The Problem With Man

One day, a Scorpion wanted to cross a certain pond. Finding an unsuspecting turtle, he asked the turtle if he would give him a lift across the pond. The turtle exclaimed, "Are you joking? You will sting me while I'm swimming and I will drown."

"My dear turtle," laughed the scorpion, "if I were to sting you, you would drown, and I'd go down with you. Now where is the logic in that?"

"You've got a point there," reasoned the turtle. "Hop on."

The scorpion climbed aboard, and halfway across the river, he carefully aimed his powerful stinger, giving the turtle everything he had. As they both sank to the bottom the turtle, resigned to his fate, turned to the scorpion and said, "Do you mind if I ask you something? You said that there is no logic in your stinging me. Why did you do it?"

"It has nothing to do with logic," the drowning scorpion replied. "it's just my nature."

This story clearly illustrates the problem with man. In the beginning, God created man in His own image set apart from the rest of creation. As a result, men and women possess a deeper, spiritual dimension. As Scripture says, "[God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). This creates a longing in our hearts to discover God's eternal purpose and meaning for our lives. C. S. Lewis poignantly describes the "hints of heaven" God brings our way to intensify this longing:

"All the things that ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of heaven. Tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. . .If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. . .Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy, but to arouse it, to suggest the real thing."

Yet, in spite of our best efforts to find that "missing piece" we come up short. We keep running into some sort of "invisible wall." It's called sin.

We all would like to believe that man is basically good. That belief is reinforced by many psychologists, counselors, and even religious leaders. Yet, we still find ourselves doing things that we know are wrong to do, thinking thoughts that we shouldn't think, and saying things that we shouldn't say. As in the story of the scorpion and the turtle, it defies all logic, but we cannot help ourselves. It is part of our sinful nature.

This flies in the face of some of today's current thinking. We hear that we need to have a healthy "self-esteem" and learn to love ourselves. A recent Gallup poll reveals that this message seems to have had some impact on the way people view themselves: 90% of those surveyed said that their own sense of self-esteem is robust and healthy. Yet, while self-esteem appears to be thriving, the moral fabric of society continues to unravel at a rapid pace. Not surprisingly, Scripture tells us that one of the signs of the last days will be that "people will be lovers of themselves" (2Timothy 3:2).

Many say, "But I'm not responsible for my actions. I'm a victim. I have a disease, a disorder." As a result, we live in a society where no one is guilty anymore. We can now blame our actions on something or someone else.

Still, while we claim we are not to blame for our misdeeds, we still can't seem to shake this pesky thing called "guilt." Columnist Ann Landers writes, "One of the most painful, self-mutilating, time and energy consuming exercises in the human experience is guilt. It can ruin your day, or your week, or your life if you let it...Remember, guilt is a pollutant, and we don't need anymore of it in the world."

But is guilt really a bad thing? Scripture takes a decidedly different view on this subject than Ms. Landers. Read Romans 3:10-26.

The Bible tells us that we feel guilty for one simple reason: we are! The "guilt" feeling is only the symptom of the real problem, which is sin. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

When it comes to guilt, you can pretend that it's not there, or find someone else to blame for your problems, but the only real and effective way to remove guilt is to get to the root of the problem"sin."

In Romans chapter three, it is as though we are in God's courtroom, and the Apostle Paul is allowing us to give our defense. He patiently waits as every known excuse for our behavior falls from our lips. Then, with absolute precision, he systematically destroys every potential argument. At the end, no one is left standing.

Everyone has sinned-from the ignorant pagan, to the religious person, to the moralist.

God's Charges Against Us

Beginning with verse nine and continuing through verse eighteen, Paul introduces before the court the testimony of God's Word as revealed in the Old Testament. Here he shows just how 'low' man is in his sinfulness (note that the word "none" is repeated four times in the text.). The 13 charges listed are presented in three categories:

1. The character of the accused (v v. l0-l2)
2. The conversation of the accused (v v. 13-14)
3. The conduct of the accused (v v. 15-17)

The Problem with Our Character

It is essential to know that we are all born with a "built-in" sinful nature. We inherited this nature through Adam. Our sins don't make us sinners; they're just the evidence.

We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.

Oswald Chambers once wrote, "Sin is not weakness; it is not a disease; it is red-handed rebellion against God, and the magnitude of that rebellion is expressed by Calvary." Scripture affirms this sinful bent:

• "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:4–5).
• "The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies" (Psalm 58:3).
• ". . . [we] were by nature children of wrath, just as the others" (Ephesians 2:3).

Of course, we do not all commit the same sins, and in many ways, some sins are worse than others. We might also agree that there is a certain innocence in a child. But make no mistake about it: the sin nature is alive and well in every one of us. For instance, you don't have to teach a child how to sin, do you?

We All Fall Short of God's Standards

When God says, "There is none who does good, no, not one" (v. l 2), He is not saying that there is no good in man in general. We all know some people even non-believers who have done some commendable things. Yet, God is saying that there is not good in man that can satisfy God. When the Bible says, "There is none righteous" (v. l0), it is not speaking so much of behavior but of inner character.

God's standards are high, to say the least: you must be absolutely perfect. Jesus said, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). In other words, a person who is not as good as God is not acceptable to God. Man is not basically good; he is basically sinful.

We Do Not Seek After God

If that bothers you, look at verse eleven: "There is none who seeks after God." You would think that with all of the religious belief systems in this world, this simply could not be. Yet, God plainly declares in His Word, "You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Paul is not saying that man is not religious because he is incurably so. But religion is man's search for God, while Christianity is God's search for man.

God was never lost. We are. He is seeking to save that which was lost.

The bottom line for why many people have not come to Jesus Christ is because they bristle at the thought that they are hopelessly sinful. They are unwilling to accept God's assessment as to the sinful nature of their being. The very fact that men react against this teaching is one more proof of it.

In one sense, this all sounds pretty hopeless. We have all sinned, and we cannot help ourselves. But here's some good news: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

You Have the Hope of Forgiveness

You might be trapped in some kind of sin right now. Your situation looks helpless and hopeless. Remember, falling into sin doesn't condemn anyone; staying in sin does.

While we have all been born into sin, we do not have to stay under its control or face its ultimate penalty. Scripture promises, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).