Ephesians 4:18-22
“They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Chirst! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off you old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires…”
The passage above is just one of many describing the terrible state our hearts are in without the regeneration of Christ, and as long as we remain in this world, we are temped and weakened by our own sinful desires. That is why we must constantly seek the truth through time studying God’s word, praying for his guidance, and encouraging one another as believers. Without using the means God has provided for us to seek him, we will be deceived. I should at this point also recognize I can be deceived and what I write may not be quite correct, but the following comes out of my desire to know the truth and express it so that by this exercise I may be able to clarify things in my own head and so that other believers may be encouraged as well.
In many areas our culture has taken what is corrupt and made it seem right and even beautiful, and what is good has become seen as intolerant or hateful. When we understand the deceitfulness of our own hearts, this is not at all surprising. Before I even attempt to attack any of our skewed views, I would like to look at a few more passages about the “heart” or “natural man.” Jeremiah 17:9 probably states the most bluntly the condition of our heart:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Not only is the hearts' condition deceitful and sick, but it is blind, foolish and helpless as shown in the two following passages.
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-4
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’” 1 Corinthians 1:18-19
I encourage you to read these passages in context to understand them more clearly, but I think it is clear hear that our understanding is clouded and incomplete; only wisdom that comes from God can allow one to see the truth. Relying on one’s own understanding is foolish, and God will allow you to remain foolish while seeking your own understanding. God’s ways are beyond our human understanding, so we must have his guidance.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
Since understanding and wisdom come from God, it does not concern me to the same degree when those who do not claim to follow Christ are corrupt and not only willing to break God’s commands but encourage others to do the same. However, when Christ’s church is blind to sin and corruption and even endorses it, that is tragic and weighs heavily on my mind.
I have written this cautiously and will do the same for my next entry as I attempt to bring to light some terrible things that I see fellow brothers and sisters in Christ doing or supporting. The main reason I must be so careful is that my pride is always lurking around me ready to take my best efforts and twist them into selfish and spiteful things.
