For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,
who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because
that which may be known of God is manifest in them;
for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible
things of Him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, even His eternal power and Godhead:
so that they are without excuse: because that,
when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God,
neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 1:18-21
Authentic Christian Faith is so important and unfortunately there is a lack of understanding of Authentic Christian Faith and about the true spiritual state of humanity. This subject is of the utmost importance and this subject is at the very heart of all Authentic Christian Faith.
A problem exists and that is too many people, Christians as well, overlook or deny, at in the least, and minimize what it means to be a fallen human being. Oh! We can recite the fact that Adam and Eve fell from grace and was causative for man to become infused in his soul sin. We all have seen or at least heard of the many atrocities done by the Muslims, the beheading, the killing of those women who in some way disgraced them (as they hold in their religious views), or to harm many by gassing them, or just not seemly to care if they are harmed when they decide to overtake a city. We may even know something about the inquisition, or that many ancient civilizations practiced religious rites where they killed innocent people to somehow appease the god(s). We might just simply acknowledge that the world has always been filled with wickedness and that human behavior tends toward sensual and selfish desires. We might even acquiesce that people act this way even if they do not know better, therefore people are just sinful.
Well! This is true! We don't deny them! They are obvious and yet, a mystery as to why so many people still believe in the goodness of human nature. We might know the facts, acknowledge that they exist, but we do not necessarily know, or even admit as to the source of the facts. Yes, some will say: "Satan is the cause!" At the foundation yes, but is Satan the cause for a person to do or to will to do sinful acts. Or, we rationalize: small failures or periodic problems are explained away and fail to get at the heart of the problem(s). You probably can recite this verse: "Pride goeth before destruction, and in haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). That is true, but, we must look at this further: human pride refuses to face the truth. Too many Christians know this fact but still believe that humans are basically good and are subject to temptation and by means of a fallen soul they succumb to temptation. What is furthermore believed is that sin and evil are the exception, not the rule.
Do you really believe the Bible? Not partly, not only those verses that seem to speak to you, or to only hold to some verses that seem to agree with your opinion, or doctrine. The Bible paints a clear and plain picture that is in opposition to those views that mankind is basically good. The Bible teaches us that man is a apostate creature. Man is degraded, depraved, who thinks toward evil. Man does not tend toward the good, unless he/she gets something by thinking that way. Man does not actually believe that they have been so impacted by sin in their very core of his/her being. Man does not want to acknowledge these truths and this is evidence of the veracity of this fact about man as revealed in God's word. If you do not hold that the Bible is in all its words is inspired of God, written by men who were inspired of God, and that those words reveal to us what God desires of men, how to live, how to exercise life: well: that is the root of the problem and until you believe that the Bible is the word of God, truth, then nothing said in these blogs will have an impact upon you. John Milton in Paradise Lost: "Into what depth thou seest,
From what height fallen.
John Milton, Paradise Lost, bk, 1, lines 91-91
The human mind has amazing capabilities seen by evidence of the power to invent, to reason, to make judgments, to remember the past, to make decisions in the present, and to plan for the future. Humans are not simply an animal, as it is with a horse, a dog, a frog, or any other animal for man has the ability to admire, not just understand, to reflect on something for its beauty, and its moral excellence. We as humans have the ability to have emotions of fear, as to animals, but more, we have the ability to hope, to experience joy, and sorrow, to empathize and to love. Humans can will, and to exercise courage to do hard tasks and to exert patience to stay the course. With our power of conscience we can monitor the thoughts and desires of our hearts and we can use reason to regulate our passions. We are amazing!
Here is what we know, unfortunately, this is not the way things are. We see that man has lost the ability of reason, for the most part, and has become confused. Human desires have become twisted, anger, envy, hatred and revenge all are seen in humans. We can blame Satan for the cause, but we cannot blame Satan for our willingness to be evil, to sin, this is on us! We have become as lower creatures and seemingly unable to do good.
WOW! You may say: "This is a dark and horrible estimation of humans: yes, but you cannot deny this fact. But you can do something about it, you have will, you have what you need to teach you how to avoid this problem of human nature even if it is not removed from you in the present. You have God's word, you have the ability to learn about human nature so that you can examine yourselves and if need by, and probably so due to our fallen nature, receive the nature of God in us, to have the Holy Spirit to reside in us, to lead us, to guide us, BUT! You must decide to learn, to read God's word, to believe. God is calling: can you hear Him, are you listening for Him. Do you want Authentic Christian Faith? Well these blogs on this subject as to what is Real Christian Faith is to guide us to learn what is true Spiritual Authentic Christian Faith. Stay with me, as we both learn how we can live an Authentic Christian life.
The heart of the righteous studieth
to answer: but the mouth of the
wicked poureth out evil things.
Proverbs 15:28
God gives hope and assurance: believe
Richard L. Crumb
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