel. He genuinely wanted the blessing of God. He believed that there was such a thing as eternal life, and he desired this eternal life greatly. Moreover, when confronted with the holiness and the goodness of the Lord Christ, this rich young man knew that he had not yet gotten the real thing. He knew that he was still lacking, and he wanted to receive what Jesus obviously had to give. Jesus looked directly into the man's heart and perceived that this young man laboured under the delusion of his race. He thought that the external observance of the law was the whole calling of God. It appears quite certain from the dialogue that his man genuinely believed that he was fulfilling the whole calling of God - that he was keeping the law of God and that he had done so from his youth.

Having established through the application of the law of God (Mark 10:19-20) where this man placed his confidence, Jesus then spoke the words which would reveal his true heart in an instant:

"... You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Mark 10:21b

How wonderful are the words of Jesus Christ! "No one ever spoke like this man" (John 7:46). For anyone who loved God, this was an invitation too marvellous to comprehend. The Messiah of God, for whom the nation had longed generation after generation was inviting this young man to personal discipleship. He had invited others, and they had dropped whatever it was that they were engaged in, and had followed that call (Mark 1:17-20, 2:14), and they would follow it - joyfully - to their death. It was the call to ancient Israel to walk in loving relationship with their God, and it was the most wonderful privilege that a true Israelite could imagine - to join the company of the Messiah. Down through the ages countless men and women would answer this call, and would joyfully throw their entire being into fulfilling its demands.

Sadly, however, this young man did not really love God. This young ruler loved his wealth and he loved the things of this world, which is just to say that he loved his own life more than he loved God. From all observance he was an upright and religious man. He certainly thought so himself. He was a good Jew, he was a good Baptist, he was a good Anglican, a good Pentecostal, a good Methodist. But his real master was money. His real master was love for the things of this life rather than love for the things of the kingdom of God. His father Abraham had left everything in this world to seek the "city with foundations whose maker and builder is God" (Hebrews 11:10), but this man was not willing to part with the treasures of this life. He wanted both this world and the blessing of God, and he thought he had both. With just a simple invitation, however, Jesus showed this man, as he has shown so many others down through the ages, that you cannot serve two masters.

Like this rich young ruler, the modern Christian is determined to have this world, and the treasures of heaven too. He is determined to seek the things of the world, think the thoughts of the world, and yet walk in the favour of God. The Lord Christ has taught ever so clearly that this is not possible, but still the modern Christian thinks he can do it, and his teachers reassure him that this is all that God requires, and that it is only the religious fanatic who teaches Christians to "sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Mark 10:21b. Let us end this section by hearing once again what God has commanded:

"...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 22:37-40

and what He meant by this:

"Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:25-27

the judgment of Scripture on the human condition:

"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." Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." Romans 3:10-20

By simply looking into the law of God, we ought to see ourselves ever so clearly, and the reflection that we see ought to horrify us. Just as Jesus exposed the heart of the rich young ruler, our hearts ought to be revealed by the law. But the human heart is very deceptive and is not ever to be trusted. We have just shown how the nation of Israel was utterly deceived concerning the nature of the commandment and of the calling of God. Sadly, we see exactly the same deception in the modern Church. Indeed, we have seen exactly the same deception throughout the entire Church age, beginning with the very Church of the Apostles themselves. Thus, the Galatians, the Romans, and other Apostolic Churches had to be rebuked and corrected again and again concerning the true calling of God to His holy people. And should anyone doubt, the risen Lord Himself made the matter ever so clear in the first three chapters of the Revelation.

If we do not see our own evil in the light of the law, then, we should at least hear the Holy Spirit describe to us what the condition of the human heart really is. From the very moment of the fall in paradise we see the picture of a sinful human heart in Scripture. The irrational attempt of our first parents to hide from God is the very essence of what we are like. Just as Cain slew Abel, we all wish to murder and destroy that which we perceive to be against our own interests - or even that which we perceive to expose our own evil (1John 3:12). Just as the entire world became hopelessly corrupt before the flood, we are inclined to every kind of perversion and lust and covetousness and idolatry and murder, both individually and as a society. This will sound far too harsh and critical to many, but this is exactly the judgment of Scripture. To understand this we must understand the true meaning of the commandments of God.

