A man is not what he is because of what he does.

from, "THE DOCTRINE OF SIN";

"C. Man is by Nature Spiritually Dead.
Rom. 5:12; Col. 2:16; 1 John 3:14.

D. Therefore He Cannot Comprehend Spiritual Things.
1 Cor. 2:14.

E. Hence He Cannot Until Quickened by the Spirit of God,
Turn From Sin to God in Godly Penitence and Faith.
Jer. 13:23; John 6:44,65; 12:39,40."

In simple words this means that a man is not what he is because of what he does;
rather he does what he does because of what he is, fundamentally speaking.


It is very important that we have an adequate understanding of sin.

Many modern errors concerning salvation cannot be held
by those who think logically if they have a proper conception of sin.

I. THE NATURE OF SIN Sin is a hydra-headed thing. It presents different phases.
An adequate treatment of sin must deal with these different phases:

1. SIN AS AN ACT. In 1 John 3:4 we have the definition of sin as an act.
It is a transgressing or a going contrary to the law of God.

2. SIN AS A STATE. There are many people who cannot or will not see that sin goes deeper than an overt act. A little reflection will show that our acts are but expressions of our inner selves. Inward sinfulness then must precede overt acts of sin. Jesus taught this in principle when He said:

"Either make the tree good, and his fruit good;
or make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt:
for the tree is known by his fruit" (Matt. 12:33).

This means that there must be a corrupt tree before there can be corrupt fruit.
Jesus taught this truth explicitly when He said:

"For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, thefts, false witness, blasphemies . . ." (Matt. 15:19).

He taught it again when He said:

"And this is the condemnation: that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:19).

Still again He taught it in the Sermon on the Mount
by emphasizing the fact that men can break the commandments of God
by harboring evil thoughts.

See Matt. 5:21,22,27,28.

In simple words this means that a man is not what he is because of what he does;
rather he does what he does because of what he is, fundamentally speaking.

Note the following additional scriptural proofs that man
is not only sinful in conduct, but that he also exists in a sinful state-
a lack of conformity to God in mind and heart:

(1) The Hebrew and Greek words translated "sin" are as applicable
to dispositions and states as to acts.

(2) Sin may consist of omitting to do the right thing as well as of doing the wrong thing.
"To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" (Jas. 4.17).

(3) Evil is ascribed to thoughts and affections. Gen. 6:5; Jer. 17:9; Heb. 3:I2.

(4) The state of the soul that gives rise to overt acts of sin is expressly called sin.
Rom. 7:8,11,13,14,17,20

(5) Sin is alluded to as a reigning principle in the life. Rom. 6:21 3.

SIN AS A PRINCIPLE. In principle sin is rebellion against God. It is refusing to do the will of Him who has every right to demand obedience of US.

4. SIN IN ESSENCE. "We may follow Dr. E. G. Robinson in saying that, while sin as a state is unlikeness to God, as a principle is opposition to God, and as an act is transgression of God's law, the essence of it always and everywhere is selfishness" (Strong Systematic Theology, p. 295).

Sin may be described as a tree of self-will, having two tap roots.
One is a "no" to God and His demands.
The other is a "yes" to self and self's interests.

This tree is capable of bearing every manner of sin in the catalog of sins.
Selfishness is always manifest in the sinner
in the elevation of "some lower affection
or desire above regard for God and His law" (Strong)

No matter what form sin may take, it is always found to have selfishness as its root.

Sin may take the forms of avarice, pride, vanity, ambition, sensuality, jealousy,
or even love of others- in which case others are loved because they are conceived
of as being in some way connected with or contributing to self.

The sinner may seek truth, but always for selfish, egotistical purposes.

He may give his goods to feed the poor, or even his body to be burned,
but only through selfish desire for fleshly gratification or for honor or reward.
Sin as selfishness has four component parts:

(1) Self will, instead of submission;

(2) self-seeking, instead of benevolence;

(3) self-righteousness, instead of humility and reverence;

(4) self-sufficiency, instead of faith" (Harris).

In proof of the fact that sin is essentially selfishness we urge the following considerations:

(1) In the apostasy of the last days it is said that
"men shall be lovers of self,"

and also "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." (2 Tim. 3:2,4).

(2) When the "man of sin" is revealed, he shall be he that
"exalteth himself against all that is called God" (2 Thess. 2:4).

(3) The essence of the law of God is to love God supremely and others as self.
The opposite of this, the supreme love of self, must be the essence of sin. Matt. 22:37-39.

(4) Satan's apostasy consisted of the preference of self
and selfish ambition to God and his will. Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:12-18.

(5) The sin of Adam and Eve in the garden sprang from a preference of self
and self-gratification to God and His will. Eve ate of the forbidden fruit
because she thought it would give desired wisdom.

Adam partook of the fruit because he preferred his wife to God;
and the reason he preferred his wife to God is that he conceived of his wife
as contributing more than God to his self-gratification.

(6) Cain's murder of Abel was prompted by jealousy, which is a form of selfishness.

(7) Selfishness is the cause of the sinner's impenitence.
God has commanded all men everywhere to repent.

Men refuse to do this because they prefer their own wills to the will of God.

We see, then, that sin is not merely a result of man's imperfect development.
It is a perversity of the will and disposition.

Man will never outgrow it so long as he is in the flesh.
Regeneration puts a check upon it; but it does not destroy it.

Nor is sin the mere result of the union of the spirit with the body.

The spirit itself is sinful and would be just as sinful out of the body
as in the body if left in its natural state.

Satan has no body; yet he is supremely sinful.

Neither is sin mere finiteness.
The elect angels in Heaven are finite; yet they are without sin.
Glorified saints will still be finite; yet they will have no sin.
...

2. TOTAL DEPRAVITY CONSIDERED POSITIVELY.

Total depravity means that sin has permeated every faculty of man's being
just as a drop of poison would permeate every molecule of a glass of water.

Sin has warped every faculty in man, and thus it taints his every act.

(1) Proof of Total Depravity.

A. Man is Depraved in Mind. Gen. 6:5.

B. In Heart. Jer. 17:9.

C. In Affections so that He is Averse to God. John 3: 19; Rom. 8:7.

D. In Conscience. Titus 1:15; Heb. 10:22.

E. In Speech. Psa. 58:3; Jer. 8:6; Rom. 3:13.

F. Depraved from Head to Foot. Isa. 1:5,6.

G. Depraved when Born. Psa. 51:5; Psa. 58:3.


(2) The Effect of Total Depravity.

A. No Remnant of Good Remains in Man by Nature. Rom. 7: I&

B. Therefore Man by Nature Cannot Subject Himself to the Law of God
or Please God. Rom. 8:7,8.

C. Man is by Nature Spiritually Dead. Rom. 5:12; Col. 2:16; 1 John 3:14.

D. Therefore He Cannot Comprehend Spiritual Things. 1 Cor. 2:14.

E. Hence He Cannot Until Quickened by the Spirit of God,
Turn From Sin to God in Godly Penitence and Faith. Jer. 13:23; John 6:44,65; 12:39,40.

The basis of depravity and spiritual inability lies in the heart.

The heart is deceitful and incurably wicked (Jer. 17:9).

Out of the heart are the issues of life (Prov. 4:23).

No one can bring a clean thing out of an unclean one (Job 14:4).

Hence neither holiness nor faith can proceed from the natural heart.

Good things proceed from a good heart
and evil things proceed from an evil heart (Matt. 7:17,18; Luke 6:45).

...

That "good heart" must be Born Again of The Spirit of God.

"Either make the tree good, and his fruit good;
or make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt:
for the tree is known by his fruit" (Matt. 12:33).