The True Problem (Part One of Three)

“The world has gone nuts,” you say. “Yes and no,” I would reply, it has always been nuts. I want to discuss sin with you. I am not trying to be a “downer,” in fact, I want to be the champion of good news. The news is good because it answers the bad. Consider this, and the saints are all agreed, sin is our condition, not just our behavior. It is our home, not simply our actions. Our world is telling us that people are good, but institutions are evil. In contrast, the Bible teaches us that both are corrupt. This is why checks and balances of power are important in government. The condition of sin is fundamentally true of us all and provides a critical understanding of ourselves before God as we live in this world. We are depraved. The essence of that depravity is the lost moral image of God. We lost His image because our covenant relationship with Him is broken (see garden of Eden). We are disposed to rebellion against Him and His ways which leads to bondage. We, like the Hebrew children, end up in Egypt as slaves. Our taskmasters are described with words or phrases like: pride, indulgences (addictions), greed, wrath, envy, self-righteousness, unforgiveness, unrestrained sexual impulses, or just simple ole power, just to name a few. And honestly, we willingly embrace them. Or at best, we subconsciously obey them. They drive us and control us; even our good deeds are tainted by them. This creates a world for each of us that I would compare to living in deep mud; at times fun, but largely a picture of drudgery and mess. How shall we ever be free? The answer is not within us, it is with God in the person of Christ. It is called resurrection. 

In my next blog, I will explain the insufficient human answer.

Barry

See Romans 1-7