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Romans Series #25[i]

Title: Human Nature

in its Fourfold State

Text: Romans 3:9-19

Subject: Depravity and Grace

Introduction:

Almost four hundred years ago the Puritan theologian, Thomas Boston, wrote a book titled “Human Nature in Its Fourfold State,” a very good, well-written book, which continues to be reprinted to this day. I take the title of Boston’s excellent work for the title of my message — Human Nature in Its Fourfold State. My text is Romans 3:9-19.

(Romans 3:9) What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; (10) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (12) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (13) Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: (14) Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: (15) Their feet are swift to shed blood: (16) Destruction and misery are in their ways: (17) And the way of peace have they not known: (18) There is no fear of God before their eyes. (19) Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Man’s Nature

With those words God the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to describe the nature of fallen man. Every human being since the fall of our father Adam comes into this world “under sin,” “dead in trespasses and in sins,” in a state of total depravity, utterly corrupt and sinful, with no desire to improve himself, and no ability to do so if he had the desire. That is your condition and mine by nature.

Had I nothing else to preach to you but that which is revealed in my text, I don’t think I could preach at all, I don’t think I could bear to declare that which is plainly written here in the Book of God. But, blessed be His name forever, I have something more to say. Sinners we are, sinners justly deserving God’s holy, infinite wrath in hell. Sin we must own and confess before God; but that sad, gloomy fact is something I rejoice to declare, praying that God will make you to know your sin, because “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners!” The Lord God declares that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Oh, may God the Holy Spirit convince you this day of your sin, may He sweetly compel you to confess your sin, oh, may He be pleased to give you life and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinner’s Savior!

“Physician of my sin-sick soul

To Thee I bring my case;

My raging malady control,

And heal me by Thy grace.

Pity the anguish I endure,

See how I mourn and pine;

For never can I hope a cure

From any hand but Thine.

I would disclose my whole complaint,

But where shall I begin?

No words of mine can fully paint

That worst distemper, sin.

It lies not in a single part,

But through my frame is spread

A burning fever in my heart.

A palsy in my head.

It makes me deaf, and dumb, and blind,

And impotent and lame,

And overclouds and fills my mind,

With folly, fear, and shame.

A thousand evil thoughts intrude,

Tumultuous in my breast;

Which indispose me for my food,

And rob me of my rest.

Lord I am sick, regard my cry,

And set my spirit free;

Say, canst Thou let a sinner die,

Who longs to live to Thee?”

—— John Newton

Proposition: Man, fallen, depraved, sinful man is set before us in the Word of God as the peculiar, distinct object of God’s mercy, love, and grace. — Find me a sinner, and I will show you one of God’s elect, one for whom Christ died, one who must and shall be saved.

“What is man?” — Do not ask philosophers what they imagine, educators what they read in books, scientists what they see in microscopes, psychologists what they see in asylums, or sociologists what they learn from tests; but ask God who made us. He declares in His Word that man is fallen, depraved, sinning, sinful, cursed, condemned, helpless, dying flesh. Men are grasshoppers before Him. Men are the dust of the earth, no more. Man is a lump of clay. Man is a puff of smoke, a mist of vapor, the small dust of the balance, a drop in a bucket. Man is insignificant! All the nations of all men in all the world are less than nothing before the great and infinite God.

· Man is nothing!

· Man has nothing!

· Man can do nothing!

You are nothing. And I am nothing. No matter how many of us nothings you put together, nothing added to nothing is still just nothing. God, teach us to know our nothingness, that we may look to Christ for everything!

Divisions: To that end, that we may, indeed, look to Christ for everything, let me show you the fourfold state of man, as it is set before us in the Word of God.

The State of Man in Innocence
The State of Man in Sin
The State of Man in Grace
The State of Man in Glory

Innocence

First, let’s go back to Genesis chapter 1. Our text describes man in a state of sin, fallen, depraved, and guilty; but that was not always the case. In the beginning of the creation, in the beginning of the Book of God, here in Genesis 1, we will see man in a state of innocence. Innocence was the original state and condition of man in the Garden, before sin entered into the world.

Illustration: During the great depression there were soup lines in every major city in the United States. One day, as a man was serving soup to a long, long line of homeless, hungry people, he spotted a man who stood out from the crowd. This man was wearing an obviously well-made, expensive suit. It was worn and dirty, but it had obviously once been the suit of a wealthy man.

The man serving the soup could not help staring at the other man, wondering, “Who is he? Where does he live? What is his background?” Of course, the poor man noticed. When he stepped up for his soup, he said “Sir, I’ve seen better days.”

That is a pretty good illustration of the human race. We have seen better days. Man was not always what he now is. The human heart was not always depraved. Man’s mind was not always perverse. Our race was not always the chaotic mass of iniquity that it now is. The wise man, Solomon, declared, “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” Man was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-28).

(Genesis 1:26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Righteousness — When the Bible asserts that God created Adam in his own image, many, many things are implied; but it is certain that that declaration means that Adam was created in the moral image of God. God made Adam upright, righteous. Adam had no sin, no inclination toward sin, and no reason to sin.

