Introduction
No better resume of man, as an individual and as a race, is given then that written by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans where he states: “being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they [i.e., meaning all of humanity] not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:29-32). In the words of “the Preacher,” “the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives.” (Ecclesiastics 9:3).
And yet, it is for His glory that God created the spiritual realm and the physical universe and all that are in them, including the angelic hosts and the human race. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Also, as Paul points out to Timothy, “everything created by God is good” (1 Timothy 4:4). But if this is true, why are we such an evil race? And why are we so powerless in the face of sin? This is particularly perplexing when one considers that mankind was created in God’s image and in spite of our collective sinfulness we still as a race maintain at least a semblance of that original likeness to God.
One Man’s Sin
Although God knew from eternity that many of His angels and all of mankind would be ruined because of sin, in His sovereign free will and foreknowledge He determined to allow the temporary undoing of His creative work for the eternal love He possesses for those angels who would remain loyal and for those of the race of man that He would choose to redeem (cf., 2 Tim. 1:9). But that He even created at all serves to reveal His love to men and angels alike.
“While God is not the cause of sin, in His eternal wisdom He ordained its possibility, because in the good creation formed out of nothing by His hand it could not be otherwise. God is good, and he created good creatures with a good power called free will. Unfortunately, they used this good power to bring evil into the universe by rebelling against their Creator. So evil did arise from good, not directly but indirectly, by the abuse of a good power called freedom. Freedom in itself is not evil. It is good to be free. But with freedom comes the possibility of evil. So God is responsible for making evil possible, but free creatures are responsible for making it actual.” (Norman Geisler, “The Problem with Evil,” Electronic media).
God created man in His image; this was the culmination of the creative work of God as first He made Adam, then from Adam He brought forth Eve, his wife and companion. Both man and woman were in a state of complete holiness and innocence before God: “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). And man and wife lived together in an idyllic paradise where God fellowshipped with them and they were favorably disposed toward Him. “God’s purpose in creating man is stated in Genesis 1:26, ‘let them rule.’ God placed man in the garden to rule over His creation. Adam was God’s mediator, placed on earth to dispense His will on earth” (Paul Enns, “Moody Handbook of Theology,” Chicago: Moody Publishers 1989, p. 40).
It was God’s sovereign choice to create man, to give him free will and responsibility and for man to glorify God and dwell in His presence forever. However, at some point Adam would need to confirm his fidelity by accepting his responsibility to obey God and to continue in the blessings that God had appointed to him. To prove man’s fidelity God revealed to Adam that neither he nor Eve were to eat from the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,” but Satan said they should eat and become themselves gods.
“[Adam] was actually the first man, and his experience took place literally, exactly as described [in the Bible]. He and Eve alone, of course, entered the world by creation, rather than by birth; and they alone entered the world with sinless natures, in perfect innocence…seeing so much evidence of God’s love, Adam should naturally assume that any instruction coming from God would likewise evidence His love, and therefore willingly obey it. Thus the one restriction placed by God on Adam (and, a bit later, on Eve) was singularly appropriate for its purpose. There was every reason (based on love, not fear) for man to conform to God’s command, and no reason to disobey. If he did disobey, he would be without excuse” (Henry Morris, “The Genesis Record,” Grand Rapids: Baker Books 1994, pp. 92-93).
For Adam to obey God in this matter was continued existence in the Garden and life. To disobey, that is, to take Satan’s challenge, meant death. Mankind failed to obey God as first Eve, then Adam ate the forbidden fruit and in Adam all men fell under the curse of sin and death—our race through Adam became sinners.
God had warned that disobedience would bring the judgment of death and not the godhood promised by Satan.
“Here [Satan] transferred his own goal to the human race. The whole program of Satan in the cosmos is to make men feel that they are independent of God, and by taking this action to recognize Satan instead. His suggestion that Adam and Eve could be like God was a lie because he did not explain that they would know good and evil but would not have the power to accomplish the good or to avoid the evil apart from divine grace” (Lewis Sperry Chafer, “Lewis Sperry Chafer Systematic Theology,” Abridged Edition, John F. Walvoord, Editor, Wheaton: Victor Books, 1988, vol. 1, p. 315).
