Questions Answered in This Article
What does the Bible say about knowing ourselves?
The Bible teaches that true wisdom comes from knowing ourselves as sinners in need of Christ's salvation.
Additionally, understanding ourselves as poor, miserable, and lost apart from Christ prompts a humble response. We must recognize that our own righteousness cannot save us, as depicted in Isaiah 64:6, which states that all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags. It is within this context of self-knowledge that we can truly appreciate the wisdom of God and our necessity to embrace Jesus fully and willingly accept His salvation.
How do we know that the doctrine of total depravity is true?
Total depravity is affirmed in Scripture, showing that all humanity is inherently sinful and in need of divine grace.
Moreover, the awareness of our total depravity leads to true wisdom, wherein we recognize our need for Jesus Christ as our only hope for salvation. According to Ephesians 2:1-3, we were dead in our trespasses and sins, indicating that spiritual death precludes any movement toward God without His grace. Therefore, the doctrine of total depravity points us to the grace that is necessary for spiritual awakening and regeneration.
Why is knowing our sinfulness important for Christians?
Knowing our sinfulness is crucial for Christians as it drives us to Christ for salvation and humble dependence.
Such an awareness transforms our perspective on life and faith. It fosters a spirit of repentance and gratitude, as we grasp the magnitude of what Christ has done for us. In knowing our total depravity, we are reminded that we cannot earn our favor with God, and therefore, we turn to Jesus who is made to us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). This results in a lifestyle that continually seeks to grow closer to God, acknowledging his mercies each day.
But perhaps you despise riches and pleasure, and therefore place wisdom in the knowledge of books: but it is possible for you to tell the numbers of the stars, and call them all by their names, and yet be mere fools; learned men are not always wise; nay, our common learning, so much cried up, makes men only so many accomplished fools; to keep you therefore no longer in suspense, and withal to humble you, I will send you to a heathen to school, to learn what true wisdom is: ‘Know thyself', was a saying of one of the wise men of Greece; this is certainly true wisdom, and this is that wisdom spoken of in the text, and which Jesus Christ is made to all elect sinners — they are made to know themselves, so as not to think more highly of themselves than they ought to think. Before, they were darkness; now, they are light in the Lord; and in that light they see their own darkness; they now bewail themselves as fallen creatures by nature, dead in trespasses and sins, sons and heirs of hell, and children of wrath; they now see that all their righteousnesses are but as filthy rags; that there is no health in their souls; that they are poor and miserable, blind and naked; and that there is no name given under heaven, whereby they can be saved, but that of Jesus Christ. They see the necessity of closing with a Savior, and behold the wisdom of God in appointing him to be a Savior; they are also made willing to accept of salvation upon our Lord's own terms, and receive him as their all in all; thus Christ is made to them wisdom.
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