In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord taught us the true meaning of the commandments, and there we learn that murder is not just a matter of physically killing someone, nor is adultery just a matter of improper physical relationship, nor is idolatry just a matter of worshipping rocks and sticks. These are but external expression of what is in the heart, and what is in our heart is exactly what the Apostle quotes above from the Old Testament record. We are deceivers, adulterers, murderers, and God-haters. Lest anyone should doubt, the Lord Jesus Christ spelled it out very clearly:

"For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone." Matthew 15:19-20

This is a true description of any and all who are not "a new creature in Christ Jesus" (2Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). That, of course includes all non-believers, and it also includes all false professors - those who profess to love God but who really love their life in this world. Moreover, if anyone IS in Christ, then that person will be one who has denied his own life and follows after Christ. There are many, many who claim to be in Christ - who think they are in Christ - but who, sadly, are in exactly the same place as the rich young ruler. True disciples are those in whom "death works" (2Corinthians 4:12) in order that the life of Christ might be expressed.

From beginning to end after the fall of our first parents Scripture has one judgment on the human heart - evil beyond repair. In a sense, the Bible is really a book about the re-creation of a company of human beings known only to God and chosen before the foundation of the world, and chosen because of nothing good in the individuals themselves. It is the account of an astonishing act of love and forgiveness by God who took on human flesh, died in the place of His elect, and Who will bring all of those ones home to Himself. It is also the cosmic tragedy of a race which has doomed itself to the judgment of eternal suffering by rebellion against all that is good and holy, and which only awaits the final declaration of that judgment.

Murder appears in the very first children of the man and woman who were created in the image of God and who were created to be rulers over creation under the lordship of God. Before very long sin had become so dominant that God destroyed all life on the earth except for a small remnant preserved to carry on after the flood. Like a disease which is incurable and unstoppable, sin has dogged every phase of human history, and only the repeated intervention of God and the restraining influence of His Spirit has kept the race from destroying itself many times over. The record of the Bible, and, indeed, the record of human history is just this:

"The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9.

One important consequence of the condition of the human heart is that the true disciple, as he matures, learns not to trust himself. Rather, he learns more and more to trust the Word of God and to submit his understanding to the Scriptures. The false believer and the immature Christian tend to 'force' Scripture to say what they really believe. When George Muller was challenged again and again to read Scripture honestly and objectively to see what it said regarding the sovereignty of God he finally agreed to do so. What he found shocked and amazed him. He found that for years and years up to that time he had read his own bias into the Scriptures and utterly missed the clear and undeniable teaching of the Bible on this topic. From that time on he learned, like Jonathan Edwards before him, that he should "by no means trust himself". This ought to be the stance of all who consider themselves mature in the faith. Oh that it were only so!

the nature of the fall - how did this happen?

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'" The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden." Genesis 3:1-8

There is much about the rebellion and fall of our first parents which is cloaked in mystery. Why did God allow evil into His creation at all? How could Adam and Eve have made such an irrational and wrong decision? Even though we are always inclined towards evil, that was not true of them. They were innocent and had no such inclination. One thing is clear though - their action was the immediate ruin of the entire race. Cut off from relationship with God, every part of man's nature was corrupted, and every part of his being was affected. Instead of faith and trust in God he began to trust his own very limited and now flawed reason; instead of truth and light he was inclined to 'every evil imagination'; instead of worshipping the One person worthy of his worship, he worshipped creation and creatures and gods of his own invention. He died spiritually, he is dying physically, and the real terror is that death eternal awaits him. What was it, really, that brought about such catastrophic results?

To begin with, we must understand that it pleased God to make Adam the representative for the entire human race. Adam's action for good or for evil would be undertaken on behalf of all his progeny. This is clearly taught in Romans 5:12-18 and elsewhere. We must understand in all of this that what Adam did, we would have done - in fact, in a real sense, we DID do. As Jonathan Edwards has explained, it is as if the entire human race - every member from first to last - were alive at one time and collectively made the decision to rebel against the commandment of God. But what, exactly, was this rebellion? To help us answer this question let us consider an observation by the Scottish theologian John Murray:

“In ethics the ultimate question is, What has God commanded?, not What is the most expedient?, nor, What, according to the nature of things, is the good or the best?  And the ultimate test of our loyalty is preparedness to obey simply and solely because God has commanded.  When man fails here it intimates the bankruptcy of moral character.” John Murray, “Collected Writings of John Murray”, Vol 2, pg70

In other words, the moment that Eve began to evaluate the Word of God, she had entered into rebellion against her loving and holy Creator and Lord. When she began to weigh God's Word against the word of Satan, she was lost. What God had commanded was that the man and woman should believe Him and trust in His goodness because He is God. No other being has the right to demand this of a person, but God most certainly does, and, indeed, to do anything else is not reasonable. Adam and Eve knew God personally and they knew the commandment of God very clearly. There was no doubt there. What they were commanded to do was to place their love and trust in God their Maker and Lord rather than putting their trust in their own reason or in the input of their own physical senses. They were to obey God out of love and trust. To trust human reason and human judgment and human goodness above the omniscience and goodness and holiness of almighty God is not rational, and it could only end in disaster.

