| What Did Christ Think About Men?, Part 3 |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, June 27 2005 00:00 |
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We have seen that Jesus saw mankind as inherently evil and flawed by sin. Similarly, Jesus saw man as morally incapable. When he sent away the rich young ruler to think about how much he really wanted to follow Jesus and how good and faithful he really was, the disciples asked him, "Who then can be saved?" (The emphasis should be on the word can which conveys the idea of ability). Jesus responded succinctly, "With man this (salvation) is impossible, but with God all things are possible" (Matt. 19:25-26). The failure of the rich young ruler illustrated this reality clearly: he found it impossible on his own merit and strength to follow Jesus. In the sixth chapter of John Jesus returns again and again to the theme of man's inability: "No one can (lack of ability) come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him (verse 44)……It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail (verse 63)….This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father" (verse 65). In the Good Shepherd sermon Jesus told the Jews that they did not believe because they were not his sheep, and he told them earlier that they did not hear him because they were not of God (John 10:26, 8:47). These passages would indicate that Jesus did not consider that people inherently had the ability to understand and believe Him; rather, that ability was conveyed graciously to those whom God sovereignly claimed as His. Indeed, Jesus did understand that the Trinity controlled the process of human ability. He spoke with blazing clarity in Matt. 11:25ff, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." Jesus understood and so taught Nicodemus that a birth from above would be necessary and precedent to anyone understanding or seeing the kingdom of God. It certainly behooves us to think and act in humility with the mind of Christ on this subject! |
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