Some people argue that people are basically good and if treated well and brought up in a favourable environment will live respectfully towards others. Religion is apparently being nice towards others and observing the golden rule. Digging into one’s pockets will swiftly reveal otherwise. A set of keys, wallet and phone will suffice to illustrate the seriousness of the human condition.
Sin nature uncovered
What do car keys, house keys, bike keys, work keys and even keys to open a church reveal? Cars need to be locked and so do houses, bikes, our workplace and even a centre where people worship. A wallet has cards that can be stolen, though even if that happens, pin codes are used to avoid having money stolen. Phones can also be stolen, though they can also be locked to protect our personal information. You shall not steal is just of one of the Ten Commandments; yet we have to take universal and thorough precautions because of that ongoing problem.
Sanctification needed
On the other end of the spectrum, others think that they have reached the state of sinless perfection. For the former, when asked to prove the existence of sin to someone that denies it, R.C Sproul famously quipped “Take their wallet!” Similarly for the latter, Spurgeon is said to have poured a jar of milk over someone’s head who claimed to have attained sinless perfection and their immediate irate response spoke for itself and revealed otherwise. Sanctification is an ongoing process until those who know the Lord will be glorified with Him.
Solution required
When it comes to conquering our sin nature, we could never pay our way out even with an inexhaustible supply of riches. We could never find the solution by calling someone to help us since others are equally unable to escape the same condition. We could never unlock ourselves from being bound by our sin since without the Lord we are impotent.
The solution is to call on the Lord and be saved. This means having a conviction of the seriousness of our sinful condition, genuine repentance and trusting Him. The Lord paid the debt for all our sins through His blood in the ultimate sacrifice, a single transaction that we could never pay for. We have to ask, seek and knock and we will find the Lord and the door be will opened unto us. The Lord Jesus is the door.
He is the only way to the Father. He is the door of the sheep and the sheep hear His voice. This will mean that we will recognise that we cannot save ourselves and we will follow Him instead of following our hearts and trust in Him.
Staying close to the Saviour
A disciple of the lord will become a new creature in Christ with a new nature and new desires to please Him not ourselves. Like Paul, though we will try to please the Lord, we will at times, find ourselves doing the things we wished we didn’t do and vice versa. Mercifully, the closer we draw to our Saviour, the closer He will draw to us and the more acute our reaction will be when we sin, since it painfully affects the quality of our fellowship with the Lord. Our identity will no longer be defined by our sin when we were formerly at enmity with God, but our identity will be belonging to and in union with Christ as we become increasingly like Him until the day our Lord returns.