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CHAPTER 1
THE NEED FOR SALVATION
In this chapter, the Biblical doctrine of sin and death will be presented to show how it answers the problem of the need for salvation: why does man need to be saved? It will be shown that idolatry or trust in a false god is the basic sin; that all men sin because of the spiritual death received from the first man, Adam. Thus man needs to be saved because he is spiritually dead, separated from God, not knowing Him personally as a living reality. Thus salvation must be basically from death to life. And since sin is the result of death (Rom. 5:12d ERS), salvation should be secondarily from sin to righteousness. And since wrath is caused by sin (Rom. 1:18), salvation should be also from wrath to peace.
“You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) This first of the Ten Commandments of the Mosaic Law introduces us to the Biblical view of sin. From the Biblical point of view sin must be understood in terms of idolatry. It is the central theme of the message of the Law and the prophets concerning sin. The first two commandments of the Law are about idolatry (Exodus 20:3-6; 20:23; 22:20; 34:12-17; Deut. 5:7-9). Moses often and strongly warns the children of Israel against this sin.
“14 You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people who are around about you; 15 for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you,and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.” (Deut. 6:14-15)
See also Deut. 4:15-19, 23-28; 7:4-5, 16, 25-26; 8:19; 11:16-17, 28; 12:2-4, 29-31; 13:1-16; 17:2-5; 29:24-28; 31:16-18; 32:15-22. The message of the prophets is also directed against this sin. The prophet Jeremiah writes:
“2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: you have seen all the evil that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, 3 because of the wickedness which they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to burn incense and serve other gods they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. 4 Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abominable thing that I hate!’ 5 But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their wickedness and burn no incense to other gods. 6 Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured forth and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they became a waste and a desolation as at this day.” (Jer. 44:2-6)
See also Josh. 23:15-16; Judges 2:11-15; 3:7-8; 10:6-7; I Kings 14:9; 16:25-26; 22:53; II Kings 17:9-18; 21:2-6; Psa. 44:20-21; 78:56-64; 81:8-10; 96:4-5; 106:19-21, 34-39; 115:2-8; 135:15-18; Isa. 2:8; 37:18-20; 40:18-20; 41:29; 42:8, 17; 43:10-12; 44:6-20; 45:5-6, 16-17, 20-22; 46:5-7; Jer. 1:16; 2:11-13, 26-28; 5:19; 8:19; 10:1-16; 19:4-5; 44:22-23; Ezek. 14:2-11; 20:15-18, 23-24; 36:17-18; Hosea 2:13; 4:11-13; Micah 5:13-15; Hab. 2:18-19; Zeph. 1:4-6.
Thus, it can be seen that the Old Testament writers were primarily concerned with the sin of idolatry. Idolatry is not just the worship of graven images made of wood, stone or metal (Col. 3:5; see also Eph. 5:5). The false gods whose worship is idolatry are not always so crude or absurd. Many things such as pleasure, wealth, power, education, the family, society, the state, democracy, experience, reason and science, which are good in their proper place, may become a person’s god. One of these sophisticated deities has recently been given the following public confession:
“Men bet their lives on it [science] as they do on other gods, and on the record, it functions no less divinely than any other …. ‘God’ is no less fitting an appellation for this [science] than for any that churchmen so name and require laymen to bet thelives on, worship and adjure.” [1]
Science, of course, is not the only god to which modern man looks for deliverance. Today’s pantheon is as full of gods as those of ancient Greece and Rome. The only difference is that these twenty-first century gods are not so easily identified as such. They have become more sophisticated and civilized. But the absence of a label does not alter the content of the package. Although anonymous, they are none the less gods when they become the object of faith and trust in a man’s life. If anything, they are more dangerous and deceptive because they are not generally recognized as gods. What is a god? Martin Luther in his comments on the first commandment in his Large Catechism answers this question very clearly:
“A god is that to which we look for all good and in which we find refuge in every time of need. To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in him with our whole heart. As I have often said, the trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and the idol …. For these two belong together, faith and God. That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is, I say, really your God.” [2]
Faith is the commitment and devotion of a person to some object which is for that person of ultimate significance and supreme importance. That object to which a person is committed and devoted is that person’s “god.” The term “god” need not refer to the personal triune God of the Christian religion nor to the object of faith and trust of any historical or formal religion. It is a functional term, that is, a term which takes its meaning from the particular function or operation performed by the object to which the term applies. A god performs the function of the object of supreme importance and ultimate significance to which a person or group of persons may commit and devote themselves.
