Mankind Dead in Sins

Lesson One

Mankind Dead in Sins

God made man good and very good (Gen. 1:31).  He made man in His own image (Gen. 1:26,27).  In this condition man was without sin.

God put man in the garden of Eden and gave him everything that he needed.  God gave man only one negative command -- He told man not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that if man did eat of this tree he would die (Gen. 2:17).

Satan tempted the woman and told her that she would not die if she ate of the forbidden fruit.  The woman believed Satan and ate; she also gave some to her husband and he ate (Gen. 3:6; I John 2:16).  The woman was actually deceived by Satan, but Adam was not -- he simply rebelled against God's commandment (I Tim. 2:14).

Now Adam and Eve did not drop dead on the spot even though God had told them that on the day that they ate they would surely die (Gen. 2:17).  We know that God is not a liar, so what did He mean when He said that they would surely die?

To begin with they began to die physically the very day that they ate.  They became subject to infirmities, sickness, and the aging process which finally killed them.  Scientists and doctors have tried for centuries to halt the aging process in mankind but have never been able to do it.  Literally, "man is born to die." (Job 14:1-5; Psalm 90:10; Psalm 103:15; I Peter 1:24; James 4:14).

This physical death is basically the separation of the soul from the body (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

But, even more important, Adam and Eve died in another way the very day in which they disobeyed God.  This death was the separation of man from God.  Before sinning, man had enjoyed fellowship with God; after sinning man no longer had this fellowship with God (Gen 3:7-13).

Both physical death and the death of separation from God are a result of sin (Romans 5:12; James 1:1

Questions

1. Did Adam's sin make sinners out of all the other people who would be born? (Rom 5:12).

2. If questions #1 is answered "yes", then why is this so? (Job 14:4)

3. When babies are conceived in their mothers' wombs are they conceived pure and sinless or are they conceived as sinners? (Psalms 51:5  Psalms 58:3).

4. Do babies ever die in infancy?  If so, what brings about their death?  (Rom 5:12).

5. Is there anything in the Bible about an age of accountability at age 12 or any other age?  If so, where is it found?

Memory Verse:  Romans 5:12

I want to make it plain that God can and does save infants who die in infancy.  He saved David's child (II Samuel 12:23).  Whether God saves all infants who die in infancy we don't know because the Bible doesn't say either yes or no and we are not to argue when the Bible is silent.

One thing is sure from Scripture and that is that babies are born sinners.  If they are saved it is by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The only hope of an infant dying in infancy is salvation as believed and taught from the Scriptures by the Primitive Baptist Churches.  Most other people teach that a person must hear and accept the gospel in order to be saved.  This is impossible in the case of an infant.

But the Scriptures teach that God can give eternal life to an infant in its mother's womb (Luke 1:41,44) or to a very small baby on its mother's breast (Psalm 22:9).  But we must not let this blind us to the fact that babies are sinners.  God hated Esau while he was still in his mother's womb (Romans 9:10-13).  We must not question God.

Lesson Two

Mankind Dead in Sins

When man fell into sin and died the death of separation from God, he also fell under the wrath of God (John 3:36; Rom. 5:9; Rom. 9:22; Eph. 2:3; I Thess. 1:10).  This wrath of God is a terrible thing and those who have to endure it will be in torments forever in hell (Mark 9:44).  This terrible penalty is a result of sin, which is rebellion against God.  If a person dies in his sins, he will have to endure this terrible wrath (John 8:21,24).  This shows how very terrible the fall into sin in the garden of Eden really was.  The only hope anyone has of escaping this terrible penalty is in the lord Jesus Christ.

When man is in this condition of being dead in sin, he is completely dead to the things of God.  He is not just sick -- he is completely dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1,5).  While in this condition, a man may have physical life but be completely dead as far as understanding spiritual things are concerned.  He can eat, sleep, go to church, even read the Bible -- but he can't really know, love, or appreciate the things of God.  He can hear and understand a sermon but he can't really understand it in its deepest sense (John 8:43,47).  He simply cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God because he does not have the Spirit of God in Him (I Cor. 2:9-14).

A natural man, dead in sins, may be very religious and may do many good works, but he doesn't do them for the right reason.  The Pharisees were very religious but many of them were not God's children (John 8:13-24).  A true spiritually alive child of God will serve God from the heart because he loves Him.  A dead sinner may outwardly serve God, but he cannot serve Him from the heart, for his heart is dead toward God.

