Have you ever had someone unexpectedly pay for your meal without you knowing? I have had this enjoyable experience on several occasions while wearing my uniform (I am a retired Air Force Vet). Usually, the patron who paid the tab for me did so anonymously, and I rarely had the chance to thank them for their kindness. I usually thanked the server who gave me the news because I was so grateful that someone would pay my bill.
It is a neat experience to have your restaurant bill paid, but I would hardly call it life-altering. What if you had the same experience of having your tab paid, but instead of a meal or cup of coffee, it was your mortgage? In this case, it seems unlikely a person would thank the loan officer and not try to find out who the benevolent soul paid off the debt.
Imagine that you had your meal and your house paid off by a stranger on the same day. If the stranger then said to you, follow me. Obey my commands. Which of these two people are you likely to give your allegience to? Of course, you would do more for a person who paid for an entire house than someone who bought you dinner. I’m not sure any of us would swear lifelong allegiance to either party though.
What if you had a debt that you could never pay that carried the consequences of death? If someone came along and paid that debt and said follow me and obey my commands. Would you?
Questions 13 & 14
Q.13. Did our first parents remain as they were created?
A. Left to the freedom of their own wills, our first parents sinned against God and fell from their original condition.
Matt: Adam and Eve were in the Garden with God and could not handle the responsibility of freewill. They seized autonomy and rejected the perfect union between humanity and our creator.
We would are no different. Before you or I ever took our first breath, we were morally and spiritually bankrupt. In fact, according to the Apostle Paul, our sin has bankrupted the entire natural world. (Romans 8:20).
Another way of describing the current state of humanity would be that we are all infected with sin. Sin is like a virus that we can never get rid of. Humanity has never known a day since the fall that was free of this virus. (Genesis 3:1-7). You and I have never been truly healthy and can only see the world through the lens of our sickness while we are infected.
Here is the worst part, we like being sick. Left to our own devices, without intervention from God, we would never seek to regain health. We would not even recognize that anything was wrong because you and I enjoy our sin.
This constant sin sickness is what the Reformers call the Doctrine of Total Depravity. [1] Understanding that you are stricken with a terminal case of sin is important to understand how big the sin bill we owe is. Without understanding the legacy of Adam and Eve, we cannot understand the work of Christ on the cross.
The 19th-century theologian William T. Shedd said, “If the church and the ministry of the present-day need any one thing more than another, it is profound views of sin; and if the current theology of the day is lacking in any one thing, it is in that thorough-going, that truly philosophic, and, at the same time, truly edifying theory of sin, which runs like a strong muscular cord through all the soundest theology of the church.”
Q. 14. What is sin?
A. Sin is disobeying or not conforming to God’s law in any way.
Matt: Here is the thing about sin, it is disgusting and morally repugnant to God. Yet, there are self-professed Christians that hold to a position that we as humans are inherently good. They believe that we might break a few rules here or there, but so long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, is it really a sin?
We belong to a good and perfect God who created a beautiful place for us all to live and who loves us infinitely. Every little sin we commit is an offense to God. And we sin a lot! The least helpful thing in the world is believing that humanity is basically good because this eliminates or devalues the debt that Christ paid when He went to the cross to make payment for our sin debt.
Friends, we need to accept and embrace the fact that we are born bound by sin and cannot break the bonds of sin. In fact, we can’t even call out for help unless the Holy Spirit acts first. The Psalmist describes this in Psalms 98:2, saying, “The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.” We are utterly trapped by our own will in a never ending cycle of rebellion against God and only He can save us.
The Prophet Isaiah makes our situation clear, writing,
““Come now, let us reason[c] together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
This is what is so stunning about Jesus and His Gospel. He, the Son of God, perfect in every way took the wrath of His Father on our behalf. Jesus walked into the bank and paid every debt you ever had and in exchange all He requires is that we obey His commands and follow Him. That we spend our lives pursuing a relationship with Him and enjoying Him.
What then should our response be? Do we shrug it off and hold to our earthly life and desires? No! The only logical response if you believe this to be true is to surrender your entire life to Christ.
I encourage you to ask God to lay your sin bare. Ask Him to wash you clean and to change the desires of your heart to long for Him rather then longing for the things of this world. May God bless you!
[1] The Presbyterian Doctrine of Total Depravity by Thomas Gregory (ligonier.org)