“Taken by itself this word [god] carries as little specific meaning as the word “good.” Both are empty receptacles whose content varies from man to man and from religion to religion.” [3]
At the suggestion that he worships a god, the irreligious may be shocked and incredulous. But every man must have a god. By his very constitution, a man must necessarily have a god to which he can commit and devote himself, in which he can trust. This is apparent from an analysis of human freedom. There are three elements in every decision:
(1) An agent with the ability to choose,
(2) The alternatives to choose between, and
(3) The criterion by which the choice is to be made.
This last element is often overlooked or ignored in the analysis of freedom. The choice between the alternatives is made with reference to some criterion of choice, and the choice cannot be made without this reference. That is, it is impossible to make any decision as to how to act or think without appealing to some criterion of the good and the true. Every human decision necessarily involves a relationship to something in or beyond the self as a criterion of decision. In other words, behind every decision as to what a person should do or think there must be a reason. And those reasons are ultimately made in terms of an ultimate reason. This ultimate reason for any decision, practical or theoretical, must be given in terms of some particular criterion, an ultimate reference or orientation point in or beyond the self or person making the decision. This ultimate criterion is that person’s god. In this sense, every man must have god, that is, an ultimate criterion of decision. Thus in the very exercise of his freedom (his decisions) man shows he is a creature who must have a god. [4]
From this point of view, no man is an atheist in the basic meaning of the word, that is, no god. Every man must have a god. Man is a religious animal who necessarily must have some object of ultimate allegiance and trust which functions as his guide of truth and his norm of conduct. Every man must choose a god. Though free to adopt the god of his choice, no man is free to avoid this decision. Every attempt to do so turns out to be not a denial of having a god but an exchange of gods. To ask whether one believes in the existence of God is to completely misunderstand the issue. The issue is not whether one should choose between theism or atheism, that is, to believe in the existence of God or not, but whether one should choose this god or that god as the true God. The atheist’s god is that “there is no god”.
ENDNOTES FOR “EXTENT OF SIN”
[1] Horace M. Kallen, Democracy’s True Religion
(Boston: The Beacon Press, 1951), p. 10; quoted in E. LaB. Cherbonnier,
Hardness of Heart (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1955), p. 153.
[2] Martin Luther, The Large Catechism of Martin Luther,
trans. Robert H. Fischer (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959), p. 9.
[3] Cherbonnier, Hardness of Heart, p. 40.
[4] Ibid., pp. 39-40. See also E. LaB. Cherbonnier,
“Biblical Metaphysic and Christian Philosophy,”
Theology Today 9 (October 1952): 367.
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Since everyone must have a god, the crucial question for every man is: which god is the true God? Or to put the question differently: how are we to distinguish between the one true God on the one hand, and the many false gods on the other? In other words, by what means can we determine which of all possible gods are pretenders and which is the true one? The clue to the answer to these questions may be found in a further analysis of freedom.
As we have already seen, every man by the structure of his freedom must have a god. That is, in every one of his choices a man must necessarily appeal to some criterion by reference to which the decision is made. And the ultimate criterion by which a man makes his choices is his god. Clearly then the choice of one’s god is the most basic and fundamental choice that a man can make; it lies behind and is presupposed by every other decision as to what a man will do or think; it is clearly the most important exercise of his freedom. What should one choose as his ultimate criterion of his decisions? Negatively, he should not choose that as his ultimate criterion which will destroy or negate the very freedom of choice by which it is chosen. And positively, he should choose only that ultimate criterion which will enhance and fulfill that freedom. Any ultimate criterion that denies or takes away the very freedom of choice by which it is chosen cannot be the true God. The choice of such an ultimate criterion is a contradiction of man’s basic freedom of choice; such a god is fatal to man’s freedom.
By freedom, we do not mean purposeless caprice or chance, indeterminism, but rather the ability of choice, freedom of decision, self-determination. Neither is this freedom an abstract entity, “freedom-in-general,” (German) Freiheit, but rather the concrete decision of someone, of a free agent. The most appropriate word for such a being who has such freedom is the word “person.” A person is a being that is self-determining, not determined, who has freedom, free will, the ability to choose. A person is to be distinguished from a nonperson, a thing, an “it,” a being that is determined, not self-determining, that has no freedom, no free will, no ability to choose.