A dead sinner can't save himself; he can't even help save himself; he can't even meet God halfway; he can't even cooperate with God in his salvation.

Questions

1. Can a man dead in sins "accept Jesus Christ" as his personal Saviour?  Why or why not?

2. Can you tell if a man is dead in sins by looking at him?

3. Can a very intelligent man, dead in sins, understand the Bible better than a real dumb, spiritually alive child of God?  Why or why not?

4. Can you think of some reasons why a dead sinner might like to go to church?

5. Why would a dead sinner give a lot of money to the church or to some other Christian cause?

Lesson Three

Mankind Dead in Sins

When man fell into sin his nature became corrupt.  By this we mean that his disposition, his desires, his appetites became prone to evil.  Man's very nature -- his very instinct, was to do evil (in the Bible sense, everything which is not done to the glory of God is evil).  Man does not sin in order to become a sinner -- he sins because he is a sinner.  Man, in his natural state, loves sin (Matt. 12:33; Matt. 15:19; John 3:19).

While in this state man's will is a slave to man's nature.  So no man has a free will.  There is no such thing as a free moral agent.  For example: place a piece of raw meat and a bowl of cereal in front of a lion.  Which will he choose?  The raw meat, of course.  Why?  Because he is by nature a meat eating animal.  In a sense he was free to choose either the cereal or the meat, but in another sense he was not really free because he was controlled by his nature.  Likewise, a spiritually dead sinner will always choose to do evil, he will always rebel against the demands of Christ in his life.  He will always reject the gospel.  Outwardly he may appear pleasant and good, but inwardly, he is always bad.  And even his outward good works are bad in God's eyes.  This is because "whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Rom. 14:23).  The spiritually dead sinner does not have faith so everything he does is sinful in the eyes of God (Heb. 11:6; II Thess. 3:2).

Questions

1. Why is even the action of a dead sinner when he is working at his normal occupation sin in the eyes of God?  (Prov. 21:4).

2. Why didn't God accept Cain's sacrifice?  (Gen. 4:2-5; Heb. 11:4; I John3;12; Prov. 15:8).

3. When we say that man doesn't really have a free will, does this mean that God makes him sin?  (Acts 4:26-28; Acts 2:23; Prov. 16:4; James 1:13).

4. When spiritually dead sinners sin are they doing what they want to do?  (Rom. 1:32; John 3:19).

5. What does Matthew 7:15-20 mean?  (I John 4:2,3).

Lesson Four

Mankind Dead in Sins

Every part of a spiritually dead sinner is affected by sin.  Since this is a very misunderstood subject, let us see what we do not mean by the above statement.

We do NOT mean that:

1. . . . the sinner is completely without a moral conscience.  Even the dead sinner has a certain sense of right and wrong (Rom. 1:32).  Even criminals have a certain code of ethics.

2. . . . the mere natural man does not have any of those qualities which are considered good according to human standards.  A mere natural man may in fact be considered an outstanding citizen in his community (I Cor. 13:2,3;  Matt. 7:22,23).

3. . . . every man is by nature prone to every form of sin.  This would not be possible, because some forms of sin exclude others.  For example the sin of stinginess may exclude the sin of luxury -- the sin of pride may exclude the sin of adultery or drunkeness.

4. . . . men are by nature unable of engaging in acts that are outwardly conformed to the law of God (Luke 18:11,12).

5. . . . men are as corrupt as they might be.  Men may and do grow worse and worse (II Tim. 3:13).  The potential for every form of evil is in the heart of the sinner, but he may not have fully developed this potential.

Questions

1. What are some good qualities that a dead sinner may have?  Are these considered good in the eyes of man or good in the eyes of God?  (Matt. 5:46,47)

2. Can you think of a reason why a dead sinner might live a good life so far as sexual morality is concerned?

3. Why would some dead sinners not commit murder?

4. Why would some dead sinners not be drunkards?

5. Can you think of at least one man in the Bible who outwardly kept the law of God even while he was dead in trespasses and in sins?  Why did he keep God's law while he was in this condition?

6. Are all dead sinners lazy and slothful?  Why would a dead sinner be a hard worker?

Memory Verse:  Psalm 51:5

We are already supposed to have memorized Rom 5:12 which shows that Adam passed sin down to the whole human race.  Let us now memorize Psalm 51:5 which shows that David and all other people are born into the world as sinners.

