I came to faith from a non-Christian, non-religious family that was very dysfunctional. In some ways that was an advantage to my development in Christ after being born again. Why? Because I didn’t have the lack of reasoning that seems to hinder so many believers today. Reason is the God given tool that we all are born with as human beings, but it can be easily compromised by false or misleading tradition or training. These influences put blinders on people’s ability to reason out what works and what doesn’t.
Take, for instance, the doctrine of “ORIGINAL SIN“. Now, this is a hot topic when someone challenges it and yet it affects how we think and reason out our lives choices. It is the held belief that we are born sinful and thus we have no redeeming qualities. This belief was used to develop a theology that says a person can’t and won’t be saved unless they are “ELECTED” by God. In other words, that means a person goes to heaven or hell not because of their choices but rather because God wills it. Why is this important to our reasoning abilities? Simply put, if we are born with a defect just accept it, and this false concept hurts both the unbeliever and the believer. It corrupts the will and clouds the judgment to change.
Now, most Christians have been taught that they were born sinful. The standard scripture they use to back up this belief is in the book of Romans as follows:
Romans 3:10-12 As the Scriptures say,“No one is good—not even one. [11] No one has real understanding; no one is seeking God. [12] All have turned away from God, all have gone wrong. No one does good, not even one.”
People are told that this proves man is born sinful according to Paul’s writing yet they can’t seem to read the scripture with unclouded reason and just accept at face value what Romans 3:10-12 says. The truth is this quote comes from Psalms 14.
Psalms 14:1-3 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. [2] The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. [3] They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.
When you look at the subject in this depiction of mankind it is talking about the “FOOL” not the person that desires God. Common sense tells you if your reason is working clearly that at the time of this writing both David and others were defined by God and themselves as being righteous. They were those who were seeking God and his ways. The only way to understand this passage of scripture is to understand that it talks of those who are foolish. In the very next Psalm, David talks about who may dwell with God: he who walks with integrity and works with righteousness.
Here is the problem with faulty beliefs that cause us to not use reason when reading the Word of God. Scripture constantly establishes that God calls mankind to “WALK” with him yet most of mankind refuses to do so and lives selfish lives to one degree or another. Secondly, scripture teaches that God “HATES SIN” in mankind, yet if man can only do what by nature he is designed to do, namely sin, why would God be angry with mankind? Thirdly, going along with this teaching is the sovereignty of God which teaches that God always gets what he wants because he is God. This flys in the face of man being sinful from birth, which means God can’t possibly hate sin because the world is so full of sin. Indoctrination of theological concepts block the reasoning ability to see the error in this line of thinking. Consider what Paul wrote about God’s desire for “ALL” mankind.
1 Timothy 2:3-4 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Yet many teach that God only cares to save a select few called the “ELECT” and intends to throw the rest of humanity in hell for eternity regardless of their desires. Remember that all the concepts are linked.
In the gospel of John, he wrote what Jesus said about God’s intentions. They were to “SAVE EVERYONE“, not just the elect or some select group that God wanted. Otherwise, scripture should have said that God loved and desired to save just a few people. Either God loves everyone or he doesn’t. If you look at the theme of scripture written over 2,00 years by many authors, there is one thing that is clear. God is seeking to save man:
John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
Now, going back to the idea of people being born sinful. Most who believe this have been taught that David wrote that he was born sinful and thus so are we.
Psalms 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
The problem with this false concept is David is talking about his mother being sinful, not himself. The Psalm speaks about David’s mother, not about David. It states very clearly that “IN SIN” did my mother conceive him. David is not the subject. Consider this, Jewish scholars believed that David was born illegitimate and thus his father Jesse and all his brothers despised David and treated him badly.
According to various Jewish historical writings, David’s father and brothers thought that David’s mother, Nizbeth, had committed adultery and birthed him out of wedlock.
Look what David said about God moving in his life from birth. David praises God and does not lament about his so called sinful birth.
Psalms 71:6 By You I have been sustained from my birth; You are He who took me from my mother’s womb; My praise is continually of You.
Much of the idea of Original Sin hinges on Psalms 51 being interpreted wrongly and thus becoming foundational to the wrong idea that God only saves the elect and rejects all other. Furthermore, what is the purpose of sharing the “GOOD NEWS” of Christ’s forgiveness if we can’t identify who are the elect?
There is more I could write on this but to say it simply, just because we have been taught something doesn’t mean it’s truly biblical. As Paul wrote, we should “Study” to show ourselves rightly divining the word of truth.
Don’t let your theology about God and man cloud your reasoning ability because it will hinder your walk with God and twist your idea of the character of God into something utterly unjust.
Questions:
1) Is you theology or concepts about God and man confusing or fragmented? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into the truth of the word and don’t be afraid of reasoning out what you read.
2) Do you find in yourself in conflict about the fairness of God in your own life or others? Ask the Holy Spirit to give you clarity in your reasoning skills and then approach scripture with the following: A) What is the context in the passage you are reading? B) What or who is the subject? C) What is the historical background what you are reading? D) What was the previously written position of the same person?
As Scripture says, come let us reason together,
Pastor Dale
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