Once Adam and Eve rebelled, as we have said, death immediately began its work. They were cut off from relationship with God, and left to the wiles of their own reason and their own imagination. On this tragic note the sad history of humanity began - a history of inventing an entire 'parallel universe' to replace the truth. Rather than faith in God, there is human reason; rather than creation, there is the "big bang"; rather than a moral universe governed by God there is random chance and mechanistic nihilism; rather than a loving Creator forming man in His own image for personal fellowship, humans are said to "evolve" from the primordial slime. From the very beginning, after the fall, the race set out to build an entire world order that would oppose the truth of their origins, their destiny, and their accountability to God who gave them life. And of course, in all this the race serves the purposes of the "god of this world" by whom it is blinded (2Coriinthians 4:4), and to whom it is enslaved (Romans 6:20).

We tend to measure good and evil by the standards of corrupted humanity and through the eyes of our flawed reason. We are inclined to say that the judgment of God does not fit the crime. Of course to say this is first of all to impugn God's goodness and His justice, and secondly it is to assume that we are even capable of weighing the seriousness of that attempt to usurp God's rule, and place ourselves on His throne. Make no mistake about it, that is exactly what Adam and Eve attempted to do, and it is exactly what their progeny attempt to do when they refuse to recognize and honour God and when they refuse to obey Him from a heart of love. When, however, the very best of our race have gotten just a glimpse of God -as we have seen with Job, and the prophet Isaiah, and the Apostle John - all such evil chatter evaporates immediately. When God rises to judge the earth, no man or woman will doubt his or her guilt before a holy and just and good God. Then, of course, it will be too late to appeal to God for mercy through Jesus Christ.

The ongoing rebellion of the human race

"Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision." Psalms 2:1-4

"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17

"For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness," and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." 1 Corinthians 3:19-20

"In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Corinthians 4:4

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith." 1 John 5:4

"We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one." 1 John 5:19

Because the modern Church has so compromised with the world, and because of the pervasive wrong teaching concerning the nature of the Gospel and the nature of sin, many who profess Christ have difficulty seeing the world as the enemy of Christ and the Gospel. Instead, they separate the world into good and bad and they judge the 'bad' of the world as their enemy and the 'good' of the world as their friend. This is completely wrong and completely opposite to the teaching of Scripture and it causes great confusion in the Church. The few passages of Scripture quoted above represent the position of the Bible from beginning to end on the nature of the world system. Just as the individual human heart is ruled by sin so that the natural man is a "slave to sin", so also, speaking collectively, humanity is wholly given to sin, and therefore is opposed to God in all that it conceives, and all that it does. The "whole world" is a virulent enemy of God and of the kingdom of God and of the people of God. The implications of this truth are profound and set the Christian at odds with the world in a manner that is radically different than most professors of Christianity would ever believe.

To illustrate the point, let us consider just one aspect of the world system - education. We sometimes think of education of the masses as a more or less modern phenomenon, but that is only true in the narrower sense. In the larger sense, education is as old as the human race itself. Parents have always taught their children what they have learned about life, and elders have always instructed the community about truth as they understood it. What is different in the modern setting is the global agreement on what the content of teaching should be, and the thoroughly organized teaching of the individual from infancy to adulthood. The development and deployment of the modern education system is surely one of the wonders of the modern world. The classroom is one of the most remarkable successes of the global village.

Education is, of course, good and necessary. To learn and to understand the world around us is one of the highest callings of the human race. Wherever the Gospel has gone, education has flourished. Education, however, under the control of fallen humanity becomes one more 'weapon' in the war against God and against truth in the ultimate sense. Modern education teaches the child from infancy that there is no such thing as God, that the universe resulted from some sort of mechanistic event called the "big bang", and that all things are governed by random chance. They are taught that they are animals, different only in degree - not in nature - from all the other animals. Thus, ultimately there is no such thing as absolute good, or evil, or even purpose. And there certainly is no such thing as a Creator or a Lord of life to whom all are accountable. Men and women are in the ultimate sense nothing other than an arrangement of molecules as a result of random chance. The great majority of the people of the world are taught these truths in a most organized and inclusive fashion and insistent fashion so that there are whole nations in which there is hardly a person which has not been so taught this antichrist system from early childhood to adulthood.

