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GALATIANS 5:19-21 WE WERE BORN WITH A NATURE
5:19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: The original Greek and many interpretations translates the opening to this verse more intimately, such as The Message, which says, “It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time.” As we were told in the previous verses [5:16-18], God’s Spirit permits us to struggle with our sinful nature, which is characterized by our own way. The Bible shows us in so many ways that God acts and we react. Our reactions, however, are influenced by our sinful nature to one degree or another. The resulting struggle between God’s Spirit’s permission and our sinful nature’s influence forms our behavior. Our reactions in this world’s environment, surprisingly, are limited to only four basic responses to our experiences. For example, when things do not turn out the way we would like we often suffer from what the psychologist calls frustration; we could call this (1) Grumbling. This response is very different from another reaction when we become victims of (2) Illusions. In this reaction, we are unaware, or in denial, that we are victims of propaganda filled with false information from various sources. In addition, we naturally become seekers of peace in our conflicts through (3) Compromise and self-deception. Then at the bottom of this downward spiral, we develop (4) Insurrections against our environment and thereby against God; this is the final goal of our sinful nature. These four responses constitute the complete arsenal of the sinful nature, forming the cycle that could be identified by the acronym --- GICI. The first response, grumbling or discontentment, is to open the door that introduces us to the other three. We are constantly looking for various ways to cure our persistent discontentment, frustrations, and unhappiness. Because of our frustrations, we become vulnerable to the promises that offer us help. We rationalize our condition with stories we hear and want to believe. When the frustration leads us into an apparently hopeless situation, we whine about it, we rebel against any thing that seems convenient, even God. Some discontentment is good when we are focusing on ways of gaining a better understanding of God and His ways. When we are dissatisfied with our present relationship with God, this is a good discontentment. This mixture of inherent traits can be both good but mostly bad. The Spirit uses this discontentment trait sometimes to train us in the way we should go. However, most of the time, our discontentment is centered on what we want for ourselves, thereby becoming a tool of our sinful nature. We experience all four of these traits so frequently and nonchalantly that we hardy ever detect any transition from one reaction to another. These reactions, also, combine in various ways to form our complex behavioral patterns that appear like there are more than four behaviors. These verses in this letter to the Galatians, shows us how complex, common, and coordinated our sinful nature is. It shows us, along with so many other verses in the Bible, these obvious characteristics of this nature can cause serious damage in our lives. We need to understand the importance and the impact this nature can have. Our wellbeing and our growth in faith are directly influenced by our awareness of these inherent design characteristics. Throughout the Bible, the references to sin are frequently found referring to these same four different traits or mindsets. It is important, also, to look at the context because the English interpretations are typically limited in the use of general terms like either sin or transgression, which lacks the depth found in the original language, which identifies sin behavior using different words that reflect a variety of insights. The context can give us a better perspective so that we can differentiate between these behavioral reactions. The Greeks, also in Hebrew, separate our reactions by using four different words. By recognizing the differences in the Greek words, can help us to interpret the context more accurately. The Scriptures document these reactions or traits in many places. One example of the scope of Biblical recordings of these traits is found in the writings of the prophet Amos, who gives us poetic pictures of these types of character traits figuratively, and associating them with some despicable sins. It is interesting to note that the four types of sins derived from these traits are judged differently and have different affects. We all can identify readily with these four behavioral traits. After reviewing these four categories, we can then begin to examine the list Paul gives us in his list of the “obvious acts” of the sinful nature. The value in using the behavioral traits as references is we begin then to see how these precursor traits actually lead to these serious works of the sinful nature. In viewing the traits, we begin to see how prone we are to commit similar acts and, therefore, we should become more hesitant in judging others [Romans 2:1] and become more sensitive of our thoughts and actions. In addition, maybe by taking this personally we can appreciate more about the power of this sinful nature.
