On Depravity (A Fireside Chat)

Please join me as we snuggle up to a cozy fire and discuss the warm and fuzzy topic of man’s depravity. Ok... maybe this topic isn’t so “warm and fuzzy”, but it is extremely important! In fact, a correct view of our nature is a matter of life and death. Jesus said in Mark 2:17, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” In other words, we cannot receive the cure unless we believe in our deadly malady.
       The dictionary defines depravity as “the innate wickedness and moral corruptness of human nature.” Now, the biggest problem with this doctrine is that nobody really believes it (at least not in the fullness in which it reveals the darkness of our hearts). Sure, we may play lip service to this doctrine and say that we are evil and bad, and then maybe say something profound about the doctrine of original sin. In other words, we may understand this doctrine on an intellectual level. But the honest truth is that nobody really feels the full weight of this doctrine. Am I overstating the case? I don’t think so. How do I know this position is true? Simple because our depravity impedes us from fully seeing our depravity!—Ironic isn’t it? And not having an accurate and honest assessment of ourselves horribly demeans God. Let me try to support this last assertion with an illustration...
       Imagine that you have been convicted of a horrible crime and have been sentenced to death. You know that what you did was terrible and that you completely deserve to die. On your way to the gallows, you meditate on your sins and have resigned yourself to pay the full penalty for your crime. However, as you approach the gallows, you see someone else hanging dead on the ropes. Then the executioner unties your hands and informs you that you may go free.
       In disbelief and confusion, you ask, “What’s going on?”
       The executioner then says, “We have a law in our country that says if someone else pays the penalty for your crime, you may go free.”
       “What?” you ask in disbelief. “Who would do that for me?”
       Then looking at the cloths and shoes of the man hanging on the ropes, you notice that they belong to the judge who sentenced you to death. He has paid the price for your crime. He has ransomed his life for yours.
       You see, the gifts of life that Christ offers can only be appreciated when we understand our deserved judgement and death. What good would the judge’s sacrifice be if the criminal did not believe in his own guilt? In the final analysis, by not knowing and feeling the full weight and condemnation of our sins, we rob the cross of its love and sacrifice and glory (and we mock God’s infinite holiness). So to conclude, let me leave you with a quote from Paris Reidhead, 

“Turn to God from idols. For the sword of His wrath that had been aimed at you has been sheathed into the heart of His Son. And the arrows of His anger that had been put against your breast were loosed into the Lord Jesus Christ. Because He has died for you, you were forgiven.”

Father, we remember these words: “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost but now am found. Was blind but now I see!”