The Depravity of Man

1) Introduction & Definitions—Sin & The Depravity of Man

A. A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BIBLICAL & NONBIBLICAL WORLDVIEW = BELIEF in INHERENT GOODNESS of HUMANITY VS. SINFULNESS...

**IN LIGHT of GOD’S HOLINESS, SIN SEEMS WORST (STUDYING THEM SIDE BY SIDE)

C. Biblical WORD STUDY: “Sin”

a. COMES PRIMARILY FROM 2 WORDS

i. Hebrew (Old Testament) hātā defined most simply as “TO MISS (A MARK)” Or to, “wrong (morally), offend”[1]

ii. Greek (New Testament) hamartia defined as, “a DEPARTURE fr. EITHER HUMAN or DIVINE STANDARDS of UPRIGHTNESS”[2]

1. Sin in simple terms is to FALL SHORT of GOD’S MORAL STANDARD of UPRIGHTNESS, to MISS the MARK that HE DESIRED FOR US to hit.

a. GOD DETERMINES the MARK WE AIM AT!

WHEN IT COMES to RIGHT & WRONG…GOD ISN’T RUNNING A DEMOCRACY!

b. Millard Erickson, theologian, defines sin by writing, “Sin is any lack of conformity, active or passive, to the moral law of God. This may be a matter of act, of thought, or of inner disposition or state.” Sin is failure to live up to what God expects of us in act, thought, and being.”[3]

D. DEPRAVITY speaks to HUMANITY’S FALLEN STATE AS SINNERS...It can be defined as follows, “Humankind apart from Christ remains in a fallen state whereby we cannot please God because not only do we inherit a sinful nature at birth, but we participate in sin actively and thus stand justly condemned.”

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

2) God’s Original Intention for Humanity—Image-Bearers

Question for Consideration: What was the quality of the original creation and what was God’s design and purpose for humanity?

A. GOD’S PLAN for HUMANKIND—IMAGE-BEARERS…REFLECTION & REPRESENTATIVES

TURN & READ Genesis 1:26-31 ESV “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

o The Lexham Survey of Theology explains, “The image of God is the special status that all human beings have as those made to reflect our Creator’s character and commissioned to carry out his purposes in the world.”[4]

BEING MADE in GOD’S IMAGE ALSO = ABILITY to COMMUNE/FELLOWSHIP W/ GOD!

§ Look throughout redemptive history and see that there was the tabernacle, the temple, and ultimately Jesus Christ (Immanuel, God with us!)

🐢🐢

B. IN THE BEGINNING, EVERYTHING was CREATED VERY GOOD(Gen. 3:31).

ORIGINALLY NO QUESTION of THEODICY!..

****VERY IMPORTANT APOLOGETIC POINT.

GOD’S CREATION WAS PERFECT UNTIL SIN ENTERED & WREAKED HAVOC...

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

3) The Fall—Origins of Sin & Evil

Question for Consideration: How essential do you think it is to believe in a literal Adam and Eve?

A. Belief in a LITERAL INTERPRETATION of a literal ADAM and EVE in Genesis has PRECEDENT THROUGHOUT the BIBLE and especially in the New Testament, and in MANY CASES its ESSENTIAL to the ARGUMENT being made.

a. The chronicler begins his great genealogy at the beginning of 1 Chronicles with an individual Adam (1 Chr. 1:1).

b. Hosea the prophet in his prophecy references Adam and his transgression (Hos. 6:7).

c. Luke, the Gospel author, references Adam as part of Jesus’ genealogy (Luke 3:38).

d. Jesus Christ, while not naming Adam by name, references God’s original intention of marriage between one man and woman, which is an obvious reference to the Genesis account involving Adam and Eve (Matt. 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-9).

e. Paul references Adam as both the origin of sin and as an essential part of the creation account (Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor. 15:22, 45; 1 Tim. 2:13-14).

f. Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, in his epistle also references Adam in a genealogy, obviously believing him to be a real person (Jude 14).

B. While GOD CREATED EVERYTHING VERY GOOD, and according to His standards, ADAM QUICKLY FELL INTO REBELLION against God.

TURN & READ a. Genesis 3:1-24 ESV “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” 16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” 20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.”

