Category Archives: Faith and Practice

Is God the author of sin?

Posted on by
Reply

Q. 6. Did God create man evil and perverse like this?

A. No. On the contrary, God created man good and in his image, that is, in true righteousness and holiness, so that he might rightly know God his Creator, love him with his whole heart, and live with him in eternal blessedness, praising and glorifying him.

Q. 7. Where, then, does this corruption of human nature come from?

A. From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden; whereby our human life is so poisoned that we are all conceived and born in the state of sin.

Q. 8. But are we so perverted that we are altogether unable to do good and prone to do evil?

A. Yes, unless we are born again through the Spirit of God.

 Is God to blame for the problem of sin in the world today?  Couldn’t God have prevented all the sin and evil in the world by just not putting the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden in the first place?

God created us so that we might know Him, love Him, and live with Him.  But we were not pre-programmed to do so; we were given a choice.  God wants us to come to Him freely, to choose to know Him, love Him, and glorify Him.  With the choice comes the tremendous potential for good and evil.

If we are honest with ourselves, each of us knows that, like Adam and Eve, we have placed ourselves in the center of the garden; we have put ourselves in the place of God.  Instead of trusting in God to be our source of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we have taken this role upon ourselves.  We have, as Satan promised, become like God, in that we are now the center of our universe.  But since we are not God, we cannot maintain this charade; we cannot live apart from the source of life so we are cursed with death.

The Reformed Faith is not pessimistic about the state of humanity, neither is it optimistic.  It is realistic.  We believe that humanity is fallen and in desperate need of a savior.  We are so perverted that we are altogether unable to do good and prone to do evil, unless we are born again through the Spirit of God.  “Who will deliver me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24-25)

Prayer

Father God, in the light of your Word, I know who I really am.  I am a sinner, broken, in need of your forgiveness and healing.  God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner, and grant me peace. 

For Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

Hating God?

Posted on by
Reply

Q. 3. Where do you learn of your sin and its wretched consequences?

A. From the Law of God.

Q. 4. What does the Law of God require of us?

A. Jesus Christ teaches this in a summary in Matthew 22:37-40: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” (Cf. Luke 10:27.)

Q. 5. Can you keep all this perfectly?

A. No, for by nature I am prone to hate God and my neighbor.

When you closely examine the human condition, there are really only two conclusions you can reach.  The first is that humanity is generally good, that all people mean well, and there is hope for humanity to continually improve upon itself.  In this view, evil is a tragic reminder of our lesser being, something we can overcome by enlightened thinking and a more tolerant society.

The other view, which reflects the revelation of Scripture, is that humanity is fallen and broken, sinful in the eyes of God.  Quoting the Psalms, Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God.”  “For all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.” 

We have been given a high calling, to love the Lord completely, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  While we all may mean well, we all know that we have fallen short of this calling.  As disturbing as it may sound, we are taught that if we do not love God and our neighbor with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, then we are in all actuality, hating God.  Deep down we are all prone to serve ourselves first, to seek first the things of this world and our comfort, rather than loving and seeking after God.  This is where the catechism begins, we are prone to hate God; not to burden us with guilt, but to show us first of our need for salvation, and where that salvation is found.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I know that I have fallen short of your calling; I want to love you, but I am prone to hate you and my neighbor.  Forgive me from my sin in Jesus Christ, that I may be set free to love and serve you.  Amen