When we examine a bit more closely this insane premise that is so universally propagated, we find that, as always, it is based on a perversion of truth. Sin cannot produce anything of its own, but it must begin with that which God has given which it then perverts to lead men away from the light. Thus it is not surprising that education has typically originated in the Church and for the purpose of teaching men and women the ways of God. God's faithfulness is seen in all of His creation, and He has made the knowledge of this faithfulness accessible to the children of men. Thus we discover that all of creation is founded upon principles that are observable and predictable. Science codifies these observations as the "laws of science". The entire system of civilization is built on the gradual identification and codification of God's faithfulness in His creation. What is astonishing is that this very body of knowledge is used by the sinful human heart to deny God and exalt humanity.

True science, as with all truth, always points us to God and instructs us about His nature (Romans 1:19-20). God uses His creation to teach us about His glory and to help us to understand both Him and ourselves. Modern science, though, has 'stolen' the truths of nature to construct an elaborate and completely untenable lie concerning creation and the Creator. It has completely violated all of the laws of reason at key points in its argument but has used the "laws" of nature, and the truths revealed to mankind to mask these departures from right reason. It is the work of a race of beings who will do anything and everything to deny God and to deny that it is accountable to God. Thus, the modern education system, which is truly global in reach, is a prime weapon in the hands of a world which is determined to blot out all knowledge of God. Christians who dare to point this out are demonised as obscurantist and anti-intellectual.

Just as we must go back to the early chapters of Genesis to understand the origin and character of sin in the individual, we must also look there to grasp the true character of a world system which is governed by Satan - "the god of this world". After the original creation was destroyed by the flood because of human depravity, a new generation was raised up on the earth through Noah. It was not long, however, before the men of this new generation began to organize themselves into a community which would oppose the knowledge of God. Scripture gives us a vivid account of this activity in Genesis 11 - an account which helps us to understand the primary motivating drive behind the whole human enterprise:

"Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth." Genesis 11:1-9

The people set out to "make a name for ourselves" by setting up a civilization which was not centred on the true God, but on a god of their own making. They also sought to frustrate God's command to inhabit the earth. Instead they planned to gather their strength and establish themselves as an entity separate from the God who had created them and who sustains all life. The Lord intervened in this early rebellion of human society and forced men to separate from one another and to carry out his intentions, but the motivating principle of mankind to form a human society which is independent of God and which obliterates the name of God has never diminished. Many Christians believe that the modern "global village" is the realization of that ambition which mankind has cherished since those early days of the plains of Shinar and at the tower of Babel. In a very real way, modern men once again all "speak the same language" and the human race has surely established its religion as anti-God and anti-Christ. Exaltation of humanity is once again the world religion.

A very important consequence of the fact that "the whole world lies in the power of the evil one" is that the disciple of Christ must not trust human institutions or human reasoning as the norm for what is right and wrong, true and false, good and evil. Modern Christians have too often accepted the theories of modern science as truth, the morals of modern society as right, and the institutions of modern society such as education and justice and news media as the correct paradigm. This is completely at odds with the view of Scripture, and with the attitude of the primitive Church. It is a radical and frightening thing to set oneself at odds with one's society - especially when the Church of the time has adopted the norms of the world. But to do anything other is to risk one's very place in the kingdom of God. Anyone who has ears to hear should give all attention to the warning:

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:4

Testing my own heart:

"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out." Romans 7:18

"And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians" 5:24

As a believer matures in Christ he becomes more and more astonished at just how evil and how deceitful his heart really is. He is like Isaiah who blurted out "Woe is me" when he finally understood what true holiness is, or like the Apostle Paul who found that "nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh". There are those who profess to believe, and no doubt many who are true believers, who teach a kind of perfection for the mature Christian, but the Word of God and experience tell a different story. I am fully persuaded, along with the great teachers of the faith, that Christian maturity does not mean that one is being perfected "in the flesh", but rather that one is more and more unwilling to trust self at all. The truly mature Christian is one who learns more and more to dwell in Christ, and to distrust his own natural inclinations - and especially his own natural religious inclinations which are the most deceptive of all. He is one who submits his reason to the Scriptures and who seeks counsel from his brethren, and who spends much time before God in order that he might "crucify the flesh". His focus is Christ and his faith is in the Word of God - not in his own religious inclinations.