A god that is a thing has less freedom than the person who chooses it as his god. Such a god, who does not have as much freedom as the man who chooses it, cannot be the true God. It cannot do any more for them than they can do for themselves. Such a god is only the projection of the whims and fancies of the person making the decision because it is in reality inferior to them. As a minimum criterion, therefore, a god can be recognized as a false god if it has less freedom than man himself. [1] An impersonal or non-personal god is, therefore, a false god. To choose such a god as one’s ultimate criterion of choice would be a denial of one’s freedom of choice and the worst kind of bondage. Thus having used his freedom to give this god his ultimate allegiance, the person making the decision finds his freedom denied to the point of extinction and himself bound in a miserable slavery. As long as the false god remains his ultimate criterion of decision, he will not have the grounds for rejecting that god, since that god has not allowed him to have freedom of choice to do so. His power of choice having been effectively taken away from him, he is unable to reject the false god and free himself from its bondage. The commitment to such a god is the denial of human freedom. Therefore, a false god can also be recognized by the effect that it has upon the freedom of the one who gives it his allegiance. An impersonal or non-personal god, because it does not have as much freedom as the one who chooses it as his god, limits the freedom and puts into bondage the one who chooses it.
The true God, on the other hand, must be at least a person in order to have at least as much freedom as the one who chooses him as his god. But the true God must not only be a person, but He must also have unlimited freedom if He is to be able to do the things that He has promises, and to deliver the one who cries to Him in trouble and need. A god without unlimited freedom might not be able to keep his promises or to save the one who cries to Him for help. Therefore, a god that does not have unlimited freedom must be a false god. The prophet Isaiah applies this criterion to the denunciation of idolatry.
“6 Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship! 7 They lift it upon their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble.” (Isa. 46:6-7 (See also Isa. 44:18-20;45:20-21; Psa. 115:2-7; 135:5-7, 15-17)
The true God, on the other hand, has unlimited freedom; He can do whatever He pleases (Psa. 115:3; 135:6); He can save when He is called upon (Isa. 43:11; 45:15-17). The true God, therefore, is a person (or persons) with unlimited freedom.
The classic illustration of the application of these criteria for determining which god is the true God is found in the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. (I Kings 18:17-39 NAS) After challenging the apostate people of Israel to make up their minds between Jehovah and Baal: “If Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” (verse 21, ARV), Elijah proposed a very concrete test by which the true God may be known and the false god be exposed as a fraud.
“23 Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox, and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.”
(verses 23-24 NAS)
The test is to see which god can produce. For a false god cannot answer when it is called upon; it cannot act to deliver the one who cries to it in trouble or need.
“26 Then they [the prophets of Baal] took the ox which was given to them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal, from morning until noon saying, ‘O Baal, answer us.’ But there was no voice and no one answered …. 29 And it came about when midday was past, that they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.” (verses 26, 29 NAS)
By this test, all false gods may be detected: a false god cannot produce, cannot respond when called upon. Elijah’s proposal was the application of this test to determine which of the two rival gods, Jehovah or Baal, was the pretender and which was the true God. Elijah, like the other prophets of the true God, Jehovah, did not hesitate to apply this test because he knew what the true God could do.
“36 Then it came about at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, ‘O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that Thou art God in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word! 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that Thou, O Lord, art God, and that Thou hast turned their hearts back again. 38 Then fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench, 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.” ( verses 36-39 NAS; see also Isa. 46:1-11; 40:18-26; Jer. 10:6-16)
Not only are false gods unable to produce, but they visit their worshippers with the opposite of what they promise. They entice their worshippers with glittering prospects, but then visit them with cruel disillusionment. The worshippers of a false god are betrayed into the opposite of what they want.
“Then Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.’ So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.” (verse 40 NAS)
The modern sophisticated gods also disappoint their worshipers. For example, the god of Reason betrays its followers into blind irrationalism. Witness the irrationalism of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution which was carried on in the name of Reason. Why cannot false gods produce? Some false gods cannot produce because they are nonpersons, things. This is the point of Elijah’s taunts of the prophets of Baal.
“And it came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, ‘Call out with a loud voice, for he is god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.'” (verse 27 NAS)
Baal could not answer because he was not a person who could. It was not because he was preoccupied with musing, journeying, sleeping or anything else that he did not answer. Baal did not answer because he could not; and he could not because he was not a being that could. A person is a being that is self-determining, that has free will. And Baal was not that kind of being. It did not even have as much freedom as its worshipers. It should now be obvious why false gods cannot produce. They either do not have freedom, self-determination, or their freedom is limited. The true God, since He has freedom (He is a person or persons) and His freedom is unlimited (He is all powerful), can fulfill the promises that He can make; He can answer when He is called upon and deliver the one who cries to Him in trouble and need. The Apostle Paul in the first chapter of his letter to the Romans also refers to these same criteria to show that man is without excuse for his idolatry.
“19 Because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world the invisible things of Him, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, so that they are without excuse.” (Rom. 1:19-20 ERS)
In verse 1:19, Paul refers to a knowledge of God which all men have and in verse 1:20 he says two things about this knowledge:
a. This knowledge is a knowledge of the “invisible things of him,” of God, namely, “his eternal power and Godhead” or divine nature.
b. These two “invisible things of Him… are clearly seen” (verse 20), that is, manifested, laid open to public view (verse 19).
