Considering the Extremity of our Sinful Potential

One of the themes of my life and writing, as well as Christian life and writing in general, is the prevailing concept that mankind is both capable of and naturally inclined to doing the most horrendous, despicable, and absolutely self-seeking deeds. All of us. And there is no exception! (Romans 3:10-12)

In the context of a world created by a perfect Creator, that leaves us in a hopelessly irredeemable place. At least on our own, that is. The reason being that, in contrast to what I previously stated, God is both entirely holy and entirely loving (which we, obviously, are not). He is therefore completely incapable of and naturally opposed to doing anything even remotely resembling evil. This is true, whether we like it or not! And it’s a consistent, logical, and reality reflecting worldview, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, whether you agree with it or not.

The fact that, in the context of a perfect Creator, none of us have the ability to save ourselves is what required the redemptive work of Christ. Jesus came to free us from chasing after the unattainable goal of making ourselves right with God. We can’t do it, so He did it for us! The Son of God sacrificed Himself in order for us to have an actual, everlasting relationship with the Lord! Praise the Heavenly Father for His unending love and unmatched grace!

But that’s not what I’m writing about today, at least not directly. Believe me, I would love to be writing directly about that because of the great joy it brings me! If I’m going to write on the good stuff though, I must be willing to write on the ugly stuff as well. So what follows is to be read in the fashion of the words of Jude, one of Jesus’ half brothers, when he wrote, “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”, in Jude‬ ‭1:3‬ ‭(NKJV‬‬). He goes on to address the dangerous teachings of dangerous men who relegate the Kingdom of God down to cheap grace serving as a license to sin (of which, there are multiple ways to do so). How deplorable! How sad!

I mean to contend for the faith in a manner similar to Jude today. I apply the same train of thought and purpose as he in doing so. Please read carefully, I believe these are interpretations of truth you do not want to miss. I remind you, as usual, this is as much, if not more, for me as it is for you.

Consider one more thing before I continue in the nature of the book of Jude. It’s a principle found in two of Jesus’ teachings that He gives almost simultaneously in the Gospel of Matthew (NKJV): He says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment…”, in Chapter 5, verses 21-22. Later, in verse 28 of the same chapter, Christ says, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Do you get it? Jesus is telling us that if we’ve ever acted on our anger, sinfully, towards another person, we may as well have committed murder! And He’s also letting us know that if we’ve ever sensually desired another person outside of a covenant relationship, it is as though we have committed adultery!

That tells me, as it ought to tell you as well, this: The presence of even the most minuscule root of sin symptoms leaves us guilty of the potential for the most heinous of sins. Therefore, guilty above all else, and above all others!

In fact, so guilty are we, I’m willing to bet that everyone reading this post has committed one of the two things we just discussed, either inappropriate anger or wandering eyes, in just the last week! Let’s be real, if you’re more like me, it was likely today!

Now back to the book of Jude, where he begins writing about specific attitudes attributable to an abandoning of God’s true Kingdom economy.

“Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.” Jude‬ ‭1:11‬ (‭NKJV‬‬)

Earlier I made mention that there are several ways for men to falsely cheapen the grace of God. Verse 11 is a clear example of this. As I dig into these three false teacher attitudes you’ll recognize that they are all rooted in the pursuit of setting oneself up as your own God. Which, if you know the story of the Tower of Babel, is an extremely bad idea! By the way, I find it necessary to add that the Pharisees of old were largely guilty of all the following subtleties.

First, The Way of Cain:
You can read of this in Genesis 4:1-10. The problem with what Cain did is that in his offering to the Lord he relied on his own efforts rather than the blood of the lamb provided by God. This was a functional attempt at saving himself through personal righteousness.
This is an abusive adulteration of God’s grace, which instead teaches Christ alone can save us! It is an example of setting yourself up as God because it assumes that you have the power of salvation.
Interestingly (and dangerously) enough, each of the three deceptions we are covering are hard to recognize in ourselves as they are disguised beneath an aspect of truth. In Cain’s case it hides within the truth that faith without works is dead (James 2:17-26). The behavior he exhibited twists that truth so that it caters to the pride of life (1 John 2:16) because he desired to be rewarded, ultimately, for his accomplishments.
Yes, the Lord has called us to works of righteousness, a fruit or proof of our salvation, but as soon as you take pride in accomplishing those things you are dancing with false teachings. Beware the man who perceives he has achieved a higher moral status than another, for when you meet him, you have met the spirit of Cain.

On to The Error of Balaam:
The record of his sin can be found in the book of Numbers, chapters 22-24. The issue with the dealings of Balaam was that he postured himself as God’s ordained mouthpiece to extend the curses and blessings of the Lord, and did so to earn dishonest pay. In reality, Balaam intended to bestow a curse on Israel because he was promised an income for doing so, but God intervened and thwarted him by controlling him to speak forth blessings instead. Crazy, right?! He pretentiously connived in order to take advantage of God’s people!
He functionally believed that, for his “skill”, he was worthy of the praise due only to the Father. Sounds familiar doesn’t it, almost like men who promise a bounty of health and wealth if you pay them their respects, because, after all, that’s exactly what Jesus came for, right?…
God’s grace abused and adulterated, taking glory away from the appropriate recipient. Assuming yourself to be an imminent source of blessing and wisdom is to set yourself up as a god.
The truth this lie is hidden in is found in the Gospels and the book of Acts where Jesus, in His almighty power, gives His followers the power to heal. In reality, when there is healing in Christian ministry, it is not the Christian who performs the miracle, but God working through them. His contrarian behavioral truth twisting catered to the lust of the flesh (1 John 2:16) because he pursued being able to get and do whatever he desired.
Be wary of the individual who uses ministry to gain fame, influence, and fortune, for when you see him, you have seen the face of Balaam.

