The Kingdom Perspective

Some people misunderstand the Bible’s dealing with the subject of sin. They assume that all the talk of sin, broken commandments, the demands of God and the threats of God’s judgment paint an all-too-dreary picture of the Christian life and an all-too-ogre-like picture of God. Can’t we just talk about the positive things? Negative things bring me down.

Well, if the negative things in the Bible were just the pointless ramblings of a discontented deity, then maybe a solid complaint could be registered. Consistently throughout the Bible, however, the point of all such descriptions of sin, emphasis on God’s exacting demands, and warnings of the certainty of God’s judgment are the backdrop for the beautiful description of God’s graciousness and mercy in Christ. Therefore, such complaints are like someone complaining about the darkness of the sky at a fireworks display. Someone could foolishly say, “Why do they always do fireworks so late at night? Why does it always have to be so dark? How about a little sunshine for once?” But if it weren’t for the darkness of the sky as a backdrop, the beauty of the fireworks would lose all their glory. The glory of God’s grace shines brightest against the backdrop of our sin and God’s uncompromising judgment.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

“For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”

~ Titus 3:3-5

Does sin leave us totally unable to please God? The simple answer to that question is “yes.” Listen to Ephesians 2:1: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” By starting this way, Paul is creating the backdrop for explaining the greatness of the salvation that we have in Christ. His point is that without first being made alive in Christ, we are completely unable to please God. Deadness is the ultimately disability.

Now someone may object and say that Paul by using the word “dead” is speaking figuratively. In answer to that I would say “of course.” He is using “dead” figuratively, but what is the point of the figure? Isn’t the point obvious? “Dead” describes a condition that one cannot change. Dead people don’t decide to change and become alive. They are incapable of making a decision for life. In the same way those who are dead in sin are captive to sin. They are unable to escape servitude to Satan, the world system and their sinful desires. Therefore, they are totally unable to please God. They need someone to rescue them, to make them alive, and this is exactly what God has done for us in Christ. “Because of His great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions.” God acted unilaterally, a completely one-sided rescue. That is why it goes on to say, “It is by grace you have been saved.”

Something to thing about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

“For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”

~ Romans 8: 5-8

Come on. You’re not telling me that the Bible, the book of God’s love, says that all people are completely unrighteous by nature and therefore liable to the judgment of God? That’s exactly what I am saying. Listen for yourself from Romans 3:10-19: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit. The
poison of vipers is on their lips, their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Finally, just to make sure that you don’t miss the point that this is a description of the whole human race, the writer adds, “Now we know whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.”

I know that for most of us it is quite difficult to see ourselves in this grotesque description. Nonetheless, if you don’t see yourself here, you really haven’t seen yourself from God’s perspective.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

“‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

~ Romans 3:18-20

Does the Bible teach that men are basically bad by nature or basically good by nature? Well, it depends what you mean by “nature.” As you will recall from Genesis 1:27, God made mankind uniquely in His image and placed him in charge of all His creation. Then God pronounced His benediction on the creation and said that it was very good. Therefore, it would hardly make sense for us to say that man is basically
bad by nature, when the Bible clearly teaches us that the original design of nature is good, indeed even very good. So then mankind is basically good by virtue of the fact that he the crowning achievement of God’s creation.

On the other hand, if you say that man is basically bad by nature, meaning that he is bad by virtue of his corruption in sin, then you’ve hit the biblical bull’s eye. Shortly after the creation of man something terrible happened. Adam disobeyed God and plunged the whole human race into a state of corruption and condemnation. Now this corruption and condemnation, or sin, permeates every part of human nature, so that we are totally unable to please God.

Is mankind good or bad by nature? Well, good by nature of our creation in God’s image but bad by nature of our corruption in Adam’s sin.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

“Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”

~ Ecclesiastes 7:29

You would think that any thoughtful person could hardly argue with the biblical doctrine of sin. The fact that our corruption goes to the very core of our being is evident everywhere in the news media and all of human interaction. G.K. Chesterton put it this way, “The doctrine of original sin is the only doctrine verified by thousands of years of human existence.” Well said.

Why is it, then, that so many people want to think they are basically good or morally neutral? Excellent question! There are perhaps several reasons for this phenomenon, but the best answer is simply pride. Nobody would naturally want to think of themselves as inherently wicked and deserving the judgment of God. Of course not! We’d like to think of ourselves as pretty good people. We are content to judge ourselves by ourselves and conclude, “I’m as good as the average Joe and that can’t be too bad.” Well the truth is that most of us are average, but that is relative to the rest of humanity. The Bible says that when we judge ourselves by ourselves we are without understanding; this leaves us with no objective standard. Sheep look perfectly white until they are seen standing on a snow-covered hillside. Who doesn’t look pretty good standing next to Adolf Hitler, but when standing next to Jesus Christ, not a one of us measures up.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

“As it is written, ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; no one who seeks God. All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”

~ Romans 3: 10-12

The fact that all of us are under the power and penalty of sin is obvious when you consider sin’s origin. Sin comes into existence at the dawn of the human race and spreads from there.

As you will recall from the Bible’s plot line, Adam, the first man sinned and disobeyed God. Therefore, he was judged by God and plunged all his descendants into corruption and condemnation. Romans 5, recounting the event, puts it this way: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). Later it says, “through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men” (Romans 5:18). Paul’s point is quite clear: The human race originated with Adam and sin originated with Adam. Therefore, the whole human race is under sin. As sons of Adam and daughters of Eve we not only inherit our humanity but also humanity’s guilt and corruption before God. Adam’s crime has been credited to our account and his corruption has infested our souls.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned … for as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”

~ Romans 5:12, 19

Sin is the inclination of our hearts away from God, a characteristic of our souls that keeps us from truly connecting with God on His terms. But how many of us are infected with this condition that the Bible calls sin? Are just some of us subject to this condition? Well, the Bible could not be clearer. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Earlier in the same chapter Paul writes that “both Jews and Greeks are all under sin” (Romans 3:9).  In Paul’s world the use of this dichotomy, Jew and Greek, was a common break down for the entirety of humanity. In other words, everyone regardless of race, nationality, social status, etc. are all under sin. They are all guilty before God. In the words of former Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts.” According to the biblical doctrine of sin, it is not an issue of good guys and bad guys, but rather bad guys versus God.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

“What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.”

~Romans 3:9

Over the course of time, even the simplest terms can lose their meaning. Take for instance the word “sin.” What is sin? Well, biblically speaking, sin is a refusal to know God on His terms. It is a commitment on our part as human beings to make our lives work without God.

Christians of centuries past defined sin with these words: “Sin is any want of conformity to the law of God.” In other words, sin is the gap between what God requires of us and what we actually are.

So what does God require of people? According to Jesus the greatest commandment upon which all others depend is that we “love God with all our heart, soul, and mind.” We were meant to treasure and obey God completely. Notice that this does not involve merely external conformity but an internal attitude of the heart. We are to do all God commands with ALL our HEART. Thus, sin is primarily that attitude of our hearts that does not treasure and love God above all else. It’s that internal drive that says, “I can find ultimate meaning, ultimate fulfillment somewhere other than God himself.” Sound familiar?

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.”

~ 1 John 3:4