Some other references, besides this Galatians list, characterizing or implying these traits, in various forms, can be found in such passages as Genesis 3:6, Deuteronomy 11:1; Micah 3:11, 5:14-16; Nahum 3:4; Zechariah 1:18, 19; Matthew 4:1-11, 15:19; Mark 12:30; Romans 2:18-24, 13:12, 13; 1 Corinthians 10:6-10; Ephesians 5:3-7; Colossians 3:5; and 1 John 2:15-17, just to name a few. These passages consolidate the traits into close contextual proximity; there are many other lessons on this subject spread throughout the Bible, for example, Revelation chapters 2 & 3 relate to these traits in a more oblique way, which will be touched upon in subsequent lessons. As these traits become recognizable, the lessons surrounding them can become more meaningful and thereby help us to understand God’s ways and ourselves. We must come to a point in our lives where we acknowledge that our sinful nature is intimately part of our lives, whether we like it or not. In order to try to understand its influence we are scripturally given some indications about its function and its repercussions. Using general terms like “works,” or “acts,” or “sins” tends to mask the four identifiable sinful nature’s characteristics, and thereby limiting our ability to recognize our real enemy, which is our sinful nature. We can use these characteristics, when we recognize them, to identify and to understand better why we do the things we do in our struggle, in our growing faith. Praise God, we are not alone in this struggle; in Christ we have The Spirit guiding and managing our lives [John 6:13]. We naturally are looking for assurance of this guidance, but our growing process cannot always afford such comfort. Growth requires struggle. We are told, in many ways, God is leading and teaching us about His ways, in a slow and methodical manner. As our faith grows out of our struggle, we begin to see that our trials and temptations are contributing to our growth [James 1:2, 3]. We begin to believe really that “all things” are working towards completing our conforming process [Romans 8:28, 29]. We are given an important promise in the letter to the Corinthians about this process. As our faith grows, we begin to believe this promise more and more. We begin to see that there are ways to recognize our temptations, and then we begin to see how this promise, in God’s word, reflects God’s control and creative plan. 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. [1 Corinthians 10:13] All of the sins ever committed in the human race, and all of the temptations ever encounter by anyone can be traced to just four human propensities originating in our inherent design characteristics. These traits are what we call the sinful nature, flesh, or as the Greeks describe as sarx, our carnal nature. 1. Discontentment --- this is when we desire something we do not currently posses and this desire produces frustrations in us and we grumble. This line of thought is characterized by the “I want” statement in some form or another. Seauton (she-ow-too’) is the Greek word as used when we are listening to our own feelings and desires as our teacher and guide [Romans 2:21]. Our feelings are unreliable and lead into all sorts of selfish enterprises. From the words of the prophet Amos: “This is what the LORD says: In other words, the lust for some selfish gain or desire can overshadow any love or mercy for another person. The end justifies the means is often heard. Frequently, this discontentment is accompanied by an obsession in achieving personal perfection, the accomplishment of a preplanned goal. Errors or failures become a personal crisis. Control verification is a dominating objective. Our “plan” often takes priority over the purpose or the affect on other people. 2. Delusion --- this is when we think we know what is good for us or we believe we really known something. We tend to compromise the truth; it is not as important as a personal feeling about control. We tell ourselves it is all going to be all right. This emotional goal is built mostly upon the false belief about an internal and inherent good. The establishment of the motivation becomes more important than the need for commitment. A righteous contingence is hidden beneath a façade of self-interest. The source of this false motivation is the selling of some nebulous belief, usually by someone who has a selfish hidden agenda. A common phrase used during such a presentation to a prospective buyer, in the creation of the sales, is to think or say in agreement, “I need.” “They (2) trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. [Amos 2:7] In the Greek, nepios (nay’-pee-os) denotes foolish teachings, outside of the truth due to mindless motivations or thoughts [Romans 2:20], kindergarten mentality. Confusion fogs our minds and encourages others to distort logic in favor of a false interpretation of good and evil. Knowledge and elitist theories are offered as the prize in the games people play to advance this trap. A key influence in convincing us of this new idea or criterion in our decision-making is the mood of the consensus beliefs, polls matter in this behavior. Follow the crowds and logic is discounted, even becomes superficial. 3. Deception --- this is when someone tells us, or we tell ourselves, an untruth. This is usually derived from some outside source. Our media, teachers, and the books we read feed us deceiving information. We are naturally vulnerable to believing false information because our information base is filled with so many unknowns. We tend to be interested in information that relates to giving us insight into our future, which we believed is necessary to gain certain goals, as happiness, security, or success. The phrase “I can” is heard frequently or felt in the mist of this behavioral trait. Tuphlos (toof-los’) is an opaque kind of false teaching [Romans 2:19], as if being in the dark or in a blind condition. Much like attempting to navigate in a dark room by feeling for tables or chairs or reaching for the location of a wall. “Father and son(3) use the same girl and so profane my holy name.” [Amos 2:7b] They know their action is wrong but they believe they can get away with it. They are blinded by a conceit that covers any sensitivity towards any “right” thing they may understand. We are manipulated by teachers, politicians, and the books we read into believing that, through these blind guides, we can become insensitive to guilt. The implication of believing we have the right to decide our future, without listening to God, is a variation of this kind of blindness. Responsibility and consequences are hallmark phrases, which replace important phrases like righteousness and faith. This is the world of deception. Those who are manipulating others in the name of religion, or some other euphuism, all for personal power and satisfaction, will fall under God’s wrath [Jude 8-13]. 4. Defiance --- this generally follows some perceived injustice. It is often directed towards God or some authority. It is rooted in a claim for personal authority, “I will,” and often followed by some bazaar action. After all, we have the “right” to enjoy this privilege or another; we should not be deprived of our “rights.” This is a blatant disregard for God’s requirements, degrees, laws, and commandments [Deuteronomy 11:1]. Ignoring all indoctrination, katecheo, (kat-ay-kneh’o) as the Greeks term it [Romans 2:18], and then to proceed to do it “my” way. “They (4) lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines. [Amos 2:8] This fourth category, or trap, in the sinful nature is the most hated because it is dishonoring God, a form of gross idolatry. This is a denial of God’s Sovereignty, in an attempt to redefine His reality, and results in the elevation of self-worship, pride. This is the ultimate objective of our sinful nature. This is how the sinful nature got started. This is the leading edge of our battle, our struggle in learning about our unique place in God’s plan, and our growth in faith. Exploitation of others plays a significant role in all defiance. Whatever the reason, we want to do it for our selfish benefits. This reasoning behind this category acknowledges and demonstrates our inherent unspoken erroneous belief that we are gods [Genesis 3:6]. sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; These three obvious acts are the results of our deep-seated extreme discontentment. They may begin with subtle unhealthy fantasies, or pornography, or an inappropriate environment. The media encourages discontentment about everything. Sex an example and is a huge business opportunity fed by this discontentment. Sex is a motivator in all kinds of marketing and advertisements because of our inherent discontentment. Out of the thousand or so three-letter words in the English language, there is no three-letter word or any other word in the English language that can spark as much attention as the word “sex.” Yet, this word is not one of the most frequently used words. Lust is the first word most people associated with the word sex. Sin is very frequently associated with sex. A frank, open, and explicit discussion of this one word generally requires some kind of pre-screening of all participants, and the discussion is usually recommended to be under some sort of professional supervision. At the same time, implied references to the subject of sex are universally used in the public domain without many restrictions and with very little monitoring. This dichotomy in attitudes represents the power of our sinful nature in two areas of our lives --- our needs and our wants. Sexual immorality indicates a wider degradation in the decay of family values. The discontentment that generates sexual immorality creates broken marriages and a variety of emotional problems. Because of our inherent discontentment, we have a society that causally accepts divorce and multiple marriages as a normal life style. Celebrities change marriage partners as nonchalantly as people change houses and cars. Sexual immorality is a sin because of a discontentment and not because of any primary sexual need. Those, who are searching for “happiness,” a thing that has been taught since the beginning, are missing the meaning and the purpose for this life. The real danger in following the “success and happiness” crowd is just more discontentment. Impurity can be associated with many subjects that are not sexually oriented. Impurity is generally linked to some type of discontentment with traditions. Finding fault is a national past time. The media sells bad news rather than good news. The blame game is the world’s most popular sport. Boundaries and orthodox traditions are fair game in the search for pure unadulterated ideas. Some say that it is tradition that is impure. The popular trend towards the elevation of our feelings as a criterion for the truth has been pushed to such an extreme that confusion has replaced stability. We have lost our sensitivity about right and wrong in this everything is relative world. When everything is open to personal interpretation then there is no standard to judge right and wrong. The popular acceptance of Existentialism is evidence of this trend and attitude of widespread discontentment. The decay of traditions and the advancement of existential thought could be blamed as the causative agents for such social and environment changes as disease epidemics and foreign policy. Ignoring the affect our undisciplined lives have on others and our environment creates impurity in our sanitation, our air quality, our children’s education, our attitude towards conflicts of any kind, and our disrespect for God’s word. Debauchery is an ugly word. It conjures up images of all kinds of perverted sexual activity. However, this act can also mean dishonest and corrupt business dealing. The selling and buying of any product that degrades a person’s health and emotional state is a form of debauchery. Remembering when we are discussing acts of the sinful nature, there is no lower limit in deprivation in the human spirit. The extremes found in drug crimes are a likely example in products in debauchery. Prescription and illegal drugs too often are used to relieve nagging discontentment rather than therapeutic reasons. The abuse of anything can be a debauchery. The prostitution of ideas by “Judaizers” is a form of debauchery. Ideas can damage a person’s ability to hear the truth. Ideas can create more discontentments and more pain. Debauchery is pervasive in our society and not limited to wild sex parties. 5:20 idolatry and witchcraft; These two acts do go together as a couplet, although they are different. They have at least one important thing in common --- delusion. We are prone to follow the crowd in believing all sorts of popular myths and rituals; this is often indicative of delusions. Delusion gives us a sense of false security and “explains” so many mysteries. We find somehow comfort in all of false stories we are taught from childhood. It is common to deny that in believing or taking seriously any of these stories we worship idols, but we readily admit we worry about losing money or things because some malevolent beings working against us. We are casual about expressing terms like “good” or “bad” luck while we are critical of those that follow the zodiac. These two acts of our sinful nature reflect in our desire to know the future and to become a god. If we can manipulate others and our own thinking into the belief that we are in control of our own destiny then we think we will be safer and happier. We are susceptible to the various promotions that are called inspirational. When we worship the style rather than the substance, we are committing idolatry [Luke 4:8]. Charisma becomes an operative word in our vocabulary. Our intentions, motivations, and legacy training makes us fall for delusions. The way the media measures the value of movies, for example, is a demonstration of celebrity worship and the promotion of both idolatry and witchcraft. Most newspapers contain Astrology predictions because there is a market for these delusions. People naturally tend to follow the herd, like sheep [Isaiah 53:6]. Others feel small groups can be an effective if the leader’s principles are sound, which is a reason this should be carefully monitored. Group dynamics is often very fluid and the interactions of individual opinions are difficult to control. The use of small group approach tends to advance existentialism, which a form of delusion. The most common delusion we embrace is that we have the power to influence our own destiny. When this or one of our delusions is challenged, the sinful nature reacts overtly displaying the type of behaviors listed the next category. A questioning of any of our beloved beliefs that are based upon some strongly held and popular fantasies, for example, can, and often does, generate an emotional response. The challenge may or may not be justified. When the sinful nature is influential, it is always present; the challenger should to be very careful about the content of any such “discussion.” Most people will admit they have a problem with one or more of these obvious acts, but few will stop and evaluate the reason for their actions, for example, their emotional outburst resulting from a direct challenge. The sinful nature does not react well to logical reasoning or even to subjective examinations. This is why Paul encourages us to examine ourselves, not others, [2 Corinthians 13:5]. hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; This list of familiar emotional outbursts has something in common. They are most likely the result of some kind of deception, which has been embedded into our minds and emotions. The outburst is produced because of a confrontation involving some strongly held belief. Some previously believed truth or a current belief that has been challenged are good generators for outbursts. Some value judgment, some frustrated intention, some erroneous self-evaluation, or some false information is brought to the light in our conciseness then we react. Confrontation is something our sinful nature does not handle well. In any controversy, our nature tends to react unfavorably because of the implied affront on our desire to be in control. After all, if we believe we are gods then any adversary is denying this openly. In order for our sinful nature to be in control, we must be convinced we have the authority and capability to do anything we have decided to do. Our sinful nature tries to convince us “we can.” Of course, such a sweeping belief is the result of some deep-seated deception. Such deceptions are generally traceable to: (1) cognitive self-generation, (2) morally motivated, and (3) some kind of religious-based conviction. These variables are not separable, and often interrelated in varying degree. The environmental circumstances and our past behavior can create a wide litany of possible reactions. The deceptions that provoke some outburst can, and often does, lead to financial, emotional, and even physical harm. Our knowledge, values, and legacy beliefs have varying degrees of influence on our susceptibility to becoming a victim of deceptions. The world’s wisdom tells us of affective ways to protect ourselves from being deceived. We are told we should seek console from an expert or from some kind of a creatable organization. The problem with such advice is that the consensus and popular principles are not always reliable. Idolatry and witchcraft are prime examples of popular yet poor advice practices. In both the private and in the consensus opinion formations, propaganda is based upon the contention that if you tell a lie often enough to enough people, the lie becomes a fact, thereby propagating a deception. Our mass media has this technique down to an art form. Most modern day promoters of propaganda seem to believe that the larger the audience and the smaller the message (as in “sound bites”) the more likely their deception can be sold. Television and huge auditoriums has become the environment of choice. The selection of the authority of the source material is critical in maintaining any path towards the truth. Of course, the Holy Scriptures are the only reliable source for the truth. With discipline and compliance to God’s word, the promotion of propaganda is made difficult. This is why the scam artists and deceivers stay away from any comprehensive discussions of God’s word. drunkenness, orgies, and the like. The fourth category is almost never acknowledged publicly as a personal problem; these are illustrations of someone else’s problem. This short list covers three unmentionables that are indicative of the worst of all human sin --- defiance. This category is so bad because it is a direct and personal confrontation with The Holy God. These two acts and anything like them are demonstrating that we have contempt for God’s boundaries, which means contempt for particularly God Himself [Romans 8:7]. These are all attempts to escape to another world and another life where there is no self-control or God-control. Defiance is the bottom of the downward spiral the sinful nature leads us into just before destruction and death. Defiance is an attempt by the sinful nature to redefine reality. It usually takes the form of some kind of escapism, mental, emotional, or physical. Alcohol and drugs are common forms of escapism, a mental flight from reality. The social and cultural elite contribute in many ways to the redefinitions of reality and this escape from reality. These elitist establish myths about the source and the reason for life and creation, the theory of evolution, for example. Happiness is held up as heaven on earth where all the proclivities of the human nature can be experienced without regard as to any divine control. The propagation of any doctrines that are contrary to God’s truth is another form of redefinition of reality, which is the ultimate form of defiance of God’s plan, known as idolatry. The use of highly charged music and presentations to capture and control people’s emotions and to manipulate their thoughts is a form of an orgy, which is another example of idolatry. Today’s media is filled with encouragements to defy good traditions and to seek out the avant-garde. History tells us that when the consensus becomes defiant the nation, the culture, falls. Today’s pervasive existential movements encourage escapism into self-help routines built upon various forms of mind control. We need to control our subconscious in order to find success and happiness the advocates imply or suggest. It is all within our capability. God has given us the power to control our destiny, they claim. This line of thinking is a direct defiance of God’s control and all that God has told us in His word. This thinking has been embraced by our sinful nature as a truth and it has been incorporated into many of our doctrines and legacy beliefs. Any suggestion, often very subtle, that we are in control needs the reminder out of Isaiah, “I am the LORD, and here is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, “[Isaiah 45:5]. Galatians 5:21b --- I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Sin resulting from the sinful nature’s rebellion against God is never allowed to operate outside of God’s will anywhere in this temporal domain [Luke 10:18, 1 Corinthians 10:13], which is always under God’s control. When our sinful nature leads us into our sins, we can be sure God is teaching us a painful lesson. It does not take us long to recognize the fact that we in our action has sinned. Our sins, obvious or not, are contrasted by The Spirit as a painful comparison against God’s peace. We are eventually taught the designed propensity in our sinful nature causes our bad behavior. These sinful acts are emulations of the original nature derived from the origin of evil. Repetitive Behavior The scope of this stated verse seems to be limited to those who “live like this.” The Greek term is prasso (pras’so), which expresses a repetition in the practice of such behavior. The repercussion of this kind of repetitive life style is promised to be an eternal life without the inheritance found in “the kingdom of God.” The principle reflected in this is, “No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning.” [1 John 3:6] The context of these verses is not about a snapshot of a single act but is about continued and repetitive behavior. This is another time when separating position and condition is helpful. In order words, if a believer’s position is in Christ then they will learn in the conditioning process about the true nature of sin and will avoid the obvious acts of the sinful nature. The four characteristics of this nature found in the author of evil as indicated by the way he tempted Jesus, and from this and our own experience we must conclude this nature was incorporated into our origin design [Romans. 