A SERIES ON THE PRINCIPLES OF BIBLE INTERPRETATION:
READ: JOHN 3:19 THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MAN
And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than
light, because their deeds were evil.
Last study,
we concentrated our thoughts on that great truth which is foundational
to every other truth/Bible: Sovereignty/God. We asked &
answered a fundamental question last week: Why is God sovereign?
Because He cannot be anything else. Being King/Universe is not what God
does. It is what God is. To be anything else/less would mean that He is
not God. This study, we must (for the sake/balance) as eagerly
proclaim the parallel truth: MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY.
Although the doctrine/divine sovereignty is a million miles away
from the pagan notion of fatalism…yet unbalanced thinking can
drive us into the fatalistic camp. Avoid! If your thoughts/divine
sovereignty lead you to sit back & simply wait/God to act without
the use/means then you have succumbed to fatalistic thinking & you
have no support from the word/God.
When we talk about man's responsibility, we refer to the fact
that he is held responsible by God for the things which he
thinks/says/does. He cannot blame anyone else, least of all God, even
when God displays His sovereign power. This is fast becoming a lost
truth not only in doctrine but in every day life. But we want to
re-establish it in this message.
1) GOD CALLS MAN TO ACCOUNT FOR HIS ACTIONS:
A/ Here is an important truth re: fall/man. Man lost his ability
through sin (again: he was responsible for his actions) to serve &
please God. Unholy bent/bias towards sin captured Adam's heart when he
fell which was also passed on to Adam's seed i.e. the human race.
Three verses put this sinful bias beyond dispute: Genesis 6:5/Jeremiah
17:9/Matthew 7:17-18
B/ Even though man lost his ability (through his sinful choice) to
serve God alright, yet he did not lose his responsibility: an important
note. Man cannot sin himself out of responsibility towards God. God
cannot surrender up His role as Judge of the Universe. So man is
locked into a situation whereby when he sins - and he always sins
willingly - he must be held responsible for his actions & yet he is
also a slave to sin. It is this fact which the Lord Jesus
highlighted/text. No mitigating circumstances. No clever lawyer to
argue man out/his responsibility. Where deeds are reckoned to be
sinful…then the doer is held totally responsible. Consider
Cain/Abel: What hast thou done? (Genesis 4:10) Cain has slain his
righteous brother Abel in the field & immediately he is called to
account for the fact. He is suitably punished for the deed & the
whole tenor/passage is that Cain is guilty. Later testified to in 1
John 3:12 Not as Cain, who was
of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him?
Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
C/ Not only does the Book/God testify to man's wickedness &
accountability…but also his own conscience. Conscience is God's
fifth columnist within your heart. True, it differs from person/person
in its regularity/severity etc., but it still operates. Testifies to
the wickedness/man…enough to damn the heathen who never hear the
gospel: For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the
things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto
themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts,
their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean
while accusing or else excusing one another (Romans 2:14-15)
D/ The coming Day/Judgement will also bear witness to this great fact.
Men will be judged on their secrets (Romans 2:16) Their words -
idle/otherwise - (Matthew 12:36) - Their deeds (Romans 2:6) Not only
acknowledging them…but giving an account (Romans 14:12) and
receiving punishment for them because held responsible. Just as the
conscience often terrifies men here on earth to amazing lengths, what
can we say of that Great Judgement Day: And
the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the
chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free
man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And
said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face
of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For
the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
(Revelation 6:15-17) A Christian who has his conscience
purged/blood of Christ does no so fear that day. His sins are forgiven
& so will not be mentioned (Ezekiel 33:16) or even remembered again
(Hebrews 10:17)
2) GOD IN HIS SOVEREIGNTY NEVER VIOLATES MAN'S FREE AGENCY:
Having now established these 2 great truths (God's sovereignty &
man's responsibility)…what happens when they appear to clash?
God & man just don't go their separate ways & never the twain
shall meet.
A/ God intervenes in the affairs/men. Indeed: According to the purpose
of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
(Ephesians 1:11) We know that these all things extend not only to good
incidents ("Give us this day our daily bread") but even to wicked
things. If it didn't…Romans 8:28 wouldn't be much of a promise.
B/ OLD CHESTNUT: How can God ordain wicked events without being the author/sin? We know the Cross was ordained/God: For
of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both
Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel,
were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel
determined before to be done. (Acts 4:27-28) Cannot be any
clearer/plainer. God did not make the best of a bad job at Calvary.
Whole event was ordained. Christ suffered as it was determined before
of God that he would. And yet it would be better for Judas (who
betrayed Him) had Judas never be born (Luke 22:22) Again, although
Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (Acts
2:23) God's sovereignty & yet man's responsibility...preached
with equal clarity & fervently to unsaved people. How
reconciled? Ans:- Although God ordains sinful events, making them
absolute certain, he never coerces wicked men against their will. We
know that often He restrains wicked men (Psalm 76:10) This is a mercy
to all - perpetrator/victim alike - but sometimes He just takes the
brake off & lets them at it. They are acting freely & so
accountably & yet God is using the event for His own righteous
ends. May be the same event etc., but they are working from two
different standpoints & so one is holy (God) & one (man) is
sinful. When Peter spoke of the God ordained betrayal of Christ by
Judas, he rightly concluded: Judas by transgression fell (Acts 1:25)
Put responsibility were it belonged.
3) MAN IS CALLED UPON TO REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL:
A/ The gospel does something before it saves. Tacitly condemns. A man
who applies for gospel help admits he cannot save himself (Luke
5:31-32) Other notions keep him from the gospel. A man who seeks/gospel
is convinced of two things:
[i] His own sinfulness and accountability:
[ii] His own total and utter helplessness.
We preach both. We believe that even repentance/faith lie beyond sinful
man's natural ability (Ephesians 2:1)..but we still (Apostolic
succession) urge both upon men. Why?
[i] Inability does not negate responsibility. Man forfeits by his sin
his spiritual eyesight etc., Willingly ignorant (2 Peter 3:5) It is not
for us to forgo such preaching. God has claims on men whether they can
meet them or not.
[ii] Evident that through such preaching that God uses these means to
impart the very things he requires. Not for us to work out how or why.
Fact: He does: Romans 10:17/James 1:18
B/ When we so preach the gospel, we do so in a way that brings man's
responsibility/fore. So we plead with men as responsible beings. We
reason & seek to persuade men (2 Corinthians 5:11) Not just a
matter of setting forth a few truths & let them have them if they
will. Men are not robots, void of any responsibility. We seek (by the
secret help/God) to galvanise men into evangelical action i.e. to
strive to enter in (by faith) into everlasting life.
4) IF MAN IS LOST…HE CAN ONLY BLAME HIMSELF:
A/ The gospel offer cannot be any wider than it is (Romans 10:13)
No man has the right to assume/no salvation for him. Sin/unbelief holds him back.
B/ Bible uses language that is consistent with this line/reasoning: Say
unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the
death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live:
turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of
Israel? (Ezekiel 33:11 )
Again: Wicked…shall utterly perish in their own corruption; (2 Peter 2:12)
Why be lost?
Appeal.