Lesson Five

Salvation by Grace

Salvation is entirely by the grace of God.  The Bible tells us, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast." (Eph. 2:8,9).  This scripture sets grace in contrast with works.  In fact, salvation can't be by a combination of grace and works because it would no longer be salvation by grace (Rom. 11:6).  The main idea in grace, then, is "kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved."

Grace is also set in contrast to the law, therefore if salvation comes by grace, then salvation does not come by the individual keeping the law of God (John 1:17).

Many people say, "Yes, I believe in salvation by grace.  I don't believe that man gets salvation by his works.  But I do believe that man must exercise his will and accept Jesus Christ as his personal saviour."  But the Scriptures plainly teach that salvation is not by the works of man nor by the will of man (Rom. 9:16).  Salvation is the work of God alone.

This has to be so because man by nature is dead in trespasses and in sin and can do absolutely nothing to save himself, to help save himself, or to even cooperate in his salvation (Eph. 2:5).

God, in his mercy and for reasons known only to Himself chose or elected a people before the foundation of the world and determined that He would save them from their sins (Eph. 1:4; II Tim. 1:9).  Some people say that God has a book of life and that He writes people's names in it as they accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.  This is not true.  God had all the names of His elect people written in the book of life before the world began (Rev. 17:8).  God did not choose or elect some people because they were better than others.  He simply chose some according to His good pleasure and didn't choose others according to His good pleasure (Rom. 9:11-24).  We are not to question God about this but we are to trust Him.

These elect or chosen people were still sinners so something had to be done to remove their sins from them.  Jesus Christ came and paid for the sins of the elect when He died on the cross.  He didn't die for everyone.  He died for the chosen or the elect only.  And everyone for whom Christ died will be saved eternally in heaven.  Christ is not a failure.  He did just exactly what He intended to do (John 6:39; John 10:11; John 17:2; Matt. 1:21; John 8:47; John 10:26; Matt. 20:28).

Christ, in His death on the cross, provided salvation for all His people.  But that salvation actually has to be brought to them.  This is the work of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit brings the elect to Christ to receive spiritual life.  As the Holy Spirit calls, those who are called always come because the call is so powerful (John 6:37, 44; John 3:8; John 10:27-30).

After God's people are born again, or have eternal life, then God preserves them in grace so that they can never lose their salvation.  They may stumble and fall but the Lord will always pick them up again.  When they die their spirit will go to God and their bodies will return to dust.  At the resurrection their bodies will be raised and glorified; their bodies and spirits will be rejoined and they will be eternally happy in the presence of God. (Phil. 1:6; John 10:27-30; Rom. 8:28-39; John 6:39,44).

The gospel is not an instrument that brings about the new birth.  But after a person is born again then he is able to respond to the gospel in a positive way.  The gospel does not give spiritual life but it manifests spiritual life.  The Lord has to touch the heart of a person before he can truly accept and embrace the teachings of the gospel (II Tim. 1:10; Acts 16:14).

To try to show the work of each person in the Trinity in the work of salvation, let us give a homely illustration:

God the Father is the architect who drew up the plan of salvation.  He designed it perfectly in every detail.  He did this before the world began.  God the Son was the Contractor of the work of redemption.  He took the plan drawn up by the Father before the foundation of the world and built the house of salvation by coming into this world, living perfectly before the Father, and dying the death of the cross.

The Holy Spirit is the One who actually gets God's people and puts them into possession of the house of salvation.  He does this when He causes them to be born again.

In Scripture, this work of the Trinity can be seen in I Peter 1:2.

Memory Verses:  We have memorized Romans 5:12 and Psalm 51:5.  Let us now memorize Ephesians 2:1 and I Corinthians 2:14.

Note: The following article should be read and studied before proceeding to Lesson 6.

DEAD MEN CAN'T SEE

A Study of I Corinthians 2:14

The Natural Man

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."  This passage from I Cor. 2:14 tells us that the natural man (the man who has not been born from above by the Holy Spirit) is totally unable to receive or even to understand anything of a truly spiritual nature.  The natural man may be extremely intelligent and well-read; he may be very cultural and sophisticated; he may be artistic and able to converse in several languages -- but he cannot understand even one small spiritual truth while he remains in his natural state.

This man may read the Bible and even memorize whole chapters from it, but he cannot really grasp its true and deepest meaning.  This man may go through the motions of prayer, but he is not really praying as far as God is concerned.

Why is this so?

