Monday, July 13, 2020
713 - Human Nature, Part 2
Spirituality Column #713
July 14, 2020
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Human Nature, Part 2
By Bob Walters
“There is none righteous; no, not one.” – Romans 3:10
You want to hear the good news about human nature?
Um, yeah … there isn’t any.
How’s that for an uplifting start to a discussion on humanity’s
natural state of sin? Yet it is the
perfect starting point for any believer right now who might attempt to make
sense of the current world and, specifically, events in our nation. We are sinners all.
Better put revival and “a harvest” aside for the time being;
we are distracted. We are at war. As we reflexively quote 2 Chronicles 7:14
about “healing our land,” notice that the verse starts with “if my
people, those who are called by my name…” This was no Godly all-call to humanity; it was
God’s direct challenge to Israel – to believers who trusted the goodness,
truth, and righteousness of God. Today, it is a challenge to Christ’s bride,
the church.
Hence, as a Christian, it is a challenge to me in the name
of Jesus Christ. As a Christian, I’ll
not hide in or behind the church; we all must be the church … out loud.
In 2 Chronicles 7:14 (Old Testament), God was talking to
Solomon about His chosen nation Israel.
It was a call to the repentance, humility, and prayer of God’s own,
named people. I believe we are quite
right to understand it today – completely consistent with the eternal character
of God – as a call to repentance for Christians called by His name.
Incidentally, the prior verse – 2 Chron 7:13 – mentions “locusts”
and “plague.”
It is our time to seek the Lord. It is our time to repent. It is our time to pray, praise, and witness. The Old Testament signals our coming salvation
in Jesus Christ, accomplished on the Cross.
“It is finished” (John 19:30) is how Jesus announced it. “Finished,” see? Good news.
In Jesus, the whole game changed: New Testament, new
covenant. But the Old Testament throughout
describes nothing more plainly than 1. The righteousness of God, 2. The sinfulness
of the human heart, and 3. Humanity’s ultimate salvation in the Lord.
Jesus is proof of God’s existence and of God’s faithfulness
to His creation. In Christ it is our
faith, not our works, that hastens the power of God. Our modern world, as we survey it, has walked
away from the faith it was bequeathed in Christ. We are witnessing a stumbling but
powerfully-publicized secular “church” constructed of human “justice” divorced
from heavenly foundations. One columnist
surmised it represents the rabid drippings of what evolved when “mainline
Protestantism” redefined and replaced the righteousness of Jesus with “social justice,”
infecting Christ’s church with the sinful, false, “faith” systems and agenda of
Satan’s world.
That world trumpets the fake salvation of personal, political,
and social works fueled by man’s appetites driven not by God’s divine truth but
by Satan’s egregious lies.
Yes, we are all sinners, but Christ’s truth brings peace, freedom,
courage, mercy … and unity. Satan’s lies
bring confusion, destruction, fear, self-directedness … and division.
It is faith vs. petulance, hope vs. outrage, love vs.
hate. How do you spend your sin?
I promised my friend and Oklahoma preacher Brent Riggs (mentioned
last week) that I would not embarrassingly over-promote his excellent series on
sin. Hence, the above is mostly my own
riff inspired by Brent’s preaching on sin and current events. Here is Brent’s link from last week, Christians
& Rioting Part 2 (Romans 3:10-18), and a link for the whole series: Christians
& Rioting. His blog is https://www.seriousfaith.com/.
Brent’s preaching is not for the faint-hearted. Nor, in this
age of spiritual warfare, is it time for faint-hearted preaching. Sin still counts, even when a nation’s faith
fails.
Walters (rlwcom@aol.com)
notes: nothing is so violent as God’s wrath when he is interrupted disbursing
His love, or Satan’s panic when interrupted disbursing his lies.
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