Adam and Eve died spiritually at the moment of their sin and became subject to an eventual physical death. They suffered separation from the righteous God who created them, which is spiritual death, and the good sentiment they once had toward God turned to enmity against God (cf., Rom. 8:7; Jas. 4:4). The father of all mankind of his own free will chose to reject God’s sovereignty over him in favor of self-rule: this is the nature of Adam’s sin and the root of all sins; to rule our lives on our terms and not on the terms laid out by our Creator (cf., Isaiah. 14:14).
Adam by his own choice lost his righteousness before God. But not only did he doom himself, but pasted on this destiny both directly from himself (cf., Romans 5:12) to all mankind and indirectly through all successive generations of humanity—“When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image…and he had other sons and daughters…and he died” (Genesis 5:3-5; cf., Psalms 51:5). The children, like their parents, would “know good and evil but would not have the power to accomplish the good or to avoid the evil apart from divine grace” (Chafer).
Nothing Good Lives in Me
Truly, from the moment of birth man is prone to evil and not goodness. To say that there is something radically wrong with mankind is not an overstatement. As the line of human history is the sum-total of all the acts of individual members of our race it is no exaggeration to say, all the wrong in the world is a direct result of a thorough flaw within humanity. In fact, as already demonstrated in previous posts in a cursory manner, man is by all accounts a totally depraved being that thinks and acts with the underlying motive of self-promotion, which brings pain and suffering into all his endeavors.
This does not mean, however, that people are as bad as possible. Rather, it means that even the good which a person may intend is faulty in its premise, false in its motive and weak in its implementation; and there is no mere refinement of natural capacities that can correct this condition.
“Negatively, the concept of total depravity does not mean (a) that every person has exhibited his depravity as thoroughly as he or she could; (b) that sinners do not have conscience or a “native induction” concerning God; (c) that sinners will indulge in every form of sin; or (d) that depraved people do not perform actions that are good in the sight of others and even in the sight of God.”
“Positively, total depravity means (a) that corruption extends to every facet of man’s nature and faculties; and (b) that there is nothing in anyone that can commend him to a righteous God” (Charles Ryrie, “Basic Theology,” Chicago: Moody Press 1999, p. 253).
This has been the case in all generations as it is plainly seen in the chronicles of history, in every time and place regardless of culture and religion. People are not by nature inclined to follow God, but rather all are inclined to serve their own interests and to reject the loving rule of God. Even religion and philanthropy are destructive to the extent that these originate, to a large extent, from human imagination, passions and self-will.
Additionally, any attempt to transfer responsibility for our current state to another object, person or abstraction is to deviate from the path of recovery and to settle for an answer that is not true and lends no help in reaching the truth and ultimately the cure for what is wrong with us.
Therefore, we cannot attribute our current troubled state to heredity and environment, which is a mere evasion if we do and leaves questions unanswered such as: How did our ancestors and their various and separate environments produce what now exists? And, was their make-up and circumstances better or worse than our present state? Additionally, we cannot attribute man’s natural tendency towards evil to the Creator—God made men upright (cf., Eccles. 7:29). No, the answers points to each individual and there is no excuse for anyone to be ignorant on the matter.
The Holy Scriptures clearly supplies the emphatic explanation: man is a sinful, fallen creature since and through Adam’s transgression. It was he who departed from his original state of holy purity before God. As for his progeny, rather than having evolved from inferior ape to higher beings, each person must bear responsibility for the fact that we have willfully descended from the elevated and honorable position that God created us to occupy to increasingly base creatures.
GOD Is In Control
While it is true that God’s plan for creation is all inclusive and He is in complete control of all of its working, including the introduction of evil into His good creation, God has no involvement with evil.
