- What is your only comfort in life and in death?
- What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?
- How do you come to know your misery?
- What does God’s law require of us?
- Can you live up to all this perfectly?
- Did God create people so wicked and perverse?
- Then where does this corrupt human nature come from?
But are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil?
1. Yes.
- [Genesis 6:5 NIV] 5 The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
- [Genesis 8:21 NIV] 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
- [Job 14:4 NIV] 4 Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
- [Isaiah 53:6 NIV] 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
2. Unless we are born again by the Spirit of God.
- [John 3:3-5 NIV] 3 Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." 4 "How can someone be born when they are old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!" 5 Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
I have a problem with the declaration
But are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined toward all evil?
All around the world love is expressed between two people. It is very real, though fallen and a shadow, it still exists. Many a book and film have pointed out the real issue. We believe ourselves innocent, only doing evil because of circumstance, but we imagine given the ideal situation we would actually be loving kind individuals.
So though we do good things they are tainted or destroyed in our lives by the evil and unresolved sin that dwells in our lives. Sin wars with us to give up, to let our impulses and inclinations take over, and dominate.
Jesus opens the door to this world, by stating even in ones lost state reaching out and giving to Gods people will not be ignored.
41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward.
42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward
Matt 10:41-42
The parable of the good samaritan, is God declaring a samaritan, an enemy of God, can still show the example of love to another, an Israelite.
The nature of mans corruption is face to face rebellion. As Isaiah found
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Isa 6:5
Face to face we cannot cope with God as sinners, we would rise up and rebel and be destroyed. It is just like the parable of the wedding feast, if we are not prepared, we will not stand. If you knew you had to survive under water for 10 minutes, but had no breathing equipment, you will not.
Equally when we are filled with the Holy Spirit we are purified, made Holy, whether we acknowledge it or not. For us not to be Holy, cleansed and purified, what is the point of repentance, confession and accepting forgiveness through the cross? If we are not purified, then how are our children deemed holy, worthy of grace and heaven?
This Holiness, works its way through us, our history, our behaviour patterns, our justifications, our standing, our hurts, our ability to respond in love or attack. So these words are spoken
14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil
Heb 5:14
God provides the cleansing, we provide the training and the walk.