The Rebellion of Korah:
See Numbers 16:1-35. His sin was questioning the leadership of Moses that had been completely guided by God, when he really had nothing substantial to complain about. At one point in verse 3, Korah says this against Moses and Aaron, “You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” As far as I can tell, he meant well, but he spoke way out of line and thought far more highly of himself than he ought to (Romans 12:3)! It was not his place to publicly criticize the one in command. In function, he was convinced that, because God is no respecter of persons (a phrase meaning impartial), he had no reason to show respect toward any person.
It is an abusive adulteration of the Father’s grace for it ignores the fact that the sacrifice of Christ has freed us from all competition. To assume that your discernment of others’ motives, behaviors, and position is infallible is to set yourself up as God.
He was catering to the lust of the eyes (1 John 2:16) by twisting the truth of equality of all believers before the eyes of the Almighty, despite our differing gifts and roles (1 Corinthians 12) because he saw the opportunity to gain a foothold of power.
Nowhere do we read that it’s appropriate to undermine another follower of Christ when we dislike or disagree with them. Instead we are to work towards unity at all costs and to separate, only, as the very last resort. Beware the man who seeks to usurp his positional superiors in order to remove or replace them, for when you hear him, you have heard the voice of Korah.

Now that you understand the nature of the misdeeds of these men, and their manifestations, let me add another spin on them. In 1 Timothy 4:1, Paul speaks about doctrines of demons that will become pervasive in the latter days. The teaching that most key into when it comes to that phrase, is that of: “God has saved us, His grace is more than sufficient, because of that it’s OK if you keep on sinning. He has already forgiven you, we are totally free from accountability. We are all in a process, eventually your behavior will naturally line up with your faith all on its own.” That lie is exposed in Romans 5:20-6:14. And that lie is actually a manipulation of the truth of sanctification found in a number of Paul’s writings. Don’t get me wrong, that false teaching is absolutely a demonic doctrine. But it’s the one that’s easiest to recognize, it doesn’t take much to see how that is inconsistent with biblical scripture. Anyone can take notice of just how illogical and incomplete that conclusion is. It simply is not reconcilable with the God-ordained laws of justice. When the price is paid, the redeemed act redeemed.

Rarely do we view the deceptions of Cain, Balaam, and Korah in the same light though. That has left us even more prone to these subtler demon doctrines. We must be just as careful with these mindsets as we are with the others. And we need to call out and challenge those mentalities in our churches. The lascivious and the self-righteous are both a step away from falling away.

From there, Jude lists a number of behaviors that can be used as fruit evidence to identify individuals that have been influenced by the three above mentioned deceptions. The appearance of the following habits will reveal whether someone’s way of thinking has been tainted by doctrines of demons or not.

The Lord is coming again “to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly deeds they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh and cruel things ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. These people are [habitual] murmurers, griping and complaining, following after their own desires [controlled by passion]; they speak arrogantly, [pretending admiration and] flattering people to gain an advantage.” – Jude‬ ‭1:15-16‬ ‭(AMP‬‬) Feel free to cross-reference these verses with other properly translated Bible versions in order to solidify its meaning in your personal understanding.

The sin behaviors that Jude mentions will be judged by God at the end of days make up a very surprising list. One that ought to convict us all! It reveals to me that, at a certain point in time, and often even to this day, we have all behaved and continue to behave in a manner similar to apostates. To be an apostate simply means to purposely rebel against God‘s perfect standard even after hearing and understanding the Truth of His Word. Have we not all at least unintentionally rebelled against God’s standard? Do we not all still do this? If we are honest, the answer is yes to both questions. We are all sinners. And we have all, at some point, willfully walked in sin, albeit unintentional at times, even after knowing the truth. Therefore, we are all near apostates. The only people God saves are men with the nasty potential for apostasy! The man who does not recognize or admit his potential for apostasy is in danger of becoming an apostate.

Now back to the list in these verses, so that I can make more sense of what I’m saying if you’re struggling with it. Have you ever constantly complained about the behavior of others or specific personal circumstances? Have you ever been so controlled by your personal opinions and impulsive conclusions that you are unable to keep your mouth shut? Have you ever, knowingly or unknowingly, spoken arrogantly, harshly hardening your speech? Have you ever spoken in a manipulative way in order to get a certain response or reward from another person?

Jude goes on furthermore, “But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” Jude‬ ‭1:17-19‬ (‭NKJV‬‬)

Have you ever, while assuming all your personal perceptions and interpretations are only ever correct, belligerently mocked another man, be he godly or ungodly? Which, by the way, is considered to be a mocking of God (James 3:8-10). In doing so have you caused at least an inkling (likely more) of unnecessary division between a group of people, dare I say, even among brothers and sisters of Christ? To do so caters to all the natural tendencies of the flesh!

I for one, know that I have done all the deeds I have mentioned in this article in some form or another. Therefore, I must admit to the fact that I have walked in a behavior pattern similar to that of an apostate. Are there any others brave enough to humble themselves before God and join me in admitting to this? The verses are clear, do you believe them?

I close by repeating a pertinent earlier statement: The man who does not recognize or admit his potential for apostasy is in danger of becoming an apostate.

Thankfully, in the severe extremity of our sinful potential, we have not been left there. God sent His only Son in the humble form of a baby boy, Emmanuel, God with us. That boy grew up to be the perfect God-man, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed His sinless self on a cross to be the propitiation for mankind’s sin. He is the Messiah, the Savior, for all who receive Him! He redeemed us, covered us in His righteousness, and made it possible for us to be relationally intimate with the Father! And, sealed with the Holy Spirit, it will be that way for all of eternity! God is good. God is gracious to us. Walk in His ways.