The root of all sin is idolatry. The flow of thought in Romans 1:18-23 shows gives us an overview of the sin of mankind. (18-20) God has revealed Himself in creation leaving all men without the excuse of ignorance of a Creator. (21-23) Mankind suppressed the truth of God (v18) by failing to worship Him even though the knew about Him and how great He is. The key verse is 1:23 "[mankind] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." This passage is a key informant when we get to the well known verse Romans 3:23 "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..."
Everything done by someone who is not born-again is sin. "For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). Even the good things an unregenerate person does is sinful, "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Isaiah 64:6).
Man is born a willful captive to sin. The Bible is clear on this issue. Man is not only born with inherited guilt (see 7/17 post) but we are all born slaves to sin (Romans 6:20). But this is not an oppression like anything we see in the physical world. The unbelieving willfully act according to Satan's command (Ephesians 2:2-3). As for their ability to respond to the gospel, they are considered dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) and blinded by Satan to the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment