"No, Not One"

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-11 ESV)

Do you understand your sin? I recently read a blog in which the author stated that total depravity was a lie of Satan. Total depravity, a key doctrine in Christian theology, does not mean that we are as evil as we could be, but rather that every aspect of our being is tainted by sin. Unsurprisingly, several had left lengthy responses to the contrary, mentioning the common practice of Satan to deny orthodox Christian doctrine.

We are sinful in nature. Paul wrote this in Romans 5:10, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Original sin was passed down from Adam to the world. It is frightening when we see people “interpreting” the Bible and the ideas they put forth from their own understanding, or lack thereof.

When we read Scripture, we should pray that God reveals its meaning to us. We must understand the circumstances under which the author received the words from God. Who were they speaking to, about what, and what was their intent as revealed in the preceding verses? We must rely on a pure heart, open to God, to understand Scripture. When we do, we will examine a piece of scripture that we have read one hundred times, and it will suddenly reveal a meaning we have never seen before. This is the Spirit revealing the truth of the Word of God to us.

Our sinful nature cannot be helped. Paul wrote in Ephesians, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”(2:1-3) We cannot help our nature.

However, it is God who reveals it to us through grace. When enabled, we can recognize the depth of our sin and our need for a Savior. It is how we come to faith, and why we understand we must repent. It is a saved heart that is troubled by sin.

The apostle John reminds us of our sin nature in 1 John, where he wrote, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” If we are to say we do not sin, we are fooling ourselves because the Lord knows what is in every heart. To say one is sinless is to deny the need for a Savior and deny basic orthodox Christian doctrine. It is to say, Christ’s death was unnecessary.

You are a sinner, I am a sinner. When we receive grace, are given faith, and ask to be saved, acknowledging the Son of God, whose birth, death, and resurrection opened the door to human salvation, we can repent and be forgiven for our sins. We are then justified, made righteous before God, not of our own doing, but by the finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross.

Beware of false teachers, those who would tell you, “You are a good person, you will go to heaven.” Beware of those who tell you, “You can have your best life now.” Beware those who tell you, “You must do works to receive salvation.” These things, and many more, are false teachings. On our own, we are destined to the pit, “but God.” “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)

Grace and Peace.