Because the natural man does not have spiritual life.  He is totally dead to the entire realm of the Holy Spirit.  How did the get to be this way?  The first man on the earth, Adam, disobeyed God's command and brought death -- both spiritual and physical death -- down upon the entire race of mankind.  The Apostle Paul states the case in Romans 5:12 -- "Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

The purely natural man has physical life but he is spiritually dead.  In the Bible this is called being "dead in trespasses and sins." (Eph. 2:1).  All men are nothing more than natural men from their very conception, and they remain this way unless God gives them spiritual life.  David even said, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51:5).

Natural men do not realize how very dead they are!

Christ once talked to a group of these natural men who didn't realize that as far as spiritual things were concerned, they were utterly dead.  He was speaking to a group of Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day.  He said, "Why do ye not understand my speech?  Even because ye cannot hear my word." (John 8:43).  This is a remarkable statement.  These men did actually hear the words spoken by Jesus, yet Jesus said that they didn't hear His words.  Furthermore, he said that they could not hear His words.  So there must have been a deeper level of hearing that went beyond the mere physical sound of Jesus' voice.  And as far as this level was concerned, these Pharisees were dead, even though they had physical life.

And they are not the only ones who are dead.

Christ said, "He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." (John 8:47).  So only the people of God can really hear and spiritually understand the words of God.  They are foolishness to everyone else.

I would like to ask  a question.  Are God's words foolish to you?

Alive, Yet Dead

How can a man have physical life, be intelligent and active, and yet be dead to the things of God?  Why is a man who is able to comprehend physical realities unable to do the same with spiritual phenomena?  The simple answer is this:  "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12).  So a man may have tremendous physical vitality and be as dead as a stone to the true realities. This explains why many scientists with very high levels of intelligence are able to deny the things of God and some of them actually deny the very existence of God.  They may be very brilliant men but they are also dead men.

John said that, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3).  All men are natural men and nothing more at conception.  But God gives spiritual life to some by causing them to be born again, and then they are able to see and understand the glorious realities of the kingdom of God.  Then they are possessors of both natural and spiritual life.  And it must be added that a man is no more able to obtain spiritual life by his own efforts than he is to obtain natural life on his own.  The giving of spiritual life is wholly the work of God who gives spiritual life to whom He pleases (Rom. 9:15).

But to better understand the mystery of how a man can be alive physically but dead to spiritual things at the same time, let us consider the following:  A dog has natural life.  There are many things that a dog has in common with a man.  They both eat, they run, they breathe, they play, they hunt, etc.  but when it comes to the world of rational thought and speech, the dog is dead to the man's world of thought.

In like manner, a man may have physical life and be able to function brilliantly in the world of thought, but, at the same time, be completely dead in so far as the spiritual realm is concerned.  A natural man and a "born-again" spiritual man have much in common.  They both have physical needs and appetites; they both operate on a high intellectual level and are able to think in the abstract.  They can both communicate with speech and can work with mathematics.  They can both marry and raise families.  There is so much that they have in common.  But when they reach the limit of natural realities and enter the threshold of the things of God, the purely natural man must stop.  He cannot enter here.  He is not equipped to do so.  He is dead to this world!

A purely natural man is as dead to the things of the Spirit as the dog is dead to the man's world of the intellect.

A mere natural man may read the Bible, may learn all of its original languages, may make a close study of its grammar, and still not really understand what God is saying in it.  He may think that he understands -- many of those Pharisees thought that they understood, too, but Jesus said that they did not understand His speech and could not even hear His word (John 8:43).

On the other hand, the most ignorant and handicapped child of God can understand more of the true meaning of Scripture and other spiritual things than the most brilliant of natural men.  In fact, the natural man can understand exactly nothing of the true import of Scripture.  Jesus said in this regard: "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou has hid these things form the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.  Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight." (Matt. 11:25,26).

The spiritual man will love the Lord God; it is impossible for the natural man to do so.

The spiritual man has repented of his evil ways and turned to God for mercy.  Have you repented toward God?  Do you feel the need of repentance?  The natural man does not even feel the need of repentance.

The Case of the Dead Bible Scholar

I have on my desk a book written by a very brilliant and learned student of the Bible.  In his own words he says that this book "is the outcome of an endeavor which has extended over forty years to discover who the man Jesus Christ really was."  It seems wonderful that a man would spend forty years of hard labor to find Jesus Christ. The only problem is that from all appearances the author is a dead man.  He did not find the real Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, because he did not have eyes to see or ears with which to hear.  He did not seek Jesus because he wished to adore and worship Him, but that he might blaspheme Him and tell lies about Him.  What this man has written in his book shows so clearly that Jesus Christ can't be found by the natural man, no matter how brilliant and studious he may be.