This paradoxical way of stating the source of this knowledge raises the question: how are these unseen things clearly seen? The answer is given in the phrase “being understood by the things that are made” (verse 20). They are seen by a rational act, the act of the mind [nous], “being understood [nooumena] by the things that are made”. For the things that are made are in their being analogous to the unseen things of Him. That which God created reflects the invisible things of Him, the Creator, like a work of art reflects the artist. (Of course, this analogy of the artist and his work cannot be applied to the Creator and His creation without reservations.)
All examples of power in the physical world, the earthquakes, storms, even nuclear energy, are like God’s eternal power. The creation reflects the Creator in His power. If this be so, then in all creation what is like His Godhead or divine nature? Only man himself is analogous to God’s divine nature because man alone has been created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27; compare verse 19: “that which is known of God is manifest in them“). Man’s person is similar to God’s person. Paul uses this same analogy between God’s being and man’s being in his address on Mars Hill, the Areopagus, in Athens, recorded in Acts 17:22-31, to argue against idolatry. After he had quoted one of the Greek’s own poets as saying: “For we are also his offspring,” Paul argues,
“Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine nature [to theion] is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.” (Acts 17:29 NAS; Compare the GREEK to theion translated “Divine nature” in this verse with the GREEK theiotes in Rom. 1:20 which is also translated “divine nature” NAS.)
Since we were created by God in His image, the nature of God must be at least as personal as our nature. Therefore, the true God cannot be a nonperson, a thing made of gold or silver or stone, an image made by man. God’s being must be as personal as our being, if we are the offspring of God, that is, created in His image.
But not only is it true that in man alone is there found that which is like God’s being, but it is also true that in man alone is there found that which is the best analogy of God’s eternal power. The human will in its limited power and freedom is the best analogy in all creation of the divine will with its unlimited power and freedom. (Note that “power”, dunamis, means “to be able”, dunamai.) What greater created power is there than the power to bless or destroy? In this sense, the human power to choose to use the nuclear bomb is greater than the power of the bomb itself. The power of human freedom of decision is greater than the power of physical energy. In man, therefore, we find that which is the analogy in creation of God’s eternal power and His divine personal nature. The mind of man, employing these analogies of being, perceives the invisible things of Him through the things that are made or created by God. Thus “God manifest it [the truth] unto them” (Rom. 1:19). The unseen things of God are clearly seen because that which is known of God is manifested in them. So man is without excuse for his idolatry, exchanging the truth about God for a lie and worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25). Man has no excuse for choosing a false god. He knows that it is not the true God because a false god is impersonal and/or powerless; it is less of a person than he is and has as little or less power or freedom than he has.
It is this knowledge of what the true God must be like that lies behind all primitive religions, with their anthropomorphic gods. Primitive man knows what a god must be like in order to be the true God. This knowledge derived intuitively from the nature of his freedom makes him uneasy about the things that he worships as god. He knows that the true God must be a living God. But having failed to encounter such a God, he fills the vacuum with what he imagines to be a facsimile of Him. And since the highest living being he knows is himself, he makes gods in his own image. He also knows that the true God must be a God of unlimited power, not limited like himself. He therefore identifies these anthropomorphic creations with the powerful forces that he sees in the physical world about him. Beyond the simple and profound suspicion that such a God does exist, he is at the end of his knowledge (“…whom ye ignorantly worship…” Acts 17:23 KJV). [2]
In what way can man find any additional knowledge of the true God? In the same way in which he gets knowledge about another person: by what the other person says and does. But the initiative lies with the other person. If he remains silent and inactive, no knowledge is available in addition to the fact that he is there. Therefore, if man is to know anything additional about the true God, God must take the initiative and reveal Himself in word and/or deed. And the true God has taken the initiative and has revealed Himself in word and deed. The Bible is a record of the “words and the mighty acts of God.” The true God is not silent and He is not inactive; He has spoken and He has acted. This is recorded for us in a book, the Bible. And we know that these are the words and deeds of the true God because they are the words and the acts of a God who is a personal being and has unlimited freedom. The God who is revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament is the living God who created all things.
(The living God – Joshua 3:10; I Sam. 17:26; Psa. 84:2; Jer. 10:10; Matt. 16:16; Acts 14:15; I Thess. 1:9; I Tim. 3:15; Heb. 10:31;
The Creator – Gen. 1:1; 2:3-4; Ex. 4:11; Neh. 9:6; Job 38:4; Psa. 90:2; 102:25; 104:1-5, 24; Isa. 40:28; 44:24; 45:11-12, 18; 48:12-13; Jer. 10:11-12; John 1:1-3; Acts 17:24; I Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2, 10; 11:3; Rev. 4:11).