Brilliance — Not only was Adam created in moral uprightness, he was created an intellectually brilliant being. Man did not begin as a glob of slime which gradually developed itself into a mythical caveman. Oh, no! Adam is the one who named every living thing!

Dominion — Not only did Adam name every creature of God, he had dominion over all creation. God put everything under the feet of that one whom he made in his own image and after his own likeness. It is impossible for us, knowing the weakness, stupidity, and wickedness of man today, to imagine what Adam and Eve must have been before the fall. But these things are revealed. They were in innocence, righteous, brilliant, and in dominion over God’s creation. But something happened.

The Condition — God gave Adam dominion over and the possession of everything He had made. Only one condition for his happy, blessed, peaceful life was stipulated. Adam must always acknowledge God as God. He must always bow, in willing submission to the will, glory, and dominion of his God. That is what was symbolized in the tree in the midst of the garden (Genesis 2:17).

(Genesis 2:17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Sin

God made man upright, righteous, without sin, holy; but we did not stay in that condition for very long.

(Ecclesiastes 7:29) “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man (ADAM) upright; but they have sought out many inventions.”

So, second, the Word of God gives us a clear, unmistakable picture of the state of man in sin.

The picture drawn of fallen man in this Book is not a pretty one. It is not the picture given by educators, moms and dads, sociologists, psychiatrists, preachers, or politicians; but it is a true and accurate description of us all by nature. What is more, though we all naturally deny it (because we despise the fact of it), we all know that it is an accurate description of ourselves.

Hear the Word of God. — "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." — "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” — There are no exceptions. All men are, from the moment of conception, sinners. We all came forth from our mothers’ wombs speaking lies.

Sin is not the result of man’s environment, the evil influences of a corrupt society, or the result of a perverse educational system. Sin is the nature of all men. We are, as the Lord God declares, “a sinful people, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters.”

How did we become such? How did we get into this mess? — We “have forsaken the Lord!”

· We did so representatively in our father Adam (Psalm 14:3; Romans 5:12).

· We do so by nature (Psalm 58:3; Romans 8:7).

· And we have all wilfully forsaken him from our youth up, by our own, calculated, deliberate choice (Isaiah 53:6; Ephesians 2:1-3; Romans 3:10-19).

Read those verses again and again, keep reading them until God the Holy Spirit convinces you that you and all others are altogether guilty and without excuse before God. You will never seek the mercy and grace of God in Christ until you are convinced of your sin, convinced that you are without excuse, and convinced that you are personally guilty before the holy Lord God.

We are, every one of us, and every one of our children, sinners, corrupt at heart, corrupt by nature, corrupt by choice, and corrupt by practice. — So vile, so corrupt we are, that the thoughts of the human heart are only evil continually (Genesis 6:5; Matthew 15:19-20).

(Matthew 15:19) For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: (20) These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

So evil we are that we cannot and will not do good (1 John 1:8-10).

(1 John 1:6) If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: (7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

If you die without Christ, this is what you shall be forever in hell. There will be no changes on the other side of the grave. Whatever else hell may be, it is a place of ever-increasing torment, blackness, darkness, corruption, and burning lusts, without satisfaction.

This is called “Total Depravity.” We are depraved, spiritually dead sinners by nature, incapable of changing our condition, or even wishing to change it. Man is so depraved that it is utterly impossible for him ever to escape the wrath of God, if left to himself. But, blessed be God, that which is impossible with men is possible with God! By the work of his sovereign, free, distinguishing, effectual grace, some men and women are made new creatures in Christ. May God be pleased to do for you what you cannot and will not do for yourself. Oh, may God be pleased to save you from yourself, for Christ’s sake!

Grace

Now, third, turn to Ephesians 2, and you will see human nature in a state of grace — Ephesians 2:1-10.

(Ephesians 2:1) And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; (2) Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: (3) Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (4) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (7) That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9) Not of works, lest any man should boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Allow me to simply show you four things which describe the state and condition of all God’s elect, once they are born of God, once they are called to life and faith in Christ, by the irresistible grace and omnipotent mercy of God the Holy Ghost.

Forgiven — Believers are forgiven of all sin, forever (Romans 4:8; Ephesians 1:3-6) It is not our faith in Christ that secures our forgiveness, but the Father’s decree from eternity and the Son’s blood atonement at Calvary. God the Father looked upon His elect in Christ from eternity as a people for whom ransom was made, justly forgiven, by the blood of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). As such, we were and are from eternity “accepted in the Beloved.” All the sins of God’s elect were imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ when he died as our Substitute at Calvary. He, being made sin for us, was punished for our sins to the full satisfaction of God’s infinite justice. Justice, being satisfied by His blood, has put away our sins, expunged them from the record books of heaven; and they are no more (Jeremiah 50:20). Therefore, God will not, and cannot in justice, impute any sin to those for whom Christ died. — “Forgiven” — What a blessed word of grace!

Justified — In Christ all who believe are justified before God by the imputed righteousness of Christ (Romans 4:6-8, 25; 5:1-2; 6-10, 18-19).