The name of the scholar is Hugh J. Schonfield.  the name of his book is The Passover Plot.  Let us examine a part of it.  We may gain some insight into the workings of the mind of the natural man.  This man thinks he is a free agent (all natural men make a loud boast of their vaunted freedom).  But to all appearances he is an abject slave to Satan and to sin.  Satan is the real author of all the lies about the Son of God which he promotes in his book.  Schonfield states that as a youth, the Person of Jesus greatly attracted him (p. 12).  But what a morbid attraction it proved to be!  He was not like the Wise Men who wanted to find Jesus to worship Him; rather, he was like King Herod who wanted to find Jesus that he might hurt and kill him.

In this man's diligent search he even made a translation of the Christian Scriptures from the original Greek.  But in the process he denied that the Scriptures are the inspired word of God (p. 14).  He does this primarily because he wishes to do away with the miraculous element in the New Testament.  He wants to deal with Jesus merely as a man of flesh and blood and to explain Him apart from being the divine Son of God.  This is a common tactic among men who are dead in trespasses and in sins.

In doing away with the supernatural he denies that Jesus Christ was born of Mary the virgin (p. 48).  This is a flat denial of the Scriptures (Matt. 1:18-25), and amounts to calling God a liar.  To use his own words, Schonfield says:  "There was nothing peculiar about the birth of Jesus.  He was not God incarnate and no Virgin Mother bore him.  The Church in its ancient zeal fathered a myth and became bound to it as dogma" (p. 50).

The Fairy Dust of Faith

A blind man cannot see.  A man dead in sin cannot receive spiritual things.  Jesus, in speaking to His disciples about the Holy Spirit, said: "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him . . ." (John 14:17).  All that a purely natural man can see is limited to the natural world.  The things of the Spirit appear as utter foolishness to him.  Schonfield shows his utter inability to "see" in the following statement:  "With the birth stories of Jesus, and of John the Baptist also, we pass directly from the world of sober reality into the world of fairy tale" (p. 49); a horribly blasphemous statement that reveals the author's complete blindness.  But then, even though he means to be irreverent and sarcastic, he unwittingly utters a great truth.  He says, "All we need is the application to our eyes of the fairy dust called faith to enable us to see and acknowledge this."

Schonfield meant to be sarcastic but what he said contained a great truth.  Men cannot see without faith.  Not all men have faith (II Thess. 3:2).  Men cannot please God without faith (Heb. 11:6).  No one has the ability to just reach out and get faith.  Faith is a gift of God's grace (Eph. 2:8).  God sovereignly gives this gift to whomever He pleases and withholds it at His pleasure (Rom 9:15,16).  As far as true Christians are concerned, "We walk by faith, not by sight" (II Cor. 5:7).  This is why one with faith can believe the account of miracles in the Bible and those, like Schonfield, who have only natural sight, are utterly incapable of such belief.  This lack of faith is what makes the Bible such a strange book to him.

The Passover Plot

Schonfield's main thesis is that Jesus thought He was the Messiah.  He planned His life so that it would be a fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures.  He even planned His death on the cross, but he arranged that a narcotic would be given Him so that He would just appear to be dead.  He also arranged that someone would take Him down, put Him in a cave-tomb, and revive Him.  Then He would appear as if He had risen from the dead.  Schonfield says, however, that when the Roman soldier thrust his spear into Jesus' side that He was wounded so badly, He revived just long enough to give some last minute instructions and then He died never to rise again.

In speaking of this plan Schonfield says, "A conspiracy had to be organized of which the victim was himself the deliberate secret instigator.  It was a nightmarish conception and undertaking, the outcome of the frightening logic of a sick mind, or a genius" (p. 132).

It is difficult to see how more blasphemous ideas could be entertained or more ungodly words could be written.  If anyone doubts this conclusion he has good reason to wonder whether he has eyes to see or ears to hear.

What do you think the Almighty God thinks of these words written about the Son of God who took on Himself a body of flesh and lived, suffered, and died on behalf of His people?  What do you think the Lord will do about such words as these?  What would you men do if someone called your wife a whore?  Would you just smile and shake his hand and agree with him?  If you did, what kind of a an excuse for a man would you consider yourself to be?  What do you think the God of heaven will do to one who calls His Son a liar and a fraud and never repents of it?

