Most men will proclaim each his own goodness ~Proverbs 20:6a
If you ask any unsaved person if they think they are a good person, nine times out of ten they will say yes. At least for me, this has proven to be true during the witnessing encounters I have had. Most people like to think of themselves in a positive light; almost as if their good impression of themselves prevents any negative judgment by God, should His existence prove to be true. You can imagine the shock and anger of people when they find out God has something very different to say about their character...
Every one of them has turned aside; they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one. ~Psalm 53:3
The pride crushing truth is no one is a good person, at least not by God’s righteous standard. A person may occasionally do good things; some deeds might even be considered selfless, but deeds and works cannot change the inner nature. Out hearts are deceitful and corrupt (Jeremiah 17:9), a condition which we can do nothing to remedy...
Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”? ~Proverbs 20:9
The writer of Proverbs asks a rhetorical question and the obvious answer is “no one.” This is not to say nothing can be done about our sinful condition, rather this harsh truth is given by Scripture to bring a person to the place and condition where something can be done about it. God’s diagnosis and evaluation of mankind’s condition is meant to break hardened hearts and humble pride filled spirits...
The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit. ~Psalm 34:18
We, as Christians, must still remember that we are not good. Being forgiven of sin and adopted into the family of God does not remove the nature of sin in our flesh instantly. Instead God gives us a new nature, one that we are to feed and nourish on His Word and obedience to that truth. Jesus calls us to take up our own cross daily to crucify self (Luke 9:23) and Paul declares that true Christians crucify the sinful works of the flesh (Galatians 5). When we are saved we do not become good, rather we enter into a battle with that sinful nature which would lead us to hell...
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ~Romans 8:13
Are men totally depraved? (IOW is every faculty of the person corrupted?)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? ~Jeremiah 17:9
This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. ~Ecclesiastes 9:3
but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. ~Titus 1:15
if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. ~2 Timothy 2:25,26
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God ~2 Timothy 3:2-4
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ~Romans 7:18
So then, how would you answer today’s question? Is mankind totally and wholly unable to come to God of his own free will, or does it require divine intervention?
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. ~Genesis 3:7
Suffering, for the Human Race, was assured when our first parents sinned and disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. With the entrance of sin came pain, sorrow, tragedy, and death. Pain and suffering are realties for us all and none are exempt from its heart breaking touch. You might be asking “Why, what have I done to deserve this suffering?” Well, it is because of sin.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. ~Romans 5:12
Scripture makes it very clear that all of us are guilty of sin, and so death and suffering follow. It is a universal truth that where sin is, suffering is there as well. What does that mean for the Christian? How does the surety of suffering figure into the daily walk of a born again believer? Consider God’s servant Job.
Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. ~Job 13:15a
Suffering is a sure thing for both the saved and unsaved alike. What should be different for the Christian is the assurance we have in knowing the God in whose sovereign hands we rest. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” With that assurance in God Almighty there is an element of suffering the believer does not have to experience; the futility of it all. It is the futility and senselessness that gives suffering its sting. The loss of a child, long drawn out struggles with disease ending in death, natural disasters with untold death and destruction, it is the seeming uselessness and futility of all these circumstances that adds a bitter sting to suffering.
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. ~1 Peter 4:12,13
Since suffering is certain and inevitable, we should not be surprised when it suddenly overtakes us. As for Christians, there will be the additional suffering inflicted because of our faith. While it is true some will be called by God to suffer more than others (even to death), it is also true that all Christians will suffer some persecution in one form or another, Jesus said “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). When that tribulation and suffering comes, and it will, let us endeavor to commit ourselves to a merciful Savior and give Him the glory.
Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. ~1 Peter 4:19
But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. ~James 3:8
There have been times when I have said something that I regret immediately. Every so often my old sin nature will rise to the surface and in the heat of the moment I will say something that I must apologize for later. How is it that the same tongue which we use to praise God and to read aloud the Holy Scriptures can be used to lash out and hurt those around us? James compares our mouths to wells of water and asks a question; can we draw both fresh and bitter water from the same well?
Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? ~James 3:10,11
James says you shouldn't be able to find both fresh and bitter water at the same well. Think of it, if you were to live in a hot arid desert, would you travel to a well for a drink if you knew that you may find bitter, undrinkable water? We should ask ourselves a question today; what kind of well am I? Can people come to me and find something which blesses and refreshes the soul, or is it possible that they may find bitter and undrinkable water polluted by sin. Where does this bitter water come from? If our mouth is a well of water, then it is our heart which is the spring supplying it…
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. ~Matthew 15:18
When Jesus was questioned by the Pharisees about His disciples eating with unwashed hands, He used the opportunity to point out it is not that which enters into a person which defiles them, but that which comes forth out of the heart. It is not some outside influence or circumstance which causes us to sin; the outside influences are catalysts which reveal the sin already present in the heart. It is like taking a glass of water in one hand and striking it with the other. The result is water on the floor. The water does not end up on the floor because you struck the glass, but because when the glass was struck there was water already in it…
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. ~Proverbs 4:23
When we say those things which require an apology later, then what we really want to look at is our heart. When the Bible speaks of our heart in this manner it is not talking about the muscle that pumps blood throughout our bodies, but it speaks of that inner person where our thoughts, emotions, soul, and spirit are. That part of us where only we can see and no one else. The writer of this proverb exhorts us to keep or guard our heart with all diligence. We are to guard our hearts against the evil and corruptive influences of this world. When we allow worldliness into our lives, even a little, we will see it later in our thoughts, words, and deeds. Oh yes, there is One other who can "see" into our hearts…
Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. ~Psalm 44:21
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and I could be wrong. The Bible however, is never, ever wrong.All Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (Thomas Nelson Publishers), unless otherwise noted. Sign in