Human infants are some of the
most helpless creatures in the world. They have no survival
instincts other than hunger and the ability to suckle their mother's
breast if placed upon it. Yet they are born with certain
innate traits and concepts which show the work of the law written
in their hearts. It does not take long for these
traits to make themselves known, even as the psalmist said, the
wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon
as they be born, speaking lies. The Lord created mankind in an
upright but fallible state which was susceptible to the leanings
of their nature and in keeping with his ordained purpose. In
order to fulfill the purpose of God in manifesting the glory
of His grace in the redemption of His elect bride, it was according
to that purpose for man to act according to this corruptible
nature, disobeying the clear commandment of God as the woman
was deceived by the serpent and the man knowingly embraced that
which was forbidden to him. Thus sin entered into the world,
and death by sin was passed on to all of Adam's race, as the
justice and judgment of God against sin was demonstrated. Men sin
because they are sinners, both by choice and by nature. Thus
it comes as no surprise that we discover in them many preconceived
notions and errors of judgment which are consistent with a corrupted
state of mind and an inability to comprehend spiritual truth,
as Paul points out to the Corinthians. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. So we might say that sin began
as a small seed which has flourished in the fertile ground of man's
wicked imaginations, and his innate corruption is manifested
in those traits which are contrary to the law of God. The principle,
that is, the law, of sin and death rules in and over men by
nature. Some think that sin is a set
of activities which a man might choose to avoid, and much teaching
is done to either instruct men in how to shun various sins or
to strike fear in them about the coming judgment, so that
they might steer clear of this or that activity in order to
keep themselves from such a sad fate. The truth of the matter
is that sin is a condition of the natural man which is manifested
by the very principles which form the basis of his understanding. These principles are in men from
their birth and do manifest themselves in time. They are the principle
of self-will, which shows itself in the self-centered thought
process of men. When Adam sinned, he did so because
he desired to choose that which benefited him, as far as he could
tell with his limited understanding. He desired to be the God. Every
man knows what it is to love himself. Self-pity is the epitome
of self-love. Out of this very trait of self-will
arises practically all of the other manifestations of sin which
are discovered in the sons of Adam. Number two is the principle
of free will. By nature, man considers that
he can control his destiny and by his own power and ability
choose to do whatever he decides to do. By nature, men believe
that they can both seek out God and discover Him according to
their natural understanding. Most so-called preaching today
is geared towards this notion. Number three, the principle of
fairness. I am not sure at what age a young
child first recognizes something as not being fair, but it happens
quite early. Being the father of four sons,
I heard it quite often. I have never observed a young
child objecting to some advantage they might have over their siblings,
or arguing for fairness to be exhibited to others at their
own expense, but they readily recognize what they perceive
as their own disadvantage. This forms the very basis of
man's natural rebellion against the sovereign right of God to
create one vessel unto honor and another to dishonor as it
pleases Him. And lastly, the principle of
relative righteousness. We see this manifested quite
readily as men look on in disgust at the heinous crimes which are
committed by others, yet seldom do we hear men lament their own
wickedness with the same disgust. Suppose ye that these are greater
sinners, I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at 4the4 at windstream dot net.