Vengeance is mine;  I will repay, saith the Lord." (Rom. 12:19)

Christian Beware

Satan is no fool.  He will do anything he can to win the favor of God's people and, like the spider, entice them into his net.  We must beware.  Schonfield says a lot of nice things about Jesus, but this must mean nothing to us when we consider the total impact of his message.  He does this to gain the sympathy of a Christian audience.  It is as if someone tortured and killed your family and then said, "Oh, what a lovely family you had."

And even in the nice things that this dead man says about Jesus, he lies.  For instance:  "We have to accept the absolute sincerity of Jesus.  But this does not require us to think of him as omniscient and infallible" (p. 41).  Or again:  "The historical Jesus has always been there for the finding, not faultless, not inerrant, not divine, but magnificently human" (p. 185).

Christ said that He was the divine Son of God.  Schonfield says that Christ is a liar.

"Let God be true, but every man a liar..." (Rom. 3:4).

If Christ was a mere man there is no hope for us; there is nothing but despair.  Paul tells us the full implications of this:  "And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain . . . And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sin . . .  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable" (1 Cor. 15:14,17,19).

I am thankful that I do not share the blasphemy of this dead man, Schonfield.  My God is the God of the Scriptures.  He lives and moves.  He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:16)  I believe Him when He says, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and death" (Rev. 1:18).

Because I believe this, I want to say, "Alleluia:  for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (Rev. 19:6).

Can You Hear?--Can You See?

Do you share this faith in a triumphant, resurrected, reigning Christ, whom you acknowledge as Lord?  If so, then, "Blessed are your eyes, for they see:  and your ears, for they hear" (Matt. 13:16).

Are you an unbeliever?  If so, then remember that, "the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:  who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power" (II Thess. 1:7-9).

Lesson Six

Mankind Dead in Sins

Our assignment for this time was to read Dead Men Can't See by Bro. Zack Guess.  This is a study of the truth contained in I Cor. 2:14.  After reading this, let us answer the following questions:

 Questions

1. According to the Scriptures, what is a natural man?

2. If the things of God are foolishness to a person, what does that indicate to us about that person?

3. What did Jesus mean in John 8:43 when He said, "Ye cannot hear my word?"

4. What has to be done to a man before he is able to really understand and appreciate the things of God?

5. What are some of the things that a natural man and a born again spiritual man have in common?  What are some of the things they don't have in common?

6. Why do natural men commonly deny the miracles in the Bible?

7. Why is it dangerous when someone writes a lot of nice things about Jesus Christ, but also writes some very wrong things about Him?  (See II Cor. 11:13-15.)

Memory Verses:  John 8:47 and Romans 3:23

We have memorized Romans 5:12, Ps. 51:5, Eph. 2:1, and I Cor. 2:14.  Let us now memorize John 8:47 and Rom. 3:23.

Lesson Seven

Mankind Dead in Sins

When man became dead in sins, every part of him was affected.  Therefore, there is no part of man that is able to respond to God while man is in this condition of being dead in sin.  There is no good left in man -- not even a slight spark.  Sin has affected every faculty of man's being just as a drop of poison would affect every molecule of a glass of water.  Sin has stained every faculty in man, and thus it affects his every act.

An examination of the Scriptures will abundantly show that sin has warped every faculty in man:

Because man is thus totally depraved or completely dead in trespasses and sins, he cannot, until quickened by the Spirit of God, turn from sin to God in Godly repentance and faith (Jer. 13:23; John 6:44,65; John 12:39,40).

This doctrine that we have been studying has sometimes been called the doctrine of Total Depravity or Total Inability.

Questions

1. Is the expression "let your conscience be your guide" a safe one to go by?  Why or why not?

2. Since the heart is deceitful, what is the only safe guide we can use to govern our lives by?

3. Why did the chief priests and Pharisees want to kill both Jesus and Lazarus, even though they knew that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead? (John 11:47-53 & 12:10,11; Acts 4:16,17)

4. Why will the world experience trouble and bloodshed until the Lord Jesus Christ returns?

Memory Verse:  Romans 3:10

We have memorized Rom. 5:12; Ps. 51:5; I Cor. 2:14; Eph. 2:1; Rom. 3:23; and John 8:47.  For our last verse on this subject let us memorize Rom. 3:10.  This will give us seven basic Scriptures on this subject which will enable us to witness to others and to defend this Scripture truth.