Saturday, January 19, 2008

Come, Let Us Reason Together

Sinful human reasoning is the touchstone for all subsequent delinquent behavior. It's out of the abundance of our hearts that our mouths speak, and what fills our hearts is unfailingly filtered through our minds. Yet those very minds - if unregenerate - have by default set themselves up as the High Court of Appeals, Ultimate Judge, and Final Arbiter of all truth claims. Sinful human reasoning automatically usurps the throne of Christ and sets itself up as an idol god. This is as natural for all men as breathing air and is an inescapable fact of life.

Objective truth is found only in view of the revealed Word of God as found uniquely within the Holy Bible and cannot be known by man apart from the inner working, regenerative power of the Holy Spirit. Sinful men suppress the truth in unrighteousness and pretend that they are able to operate in a moral, righteous, self-willed state of grace. Man compares himself to himself and to other fallen men instead of measuring himself against the absolutely Perfect, Righteous, Holy, Just and Infinite Creator and Judge of the universe. Why is this? It's because man is inherently self-righteous, desperately wicked, and utterly corrupted apart from the saving grace of God which comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

This is why Jesus Christ could boldly claim that He was The Way, The Truth, and The Life and that NONE came to the Father but BY HIM! Only HE was worthy. Only HE could meet the standard of perfect, sinless equality with God. Only HE lived a life that fully pleased His Father meaning death had no claim on Him, yet he laid down His life as a ransom for many for the joy set before Him knowing full well He would take it up again as the Firstborn of the dead, a sign and a promise that all those who are called by His Holy Name will partake of His glorious resurrection unto life eternal!

But the lost ought to tremble at the thought of the resurrection of Christ! They ought to fall on their faces in terror! For if this same Christ who was raised from the dead imputes eternal life in an eternal, incorruptible body unto His own as He's promised, then it's just as sure that His promise of the resurrection unto damnation and torment follows for those who are counted as His enemies!

Sadly we know that the reasoning powers of the unregenerate are under the curse of sin and death just like the body, soul, and spirit. Man's mind - his capability for intellectual reasoning - isn't exempt from the corruption and power of sin. Prior to the fall Adam had a perfect mind, and therefore his reasoning powers were also perfect - in fact he was for a time sinless. But despite his sinless perfection Adam found the world around him - his environment - unintelligible apart from God's special verbal revelation. Adam was the creation and God was the Creator. God had to explain to Adam where he came from, what his position was in the created order, what to eat - and what not to eat - and what his duties were. Bear in mind that at this point all the created order was in perfect sinless harmony with God's original design meaning that all nature literally screamed out with God's natural revelation - yet a perfect and sinless man with perfect and sinless reasoning powers - which were as of that point yet untainted with sin - still couldn't make sense of anything without God's special verbal revelation!

How much less should fallen, sinful men today place their trust in their own corrupted minds and take a high view of themselves and a low view of God's special verbal revelation as preserved in the Holy Bible? God forbid! As fallen and corrupted sinners all men ought to fall on their faces before the Infinite Creator and Judge of the universe and praise the Redeemer and Savior of men, Jesus Christ the Son of God as our Lord and Savior forsaking all in service and humble obedience to Him!