#760 1689 Confession Fall of Mankind Part 2

6:4 All actual transgressions arise from this first corruption. By it we are thoroughly biased against, and disabled and antagonistic towards all that is good, and we are completely inclined toward all that is evil.

14But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. 15Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. 16Do not be deceived, my beloved  brothers.… James 1: 14-16

But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. 20These are what defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile him.”… Matthew 15: 18-20

6The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s Law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God.… Romans 8: 6-8

20and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross. 21Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds because of your evil deeds. 22But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—… Colossians 1: 20-22

6:5 During this life, this corruption of nature remains in those who are regenerated. Even though it is pardoned and put to death through Christ, yet both this corruption of nature and all actions arising from it are truly and actually sin. 

17In that case, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh; for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do.… 

…20And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21So this is the principle I have discovered: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.…

23But I see another law at work in my body, warring against the law of my mind and holding me captive to the law of sin that dwells within me. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.…Romans 7: 17-25

19Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers in a city. 20Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. 21Do not pay attention to every word that is spoken, or you may hear your servant cursing you.… Ecclesiastes 7: 19-21

7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.… 1 John 1: 7-9

16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to one another, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.… Galatians 5: 16-18

In Moses time they received the law, with the commandment do this and you shall live, and it seemed quite reasonable to them. So now we know, now we practice the law, but what the law did was reveal sin, and sin confronted by the law rebels. The law itself is powerless against sin, it is a moral statement of what God considers wrong. It is a boundary line, do not cross here, but for anyone who sees the law it is also a challenge to our carnal minds. We sin because we are sinners, sin was there after the fall, everyone was born into sin, but the law magnifies it in two ways.

• It defines sin: We all have an idea of right and wrong, even those that find that statement troublesome, or say there is no moral right or wrong because they don't believe in a Holy Creator, a righteous Judge, an absolute moral standard, still live by the ideals of right and wrong. After all, they do think I am wrong. God's law reveals that we all have sin, it shows in detail what sin is, what it does and promises a just reaction. It brings light where we would rather live in darkness.
• It magnifies the depraved state: The law confronts sin, and for those that try to live by the law it becomes clear that they still sin, to which men react in different ways. Some decide to clean the outside of the cup, appear good based on the perception of other men, or in comparison to other men. Some reject the law altogether, as the Bible says, call evil good and good evil. Both are delusional reactions. Both share in this, that the law does not stop sin, and it uncovers a resentment towards a God that looks upon a corrupt heart. God's word never returns void though, and the effects of sin are so deep that the law draws out the true intents of the heart. When confronted with the law, sin rises against the law, pride demands it's way still, and the fruit of the forbidden tree looks even sweeter. Excuses flow, feelings rule, and all the more we want what God has said not to take. 

i. In his book Confessions, the great theologian of the ancient church Augustine described how this dynamic worked in his life as a young man: “There was a pear tree near our vineyard, laden with fruit. One stormy night we rascally youths set out to rob it and carry our spoils away. We took off a huge load of pears – not to feast upon ourselves, but to throw them to the pigs, though we ate just enough to have the pleasure of forbidden fruit. They were nice pears, but it was not the pears that my wretched soul coveted, for I had plenty better at home. I picked them simply in order to become a thief. The only feast I got was a feast of iniquity, and that I enjoyed to the full. What was it that I loved in the theft? Was it the pleasure of acting against the law? The desire to steal was awakened simply by the prohibition of stealing.”

i. “It was the custom of ancient tyrants, when they wished to put men to the most fearful punishments, to tie a dead body to them, placing the two back to back; and there was the living man, with a dead body closely strapped to him, rotting, putrid, corrupting, and this he must drag with him wherever he went. Now, this is just what the Christian has to do. He has within him the new life; he has a living and undying principle, which the Holy Spirit has put within him, but he feels that everyday he has to drag about with him this dead body, this body of death, a thing as loathsome, as hideous, as abominable to his new life, as a dead stinking carcass would be to a living man.” (Spurgeon)