5:12]. Adam and Eve were equally guilty because they were of one flesh [Genesis 2:24]. In addition, Adam duplicated the erroneous pattern Eve had just taken because he experienced fear, a discontentment; trying to hide from God, a delusion; lied to God, a deception; and disobeyed God’s command, the definition of defiance [Genesis 3:10-13]. Adam and Eve’s behavior forms the prototype and template for all subsequent sin and the model for all that we can know about the sinful nature. Eve demonstrated defiance and her willingness to make erroneous decisions before she ate the fruit, and both Adam and Eve did not exhibit any discernment after eating the fruit. Another theory claims she must have had in her designed nature a power to decide, which is independent of any fruit eating. This innate power theory loses credibility in light of her inclination to be defiant. This innate power we could call the autonomy or “self will”; we could also call her action of so-called will an inherent instinct driving her selfish desires. After all, instinct is definable as a compounded reflex reaction, like the reaction of fear. Instincts are usually independent of cognitive control or will. These early passages in the creation story fail to the existence of any “self will.” Our Struggle Causes Our Faith to Grow As our faith grows, our delusions begin to fade. This growth encourages us to seek God’s ways and compare His word against the legacy beliefs we formally embraced. We begin to see the differences between needs and wants. We become critical of the easy answers offered to us by those with hidden agendas. Once encumbered with those old delusions we find a new freedom and an ability to discern between the true right and wrong. We are harder to fool by the eloquence of the false teachers as The Sprit begins to guide our thinking. This verse has past, present, and future components. There is a current warning, a present warning, and a future warning. All three of our responses to these warnings give an indication of the believer’s condition and the reality of the believer’s position. The Scriptures tell us that we are following either the Spirit or our sinful nature; this is not indicative of any individual choice, it is a conditional state outside of our control [Isaiah 45:5-8, Psalm 100:3, and Romans 8:9]. This is the essence of the control struggle. The struggle is about learning to listen to the right master [Romans 8:5]. The NIV translation of this Romans verse is rendered a little different from the Greek. The use of the word “set” can be misleading if it is read as personal decision or a stationary condition. The original language is emphasizing how we pay attention, phroneo (fron-eh’-o), or how we focus our minds. The Message translates it as, “Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God.” This is a process in a dynamic and growing attitude. Our sinful nature is being changed by God’s Spirit and the way we focus our minds indicates our current condition in this process. Our reactions and behaviors are products of this changing condition. New Perspectives and Old Deceptions The sinful nature loves the world’s theories and teachings. The preservation of these theories have been maintained for centuries, framed in elegant language, and given honor in our learning institutions. Any disagreement with any of these old deceptions is met with distain, insult, and disbelief. It is easier to agree that to disagree. Logic, presentation, and selective support mechanism are used to discourage any sincere study of God’s word. Deceptions find fertile ground in our lethargy, busy schedules, and claims of ignorance; this is where false teachers gleefully use our sinful nature to avoid any confrontation with God’s truth. We succumb to our sinful nature too often rather than questioning the consensus beliefs. How often do we hear someone promoting a deception with a quotation from the Bible without even looking the verse up the verse or examining its context? More often than we like to admit. For us to learn the truth we must be inquisitive, pray for The Spirit’s help, and examine the context. Our sinful nature is evil-like, inherited, and natural, however, with the help of the Spirit; this nature becomes our classroom in which we learn how corrupt we really are, and we learn something about God’s goodness. Evil is the cause and the acts of the sinful nature is the resulting product, which is the focus of God’s Judgment for Adam’s disobedience and ours. Learning to see the contrast between evil, in all of its forms, and the beauty in God’s goodness is the reason God allowed evil to develop. This learning is a long and painful process. God uses the sinful nature to teach us how to draw this contrast. God’s Sovereignty Overcomes Pride Our sinful nature only emulates the origin evil, “son of the dawn.” God does not allow some created being to tempt anyone into any action outside of God’s will [1 Corinthians 10:13, James 1:13, 14]. The whole subject of evil is the cause of sin in this temporal condition, which God condemns and plans to eliminate [Revelation 20:15]. All forms of evil, which consciously exhibits the sin of pride, or defiance, of God’s laws by promoting and encouraging acts of the sinful nature with all of its wickedness. There are some clues about the reason why God permits evil and sin to develop. The pain, suffering, and guilt resulting from sin, and any other evil products creates the possibility of having and encouraging the hope for the glorious freedom that comes with being a member of the family of God [Romans 8:18-25]. As suffering is experienced, we look for some relief. When we discover, through listening to God’s word and guidance, we gain a new perspective in God’s love and the hope He is promising. Notice, that pain and hope are linked together in this Romans passage. The contrast between good and evil gives us a glimpse of God’s separation plan and promotes the hope that His promises are true. The ability to make comparisons and to note contrasting differences is something that is also inherent in the human design. In fact, the ability to make contrasts is a key element in every teaching technique. The unpleasant view of our sinful nature accentuates the reality of God’s created new holy nature [2 Corinthians 5:17], which He alone provides, through the guidance of His Spirit [John 16:13]. This guidance creates the new perspective and the new creation necessary to destroy the affectivity of the sinful nature. · God’s Spirit helps us · God’s word is available to us · God’s plan is to give us peace
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