“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom....”

-Proverbs 9:10

It has been said that true wisdom consists of but two things: the knowledge of God - which should generate a great reverence and obedience within the true believer, and the knowledge of self - which should bring a deep humility to the believer’s heart, and that all misunderstandings of our state in this world have their root in our erroneous views of God’s holiness, and a lack of understanding the enormity and nature of our own sin.

While most can gaze through a glass darkly at least a dim view of the attributes of God as seen in His creation, it is the latter misunderstanding of man’s plight that to some degree or another always remains a stumbling block, men being the prideful creatures that we are. Hence, this primer shall focus first upon this particular obstacle to man’s understanding, that we may come to know of our need for the Saviour, and then - in brokenness - come to repent and believe, desiring the Saviour.

The Gospel (meaning “good news”) must be God-centered. If it were man-centered, it would be no good news, at all. A man-centered “gospel” is the belief that the determining factor in whether or not a man is eternally saved, in the end, relies to some degree upon an act of his own will (i.e. human decision). This is often called synergism because it is thought to be a cooperative effort between God and man. While a God-centered Gospel means that man has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with causing his salvation by “choosing God,” “deciding to follow Christ,” “asking Jesus into your heart,” or any other like phrases so common today. Still, “good news”, implies a concomitant “bad news.” So let us begin with the bad news, before discussing the cure - the “good news.” Paul’s letter to the Christian believers in Rome begins to provide our diagnosis when he states,

“There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (See Romans 3:10-20)

So, there is none, not one, righteous as Adam was before The Fall (See Genesis chapter 3), in a state of innocence; for all have sinned, and are filled with unrighteousness, and are enemies to righteousness; none are righteous by their obedience to the works of the law; nor are there any righteous in the sight of God, upon the foot of their own righteousness, however they may appear in their own eyes, or in the sight of others; nor are any inherently righteous, for there is none without sin;

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8, 10)

nor is it, either in whole or in part, a man’s own ability to justify himself; indeed the only righteousness that a man may possess must be the righteousness of Christ Jesus imputed to him. In this sense, neither you nor I have ever met a “good” (i.e., “righteous”) person: according to God's word, there are none - not me, nor you, nor our parents, nor our siblings, nor our children, nor our friends. Though man is not as evil as he could be, or desires to be, as a result of his Fall, every aspect of his nature - heart, mind, will, and flesh - has been corrupted by his sin.

The Bible teaches with absolute clarity that man, by our very nature, is:

DEAD: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Romans 5:12).

BOUND: "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." (2 Timothy 2:25).

BLIND AND DEAF: ". . . but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables; that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand." (Mark 4:1).

UNINSTRUCTABLE: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know then", because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14).

NATURALLY SINFUL: By Birth: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51:5) By Practice: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5)

This is man's natural state. We must ask, then: Can the DEAD raise themselves? Can the BOUND free themselves? Can the BLIND give themselves sight, or the DEAF hearing? Can the SLAVES redeem themselves? Can the UNINSTRUCTABLE teach themselves? Can the NATURALLY SINFUL change themselves? "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" asks Job; and he answers, "Not one!" (Job 14:4). "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" asks Jeremiah; "If they can," he concludes, "then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." (Jeremiah 13:23). Could the Word of God show more plainly than it does that the depravity is total? and that our inability to desire or procure salvation is also total? The picture is one of death — spiritual death. We are like Lazarus in his tomb; we are bound hand and foot; corruption has taken hold upon us. Just as there was no glimmer of life in the dead body of Lazarus, so there is no "inner receptive spark" in our hearts. Salvation, by its very nature, must be all of grace and of the Lord.

In our natural state, we love ourselves (though our self-love is at cross purposes to our true best interests) and are at enmity with God. “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.’” (John 8:34) We war against Him, and against ourselves - “kicking at the goads,” as it were. Our unsuccessful attempts at assailing God soon turn to our waging war against His word and His people.

“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7-8)

This, sadly, is our lot, unless God Himself steps in to interrupt our march to Hell. Please know, this is not a war that we are capable of winning. All of us begin our lives as spiritually dead rebels, fools, and dullards - refusing and unable to hear and answer God’s call to repent, believe, and obey.

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:19)

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Look around, and notice, as Thoreau stated, the mass of men living their lives in “quiet desperation”, looking for “the next thing.” as if a little more food, alcohol, sex, financial prosperity, or worldly renown will satisfy the soul. They cannot.

“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23)

No, friend, our “achievements” and pursuits of pleasures will never satiate the soul. The pursuit of the world is likened to chasing after the wind. God did not design the things of this present world to bring men joy.

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:2-3)

Joy is found only in God Himself. Yet, if you were to ask most men and women what it is that would bring them “happiness,” they would tell you, in so many words (if they were to be honest with themselves), that the only thing that they desire is “just a little bit more.” Many are of Augustine’s mind when he prayed, “Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.” Still, enter any bookstore and find within the “Self Help” section a plethora of titles aimed at building our self-esteem. The world tells us that, “I’m Okay, You’re Okay”, but the Bible tells us that I’m not okay, and neither are you.

Our will is not free, but in bondage to our evil nature; therefore, we will not - indeed we cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring us sinners to Christ - it takes regeneration by which the Holy Spirit makes one alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something that we contribute to salvation but is itself a part of God's gift of salvation - it is God's gift to us sinners, not our gift to God.

We shall, each one, soon enough go the way of all flesh. Our life's account will soon close. Our time for questioning God and His claims upon us will come to an end, and His time to evaluate us will immediately commence. Our earthly remains will then rest in a wooden box or be blown away by the wind, and our souls will be transported to judgment.

 “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment….” (Hebrews 9:27)

Before moving on to the remaining content, perhaps you will meditate upon several important questions:

If I were to die tonight, where would I go? Why?

Am I a sinner?

Do I need forgiveness?

Do I desire forgiveness?

If what I believe is not true, do I want to know?