Apart from Christ, man is in a state of sin, and is a resident citizen of the Kingdom of Darkness: But wait, there’s more… People in general, and sadder yet, many pastors and Christians do not approve of making such direct, unequivocal, unbiased, straightforward, naked assessment of mans depravity - mans lostness – his inescapable enslavement and bondage to sin, his bowing of the knee to the irresistible influence of satanic power over his life, and his danger of facing the wrath of God. In today’s church, many ministers place a premium on positivity. Church leaders and many average Christians believe that more than anything else the world simply needs encouragement; believers in churches are taught that they must reaffirm, uplift, hug, and assure people of their value. I am fully aware that many Christians will find my comments pessimistic and morbid, perhaps insulting and antagonistic. No doubt many will consider my comments unloving and uncompassionate. Many will find such an evaluation of man to be hateful and will dismiss it as unjustifiably “judgmental.” Say what you will about my statements - reject them whole-cloth if you choose. Nonetheless, they remain undeniably 100% biblical. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul wrote: And you…were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Among other things, in Ephesians 2:1-3, Paul is speaking of what is “inherent” in all men; in other words an anti-God, anti-Christ, wicked spiritual disposition is not acquired. We don’t “become” those that walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air and ultimately down the road become children of wrath. No. This is man’s inborn predisposition, his nature. Man has an aversion to that which is good and an inclination toward that which is evil – so says God (Genesis 6:5, 8:21, Psalm 14:1-4, Romans 3:9-19). The good news is, as I wrote in the opening of this post: “there is more.” But before going further, I must stress that the dismal state of unsaved men is exactly as I wrote. There is no way to minimize or sweep aside the condemning indictment of unsaved man that we find in the Word of God. Nevertheless, if the Apostle Paul, me, or anyone else were to cite only the section of Ephesians 2:1-3 that I posted above and went no further along in the text, it would be a great disservice to God and man. Leading into Paul’s withering charge of man’s egregious spiritual crimes against God, Paul begins by first writing - “…you hath he [God] quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins…” (Ephesians 1:3). In other words, Paul starts off reminding us that God has “quickened us.” which means He gave us life – eternal life – by rescuing us from a condition of spiritual death, induced by our living in trespasses and sins against God (Ephesians 1:3). Restated, while we were in a full blown spiritual rebellion against God, worthy of His judgment upon us, where there seemed to be no way, God Himself made a way – a way of escape for us and saved us from our sin and spiritual death (which is alienation from the very life of God - eternal separation from Him - Matthew 7:21-23, Ephesians 4:18). Paul further expands on the great thing God has done for us by declaring: “…God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:4-9). Now, all of this leads to a very crucial question, the answer to which is vital to lay hold of. The crucial question is: Why must any Pastor or Christian in general have to mention man’s sinfulness, his satanically energized inherently evil nature and the certain inescapable wrath of God upon such sinfulness (Romans 2:5-9, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 6:9, Revelation 21:8). Instead of spending any time focusing on all that sin and judgment stuff, why not simply stress and focus on God’s love and goodness and mercy and forgiveness. Here is the vital answer to that “seemingly” loving way of thinking: By plainly and without apology laying out the case against man for his sinfulness and making known the eternally devastating consequences for our sin, we thereby showcase the greatness, the spender, the wonder, the majesty of God’s lovingly gracious redemptive work on our behalf through the sacrificial atoning work of Christ Jesus on the cross of Calvary. In unhesitatingly bringing men into a face to face confrontation with their sin and the penalty for that sin; by inviting men to gaze upon and weigh the depth of their wretchedness and the justifiable penalty for it, we thereby invite all men to consider, to comprehend the urgent need to respond in faith to God’s powerful and glorious offer of salvation, whereby men escape sin and death and become immediate possessors of the very life of God – literally become His beloved, redeemed, adopted child. The ultimate point is this: It is by openly, publicly highlighting, and unashamedly affirming the wickedness of all men and their deserved eternal condemnation that we thereby magnify the Lord God’s love and goodness and mercy; aiding all men to come to the fullest realization that there is no escape if they willingly turn aside, or willfully reject “so great [an offer] of salvation” (Hebrews 2:3). We do no man good, and in fact incur guilt and responsibility ourselves, if we aid men to cover their naked sinfulness with the fig leaves of self-deception – the Word of God says that among men there is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:10) – that means not even partially good! And worse yet - all efforts, intended or otherwise, that lead men to minimize, to turn a proverbial blind eye to their sinfulness strikes a direct and offensive blow at the power of Christ’s shed blood on the cross of Calvary. No man will be held unaccountable that diminishes the urgent need for all men to run to the cross to receive - free of charge - instant and eternal cleansing from the saving, healing, delivering shed blood of the Lamb of God. So my friend, I urge you with all my heart to reject the idea that you or any man is inherently good and is only in need of encouragement - which ironically comes to you from nothing other than a fellow fallen human being, one no less in need of the redemptive work of the cross of Calvary in their own life and is powerless to aid you or themselves by mere words of encouragement. Friends, we do not need encouragement to accept ourselves as we are – that will not help one bit in the end. What we need is encouragement to transform who and what we are - and that is a supernatural work that only the power of God offers and does provide to all that come to Him through Christ in faith (Ephesians 2:1-3, Ephesians 2:4-9, 2 Corinthians 5:17). It is only by coming to Christ in faith that we are transformed, we supernaturally become the very righteousness of God and become partakers of His Divine nature – you can do that right this very moment by calling upon God from the heart in the most earnest way that you know how. For there is no script written by which man can experience the salvation of God other than by trusting from their innermost being in the guidance provided in Scriptures such as Acts 2:21, Acts 22:16, and Romans 10:9-13 - “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). I close this out by simply pointing out that the above paragraph is “the more” I exhorted you to wait for at the beginning of this! P.S. - prayerfully, everyone reading this understands that I know and accept the fact that encouraging and hugging and telling people you love them is not wrong. It is a good thing. However, I am stressing that encouraging, hugging, and telling people you love them means nothing if neither you or they are born again - that is mans primary and ultimate need. We go forward with all the rest from there!
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 17:44:59 +0000