RIGHT FROM WRONG = DETERMINED BY GOD…JUST AS PARENTS DETERMINE RIGHT FROM WRONG FOR KIDS— “BECAUSE I SAID SO”

i. THIS PASSAGE = FALL of MAN…INTRODUCED DEATH & EVIL INTO WORLD.

1. ***Consider that BEFORE the FALL there was NO NEED FOR KNOWLEDGE of GOOD & EVIL..., because THERE WAS NO INTERNAL DISPOSITION to DO WRONG & SIN... The only standard that needed explicitly followed was God’s instruction to abstain from the one tree.

ii. NO ONE HAS EVER FULLY GRASPED the CONSEQUENCES of THE FALL..and how deeply it has affected not only humankind but the entire cosmos.

🐢🐢

C. EVER SINCE the FALL, the CREATION has been EAGERLY AWAITING the NEW CREATION with both new heavens and a new earth.

TURN & READ: a. Romans 8:18-23 ESV “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

i. Paul writes that ALL of CREATION has been in a STATE SIMILAR to CHILDBIRTH, a LONG PERIOD of TRAVAIL and SUFFERING AWAITING SOMETHING WONDERFUL FULL of NEW LIFE!

This paradigm can certainly help us as we persevere during this life’s trials and troubles.

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

4) The Condition of Sin—Being “In Adam”

Question for consideration: Are we sinners because we sin, or do we sin because we’re sinners?

A. While both concepts are true to some extent, the BIBLICAL DATA PRESENTS the idea that HUMANKIND IS BORN IN SIN, and as such HUMANS SIN BECAUSE WE ARE SINNERS BY NATURE.

READ: o Romans 5:12-14 ESV “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— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.”

o See also: Psalm 51:5; 1 Cor. 15:21-22,45

B. The GREAT PROBLEM is that MANKIND DOESN’T JUST SIN in ACTIONS, BUT that WE ALL INHERIT a SINFUL CONDITION. It’s not just something we do when we come into the world, it’s a part of who we are.

o Jeremiah 17:9 ESV “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

🐢🐢

C. BEFORE SALVATION, ALL HUMANITY is ENSLAVED to SIN... Sin rules the life of the nonbeliever whether they realize it or not, they aren’t technically free because they’re enslaved to their sinful nature.

o Romans 6:17 ESV “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (emphasis added).

§ See also: Romans 6:18-23

o Ian Hamilton writes, “Sin is not an occasional blemish that mars our lives. It is a deep-rooted malignancy that needs radical spiritual surgery” (Theology for Ministry, p. 61).

🐢🐢

D. As a result of sin, MANKIND STANDS CONDEMNED!

o John 3:16-18 ESV 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (emphasis added).

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

5) The Act of Sin—Humanity’s Further Condemnation

A. ALL of HUMANITY NEEDS a SAVIOR… BOTH BECAUSE of SINFUL NATURE && BECAUSE of PARTICIPATION in SIN,, ACTIVELY SINNING...

a. Romans 3:23 ESV “for all [both Jews and Greeks] have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

TURN & READ: b. 1 John 1:8-10 ESV “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

IF TRUE of BELIEVERS in PRESENT…SURELY IT’S TRUE of EVERYONE in THE PAST!

SINLESS PERFECTION ONLY COMES WHEN CHRIST COMES AGAIN!

ii. See also: Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:9-20...

🐢🐢

B. GOD’S STANDARD WAS FOR MANKIND to PERFECTLY OBEY HIS LAW...

ALL HAVE TRANSGRESSED…SO WE SHOULD BE HUMBLE && GRATEFUL FOR GRACE!!!

TURN & READ: a. James 2:10-11 ESV “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.”

REFERENCE: b. Luke 13:1-5 ESV “There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.’”

C. ALL BELIEVERS HAVE a PAST THAT CONSISTS of PARTICIPATION in SIN IN SOME WAY... THIS IS WHO BELIEVERS WERE, before Christ came into their lives. If we weren’t sinners, then we wouldn’t need a Savior!

TURN & READ: a. 1 Cor. 6:9-11 ESV “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (emphasis added).

i. See also: Eph. 2:1-2; 1 Timothy 1:15...

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

6) The Consequences of Sin—Separation from God & Death

Question for Consideration: What are some of the consequences for sin?

