Doctrinal Statement Part 6

I love my children.  I didn't think it was possible to love more than one child as mich as I loved the first, but I do.  They amaze me, and my life is full of the joy and celebration having them brings.
But, they are deceitful, selfish, impatient, arrogant, greedy, angry, flippant, disrespectful, and covetous.
The Bible has a word for that type of person.  Do you know what it is?

Wicked.

My children are an incredible joy to me and my wife, and we think they are very well behaved, but they are wicked.  Because they fall short of the same standard I fall short of.

Here's the thing - I didn't teach them those behaviors.  Nobody taught my children how to be wicked.  They inherited it from me and my wife.  (NOTE:  I don't believe that my young children will go to hell if they die before a certain age; that is not the issue, the issue is what state they are born in, and why it is important to see it.)

Only two humans (excluding the God-Man, Christ) were ever created good.  They were Adam and Eve.  No one else has ever been created good, they have all been Created in sin and brokenness.  My children need Christ as much as I did.  This is important to think about as I determine with my wife what priorities to organize our children's lives around - as much as we have been ordained to be stewards of their growth and development - the rest is up to God.

It is important to be able to articulate what you believe the Bible has to say about the condition of humanity and when that condition begins, because it will determine how you perceive and respond to the grace of God in your life.  It will also influence the decisions you make in what you allow into your home and into your children's lives.  It is impossible to create a sterile environment from the evils of the world in which to raise children.  All the evil needed to corrupt a home is already within each of us.  If God had literally destroyed Satan at the Fall or later in the Flood, we would still be a completely corrupt world full of sin, still in need of Jesus.  Be careful who you blame for brokenness in your home and who you teach your children to blame.

Finally, having a clear sense of the human condition without Christ is important for understanding the brevity of sin in our lives, and the hopelessness of that condition.

I have asked myself, "So what?  Why do I need to have a sense of those things?  If HE calls me, without that understanding, why do I need to come to it?"

I believe the Scripture commands us in 2 Peter chapter one to grow in the experience of our faith on multiple levels.  Understanding the brevity of sin and hopelessness of the human condition without Christ develops compassion and patience for those who suffer with the same disease we have.  Peter says to forget it is to be blind, fruitless, and useless (2 Peter 1:8-9).  Know where we come from so we don't confuse the worlds standards of "acceptable" with God's standard of holiness.  And know the urgency to be the best steward of grace and God's Word into the lives of those given to you to minister.  God Bless.

With you for His glory



5. The Alienated Condition of Man
(Sin) I believe that man 
was created in the Image and likeness of God.  However, in 
Adam's sin, the Image of God was tainted in man and human 
nature became corrupt, and sinful nature is inherited with 
human nature.  As such, all men have become alienated 
from God, and without God's grace through the righteousness 
of Christ to gain the intended position of fellowship with 
Him, all men are destined for eternal damnation.

(Genesis 1:26, 3:1-24; Psalm 14:3; Isaiah 53:6; Luke 19:10, 
Romans 1:21, 24-32, 2:1-16, 3:9-12, 23, 5:12; Ephesians 2:12)