For the non-believer, the state of the human heart is obvious even if he or she will not receive the truth. To deny that Scripture is the Word of God, to refuse to recognize and honour the Lord God and Creator and Judge, to refuse to receive from God the salvation He provides in Christ Jesus - each of these, in themselves are heinous sins. As we have said, the non-believer is blind and resists with all his resources the knowledge of God, and the state of his own heart, and his accountability to God. There is no chance to show this man or woman the true state of their heart unless the Holy Spirit should graciously awake them from their deadly slumber. It is right to pray for the non-believer that God will so wake him or her, and to present the Gospel to this individual whenever possible - "in season and out of season". Only the miracle of re-creation can bring light.

For the one who professes Christ and confesses the Scriptures to be the Word of God, however, it is a simple matter to test the validity of that confession. In our last section - "Discipleship - 'You will know the tree by the fruit'" - we will discuss the fruit of true conversion in more detail. But let us consider here a simple test of the state of our hearts. First though, that there be no confusion about the difference in a true believer, and all others let us state simply what the difference is. A true believer is one who is quite literally a 'new creation in Christ Jesus" (2Corinthians 5:17). This is a person who still retains his or her natural self while in the body, but this 'natural man' has been dethroned as it were and replaced by the "new man"' which is "in Christ Jesus". In his very essence - in her very heart - the born again believer has new desires and a new focus. By his nature he "hungers and thirsts for righteousness", he "hears the Word of God" and he longs to be with Christ. These things are possible - in the real sense - only for one who is "a new creation in Christ Jesus".

The false believer, on the other hand, is not Christ-centred, but is self-centred. The whole focus of his religion is self, and the great hope that he cherishes is that he will become acceptable to God by the things that he does and by the person that he is. This does not mean that he is "selfish" in the world's way of using this term. Not at all! Often he is an outstanding philanthropist, or a very devote religious person, or a very kind or gentle person. In fact he may "speak with the tongues of men and angels", "have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge", and "have all faith so as to remove mountains" (1Corinthians 13:1-2). This person may be truly outstanding in giving to others and serving others. He may, in fact, "give all his possessions to feed the poor" (1Corinthians 13:3). This person may even be a martyr for his religion (1Corinthians 13:3). But there is one thing that he does not have. HE DOES NOT LOVE GOD, AND HE DOES NOT LOVE HIS NEIGHBOUR AS HIMSELF. Therefore, the ultimate centre of his religion is himself. He has set out to make himself holy, and he has rejected the teaching of the Word of God. Whatever he does he does from religious motives - not from love.

In the kingdom of God, motive is everything. The rich young man may have satisfied what he considered to be all the religious requirements of a son of Abraham, but he missed the very heart of the matter - he did not love God, and, in fact, he did not really love his fellow man either. When Jesus sent His message to the Church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7 NASB) one is struck by the very high commendation this Church received because of its faithful service and perseverance in the faith. And yet this very Church was sternly rebuked, and was in danger of being removed because "you have left the love you had at first" (Revelation 2:4 NASB). It is love for Christ which will always result in love for others that is the fruit of a true disciple. Doing good is not enough. In fact as we have seen, even giving all your possessions to the poor, or becoming a martyr cannot take the place of love. And those who truly love God do not parcel out a 'tithe' of their belongings, fulfil a few religious obligations, and then consider that they have satisfied all their religious obligations. Those who love Jesus Christ long to be with Him, and look for His coming, and conform their life to his commandments that they may please Him, and order every decision of their life according to their love for Him.

It has been said that there are many people who want to go to heaven, and many who are working hard to get there - they just don't want God to be there. To love God is to desire Jesus Christ above all else. It is to count everything as if it were nothing compared to the joy of being "found in Christ". It is to ask myself day by day and especially in every large decision, 'What does God wish?', 'What are the interests of the kingdom of God?', 'Which decision - which action - will be of the greatest benefit to the kingdom of God?'. From this love for God, also, will come a love for my fellow man whereby I will "forgive others as I am forgiven". It will be a love which can be described as follows:

"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

True love denies self - embraces death to self. This is only possible for the person who abides in Christ, and the only ones who thus abide are those who Christ has given new life to by His Spirit. Let us not measure our place in Christ then by some list of 'dos' and 'donts'. That is human religion. That is the religion of self. Rather let us measure ourselves by the law of love. If we fail there let us understand that we are not yet showing the fruit of salvation, and let us pursue God and pour over the Word of God until we are found in Christ loving God with our whole being.