ARE WE RESPONSIBLE FOR INBORN SIN?

How then can man be righteous before God? (Job 25:4)

“How can mere mortals prove their innocence before God?” (Job 9:2) is probably the most important question in life. The answer is clear: No one can claim personal righteousness equal to God’s purity. Paul recognizes that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Ro 3:23).

The problem is, we are born in a sinful condition due to the sin of Adam and Eve (see Ge 3:6–7; Ro 5:12). David described this original sin (as some refer to it): “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Ps 51:5).

Isn’t that unfair? How can we be held accountable for something we inherit? The problem with such questions is that we too have sinned. The question instead should be: What do we do with the sinful nature we inherit? Do we indulge it? Or do we trust in the way God has provided to overcome it? Through faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross, God gives us a brand new nature with a righteous standing before him. This is how we take responsibility for our sins.

RENEWING THE MIND

It is possible to have knowledge without having wisdom. It is not possible, however, to have wisdom without knowledge. Knowledge is a necessary precondition for wisdom. The practice of godliness demands that we know and understand what godliness requires.

The Christian life is a transformed life. The transformation of life comes about, as the apostle Paul declares, through the renewal of the mind. An understanding of the Word of God renews the mind. The Word of God expresses the mind of God to us.

Our minds are to be conformed to the mind of Christ. That conformity does not automatically or instantly occur with conversion. Our conversion by the power of the Holy Spirit is not the end of our learning process but the beginning. At conversion we enroll in the school of Christ. There is no graduation this side of heaven. It is a pilgrimage of lifelong education.

The pursuit of wisdom is the pursuit of the knowledge of God. In one sense, Socrates was right in his insistence that right conduct is right knowledge. This is not in the sense that correct knowledge guarantees right behavior, but in the sense that knowledge, when it grows to wisdom, leads into right behavior. Thus, philosophers can become philotheos, “lovers of God.”

Renew your mind today by immersing it in God’s Word.

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