A. From the beginning, SIN HAS CAUSED SEPARATION BETWEEN GOD & MAN

***NOTE ADAM & EVE HIDING!

TURN & READ: a. Isaiah 59:1-2 ESV “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear” (emphasis added).

🐢🐢

B. UNPUNISHED SIN in THIS LIFE WILL STILL BE PUNISHED...

DELAY of JUDGMENT DOESN’T EQUAL DENIAL:

READ: a. Ecclesiastes 8:11 ESV “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.”

🐢🐢

C.SIN & SEPARATION FROM GOD ULTIMATELY CULMINATES WITH DEATH.. Again, the coming of death and everything evil into the creation was a consequence of sin.

TURN & READ: a. Romans 6:23 ESV “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

i. See also: Gen. 2:17; Rom. 7:13; 1 Cor. 15:21-22; James 1:14-15

1. DEATH can be characterized as PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL, & ETERNAL...

a. PHYSICAL DEATH occurs with the END of LIFE...

b. SPIRITUAL DEATH is the FALL INTO SIN and a STATE of CONDEMNATION before God.

c. ETERNAL DEATH occurs after physical death has FINALLY SEALED SPIRITUAL DEATH as permanent. What Scripture refers to as the “second death” occurs after nonbelievers receive their just condemnation at the great white throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15).

D. THE END RESULT of SIN = ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD & ETERNAL DEATH in LAKE of FIRE...

. Once the day of death comes, or Christ come again, the decision is final and there’s no more opportunity to receive Christ and to receive mercy. As such the unsaved will enter into eternal death, eternally separate from God.

TURN & READ: a. Revelation 20:11-15 ESV “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

i. See also: The parable of the rich man & Lazarus from Luke 16:19-31

READ: 1. Millard Erickson makes the point, “As C. S. Lewis has put it, “the doors of hell are locked on the inside.” Sin, then, is the human being in effect saying to God throughout life, “Go away and leave me alone.” Hell is God’s finally replying, “You may have your wish.” It is God’s leaving the person to himself or herself, as that individual has chosen.”[5]

a. HEAVEN & HELL DISTINGUISHED BY JOY VS SUFFERING & PRESENCE of GOD VS. ABSENCE FROM GOD...

***i. UNIVERSALISM…ANNIHILATIONISM…&& 2ND CHANCES = UNBIBLICAL.

🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢🐢

Heading 6: Takeaways: Thanksgiving for God’s Great & Marvelous Grace

1. The FALL of MAN INTO SIN has BROUGHT ABOUT ALL DEATH & EVIL in THE COSMOS...It affected more than just humans. Humanity, not God, is the cause of sin and evil.

2. HUMAN SIN BECAUSE THEY ARE SINNERS... SIN IS NOT JUST AN ACT BUT A CONDITION that plagues all of humanity and condemns us all before a holy God.

3. WE ARE MORE SINFUL BOTH BEFORE & AFTER the CROSS THAN WE REALIZE....REMAIN THANKFUL & HUMBLE...WE’RE RECIPIENTS of GRACE!

4. WE AWAIT, ALONGSIDE CREATION, THE FINAL DAY of REDEMPTION when the NEW CREATION COMES...In the meantime the world exists like a woman in childbirth, in great pain, anticipating great joy.

5. WHILE SIN is HORRIBLE & HAS CONSEQUENCES, WE CAN RECEIVE FORGIVENESS FOR ALL OUR SINS and can confess to Christ for full cleansing (1 John 1:9). The believer is not bound by the eternal consequences for sin anymore!

ANY QUESTIONS/THOUGHTS?

CLOSE in PRAYER.

[1]Koehler, L., Baumgartner, W., Richardson, M. E. J., & Stamm, J. J. (1994–2000). In The Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament(electronic ed., p. 305). E.J. Brill. [2]Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). In A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 50). University of Chicago Press. [3]Erickson, M. J. (2013). Christian Theology (3rd ed., pp. 528–529). Baker Academic. [4]Bray, G. (2018). The Image of God. In M. Ward, J. Parks, B. Ellis, & T. Hains (Eds.), Lexham Survey of Theology. Lexham Press. [5]Erickson, M. J. (2013). Christian Theology (3rd ed., p. 1138). Baker Academic.