(Romans 4:6) Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, (7) Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. (8) Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

(Romans 4:25) Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

(Romans 5:1) Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (2) By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

(Romans 5:6) For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (7) For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. (8) But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

(Romans 5:11) And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

(Romans 5:18) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (19) For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Just as our sins were imputed to and charged against the Lord Jesus Christ, when He was made sin and bore our sins in His own body on the tree, so that our sins became His, our debt became His, and our guilt became His before God’s holy law, so His righteousness is imputed to all His people by an act of sovereign grace and strict justice, because we are made the righteousness of God in Him!

· This is an act of God’s sovereign grace, because He chose to do it and because we do nothing to merit it for ourselves. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us “without (our) works.”

· It is an act of strict, unbending justice, because Christ our Substitute has earned it for us by His obedience unto God in our room and stead.

Sanctified — Every believer is also sanctified by the grace of God. We are sanctified in Christ by imparted righteousness. It is true, God’s elect were sanctified in His elected love from eternity (Jude 1), and sanctified by Christ’s blood when atonement was made for our sins at Calvary (Hebrews 9:10-14). And we are sanctified in this present life in this state of grace, by having the righteousness of Christ imparted to us in the new birth. Believers are a people who have been made partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:2-4).

(2 Peter 1:2) Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, (3) According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (4) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

In the new birth, the Holy Spirit creates in chosen, redeemed sinners a holy, righteous nature, a principle of grace called, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). He does not make the old heart new. He gives us a new heart. He does not improve our old nature. He gives us a new nature. He does not repair the old man. He creates a new man.

Warring — The believer, so long as he lives in this tabernacle of clay, is a person at war with himself (Romans 7:14-24; Galatians 5:17-23; 1 John 3:5-10). Like David of old, God’s elect are often compelled to confess, “So foolish was I and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee” (Psalm 73:22). Nevertheless, our God is still our God. “The foundation of God standeth sure.” When our heart and our flesh fail, God does not. He will yet guide us with His counsel, and afterward receive us up to glory.

Glory

But, blessed be His wonderful name forever, our God is not done with us yet. There is another state of man described in this Inspired Book. You who perish without Christ shall remain in your present state of corruption, depravity, sin, and turmoil forever. Hell is a place of blackness, corruption, darkness, depravity, sin, and indescribable torment. The worm of memory will eat at you forever. The fires of your unbridled, but completely unsatisfied, lusts and ever accusing conscience will never cease! But every believer, every chosen, redeemed, called sinner, forgiven, justified, sanctified, now at war with himself, shall soon escape all the consequences of sin. The children of God shall forever dwell with Christ in glory.

So, fourth, the Word of God describes the state of man in Glory. I do not pretend to know much about it; but I do know this — In that blessed state called glory, every chosen, blood bought, saved sinner shall be with Christ and like Christ forever.

(1 John 3:1) Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (2) Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (3) And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Oh, my brother, my sister, we who trust the Lord Jesus Christ are “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.” Glory awaits us!

In heaven’s glory, the purpose of God in sovereign, eternal election and predestination will be fulfilled (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4-6). One great object of our heavenly Father in choosing us unto salvation in Christ was that we might be made perfect, holy, unblameable, and unreproveable before him, — not just as a matter of judicial record, but in actuality! And God shall have His purpose fulfilled.

In heavenly glory, our great Savior “shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” — The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall not be discovered a miscarriage. Every blood bought sinner will be presented by Him, before the presence of the glory of the triune God, washed in His blood, robed in His righteousness, in the perfection of absolute holiness (Jude 24-25). So thorough and complete is that righteousness which He makes to be ours that when God Himself searches for our iniquities, transgressions, and sins, He shall find none (Jeremiah 50:20).

When every redeemed sinner has at last entered into that blessed state of glory, promised us before the world began, the work of God the Holy Spirit shall be completed. — God the Holy Spirit is the seal of the covenant, the seal of grace (Ephesians 1:13-14, 4:30). He is the pledge of our inheritance. His dwelling in us is both the down payment and the infallible security of our everlasting inheritance with Christ in heaven.

In Glory Land all the truest, deepest desires and longings of every saved sinner shall at last be perfectly fulfilled. — What is it that you truly want, my brother, my sister? In the depths of your soul, what do you truly want? Does your heart long to be free from all sin and pant for perfect holiness? Do you crave perfect, uninterrupted communion and fellowship with Christ? Does your soul beg for grace to live in absolute, perfect consecration to God? All this shall be yours in that state of glory awaiting us. All this, and more, is included in this promise. — “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is!”

No Sorrow! — No Sighing! — No Sickness!
No Pain! — No Parting! — No Pining!
No Confusion! — No Conflict! — No Crying!
No Division! — No Disappointment! — No Death!
No Sin! — No Sin! — No Sin!

(1 Corinthians 15:49-57) "And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. (50) Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. (51) Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (54) So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (55) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (56) The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Illustration: The Robin’s Eggs

Then, the purpose of God for man shall be complete and fully accomplished. All things shall be put under our feet, when all things are put under Christ’s feet!

Amen.

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s