SeniorSeeker
Active member
[size=x-large]In Different Eyes[/size]
Read the following texts. What is the one point that they all have in common? Why is it so important for us to always keep this in mind? Gen. 6:5, Jer. 17:5, John 2:25, Rom. 3:9-12. What kind of things exist in your culture that could cause you to forget this fundamental truth?
Genesis 6:5
The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
John 2:25
He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
Romans 3:9-12 No One Is Righteous
What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.
All through Scripture, we are warned: the human heart is deceitful; people are corrupt; do not look to others; no one is immune from evil. With the exception, of course, of Jesus, who never sinned, few characters whom the Bible pays much attention to are pictured as morally unscathed.
One does not need Scripture, either, to see just how corrupt humanity is. History, newspapers, the daily news, indeed, even our homes, and at times our own hearts should suffice to show us the morally decrepit state of humanity. What should be scary for us to remember is that if a perfect being, as Lucifer originally was, could choose evil, even in the perfect environment of heaven; if other perfect beings, as Adam and Eve were, could choose evil, even in the perfect environment of Eden - then what about ourselves? We are born with corrupt and fallen natures, and we carry those natures with us in a fallen and corrupted environment. No wonder evil comes so easily, so naturally, to us. It is wired in our genes.
We have to be careful, however, in our understanding of what
Read the following texts. What is the one point that they all have in common? Why is it so important for us to always keep this in mind? Gen. 6:5, Jer. 17:5, John 2:25, Rom. 3:9-12. What kind of things exist in your culture that could cause you to forget this fundamental truth?
Genesis 6:5
The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
Jeremiah 17:5
This is what the LORD says: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
John 2:25
He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
Romans 3:9-12 No One Is Righteous
What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.
All through Scripture, we are warned: the human heart is deceitful; people are corrupt; do not look to others; no one is immune from evil. With the exception, of course, of Jesus, who never sinned, few characters whom the Bible pays much attention to are pictured as morally unscathed.
One does not need Scripture, either, to see just how corrupt humanity is. History, newspapers, the daily news, indeed, even our homes, and at times our own hearts should suffice to show us the morally decrepit state of humanity. What should be scary for us to remember is that if a perfect being, as Lucifer originally was, could choose evil, even in the perfect environment of heaven; if other perfect beings, as Adam and Eve were, could choose evil, even in the perfect environment of Eden - then what about ourselves? We are born with corrupt and fallen natures, and we carry those natures with us in a fallen and corrupted environment. No wonder evil comes so easily, so naturally, to us. It is wired in our genes.
We have to be careful, however, in our understanding of what