“If God is sovereign, how can the creation be so filled with evil? Man was created with genuine freedom, but the exercise of that freedom in rebellion against God introduced sin into the human race. Though God was the designer of the plan, he was in no way involved in the commission of evil either on the part of Satan…or of Adam…Even though God hates sin, for reasons not revealed to us, sin is present by His permission. Sin must be within God’s eternal plan (or God would not be sovereign) in some way in which He is not the author of it (or God could not be holy)” (Ryrie, p. 49).
With regard to the sovereignty of God, the following extend quote demostrates how a world ruled by chance, outside of God’s control, is the epitome of chaos:
“Here we are forcibly reminded of the inestimable felicity of a pious mind. Innumerable are the ills which beset human life, and present death in as many different forms. Not to go beyond ourselves, since the body is a receptacle, nay the nurse, of a thousand diseases, a man cannot move without carrying along with him many forms of destruction. His life is in a manner interwoven with death. For what else can be said where heat and cold bring equal danger? Then, in what direction soever you turn, all surrounding objects not only may do harm, but almost openly threaten and seem to present immediate death. Go on board a ship, you are but a plank's breadth from death. Mount a horse, the stumbling of a foot endangers your life. Walk along the streets, every tile upon the roofs is a source of danger. If a sharp instrument is in your own hand, or that of a friend, the possible harm is manifest. All the savage beasts you see are so many beings armed for your destruction. Even within a high walled garden, where everything ministers to delight, a serpent will sometimes lurk. Your house, constantly exposed to fire, threatens you with poverty by day, with destruction by night. Your fields, subject to hail, mildew, drought, and other injuries, denounce barrenness, and thereby famine. I say nothing of poison, treachery, robbery, some of which beset us at home, others follow us abroad. Amid these perils, must not man be very miserable, as one who, more dead than alive, with difficulty draws an anxious and feeble breath, just as if a drawn sword were constantly suspended over his neck?”
“It may be said that these things happen seldom, at least not always, or to all, certainly never all at once. I admit it; but since we are reminded by the example of others, that they may also happen to us, and that our life is not an exception any more than theirs, it is impossible not to fear and dread as if they were to befall us. What can you imagine more grievous than such trepidation? Add that there is something like an insult to God when it is said, that man, the noblest of the creatures, stands exposed to every blind and random stroke of fortune. Here, however, we were only referring to the misery which man should feel, were he placed under the dominion of chance” (John Calvin, “Institutes”).
Calvin has skillfully called to our attention that life governed by chance is surely precarious, beyond mankind’s ability to bear; better not to be born than to live in a world of utter chaos.
Thankfully, GOD is sovereign; He is in control; and how this relates to the problem of evil and responsibility we again defer to what Ryrie has to say on the matter:
“I think we must acknowledge that God did construct a plan that included sin, and its inclusion did not come as a surprise [to God]. Yet we must guard the clear teaching of Scripture that God hates sin (Ps. 5:5), that He is never responsible for our committing sin (James 1:13), and that including sin in his plan does not make it somehow less sinful and us less culpable” (Ryrie, p.365).
And again:
“He has made us responsible, and when we fail to act responsibly we are justly blamed” (Ibid, p. 364).
Conclusion
It should be clear that we are our own enemy and in striving for any man-made solutions we only become more a part of the problem. The lessons of history and the witness of our own day more than demonstrate that we cannot solve our problems, all of which are brought on by sinful hearts inclined towards doing evil to one another and our inbred hatred of God.
Paul rightly stated, “although they [i.e. all of us] know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them;” also he writes “I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.” Christ says, “everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin,” and we all commit sin; so Paul reiterates, “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness” (Romans 1:32; 7:14, John 8:34, Romans 6:16) —Men’s hearts need to be changed before it can be freed, but we as a race neither have nor will we possess of our own free will the desire to do this.
To discover why it is that man as a race is universally, unconditionally and continually sinful, we must gaze into the nature of man. It is here that any honest person will find mankind to be depraved, wretched and miserable creatures that are subject to death and securely trapped in these current circumstances—it is no wonder that the Apostle Paul cried out: “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death” (Romans 7:24)? The answer: God will!