Because He is a person, He is alive; and because He has unlimited freedom, He is the all powerful Creator of all things. The God of the Bible is the true God, and all other gods are false. The choice of any other god than this one is idolatry.
ENDNOTES FOR “EXTENT OF SIN”
Idolatry is the basic sin. This may be clearly seen from the Ten Commandments of the Mosaic law. For the first two commandments are about the sin of idolatry (Exodus 20:3-6). This is because a false god usurps the place of the true God in a man’s life. In a sense, all sins are against God (Compare II Sam. 12:13; Job 7:20; Psa. 41:4; 51:4), but the sin of idolatry is very clearly directed against God Himself. It is a direct repudiation of the Creator for the creature; it is a direct insult to the true God and an affront to His divine majesty. No more serious sin could be imagined than this one. Since it is the most serious sin, it is also the most basic.
The basic sin is not only not to trust in the true God but to trust in something other than the true God. This is the sin of sins. Rebellion against, unbelief in, and disobedience to the Creator, bad as they are, are only negative sins — rebellion is the rejection of God’s authority; unbelief is not to trust in God’s love; and disobedience is not to obey God’s commands. But idolatry is a positive sin which turns to an alternate and replacement for the true God. It is to give one’s allegiance, trust and obedience to something other than the One who should have that allegiance, trust and obedience. It is the more serious sin. As Samuel said to Saul:
“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.” (I Sam. 15:23).
Samuel compares rebellion and insubordination with the more serious sin of idolatry. (Divination in the Old Testament times was almost always associated with idolatry [Deut. 4:19; 17:3; 18:9-14; II Kings 17:16-17; Isa. 41:21-24; Ezek. 13:17-23; 21:21-22]. The parallelism in I Sam. 15:23 shows that idolatry and divination are nearly synonymous.) Rebellion and insubordination are only the negative side of the sin of idolatry; that is, the act of turning against the true God is only negative part of the act of turning to a false god. Idolatry is the more serious sin and hence the more basic sin.
But idolatry is also the basic sin because this sin leads to other sins. It leads to other sins because a person’s god, being his ultimate criterion of decision, ultimately controls the direction and character of a man’s decisions. The wrong choice of a false god will lead to other wrong choices. That is, the god to which a person commits and devotes himself will determine the quality of his whole life. It furnishes him with an entire set of values and these values will in turn govern his every specific decision, intellectual and practical. Thus every god stamps its worshippers with its own trademark. In fact, the worshipper becomes like the god he worships. As the Psalmist says concerning the idolater,
“4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them.”
(Psa. 115:4-8; see also Psa. 135:15-18)
Since out of the heart are the issues of life (Prov. 4:23), and as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov. 23:7), then what a man has set up in his heart as his god will affect the quality and character of his whole life. It is what a man believes in his heart that determines what he says and does. As Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matt. 12:33-35; Luke 6:43-45). Thus if a man sets up an idol in his heart (Ezek. 14:3-5), then out of the heart will come all manner of sins. Jesus recognized this when he declared,
“21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.”
(Mark 7:21-23; compare Matt. 15:15-20)
Thus if in his heart a man clings to a false god, his actions and speech will show it. In this way also idolatry is the basic sin. From the discussion of idolatry as the basic sin, it should be clear that sin in general must be defined in terms of the true God. Accordingly, sin should be defined as any free, uncoerced act of the will (decision, choice) that is contrary to ultimate personal allegiance to the true God. That is, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23 KJV). In other words, sin is any choice that is contrary to faith and trust in the true God (John 16:9; compare John 3:18). According to this definition, unbelief (infidelity, not incredulity) is sin. But so are disobedience and rebellion sins. It is not just any unbelief that is sin but unbelief in God. Unbelief as such is not sin. Unbelief is sin only in reference to God; it is sin only when it is God who is not trusted. Similarly with respect to disobedience and rebellion. Disobedience as such is not sin, neither is rebellion. They are sin only in reference to God. Disobedience is sin only when it is God who is disobeyed; and rebellion is sin only when it is God who is rebelled against. Sin in all cases must be defined in terms of true God.
But because man must have a god, sin is more than not trusting in the true God; it is trusting in a false god. A man must make his decisions with reference to the true God or some false one. No middle ground exists. To be is to choose, and to choose is to have a god. To be, therefore, is to have a god. By the structure of his freedom, the being of man is necessarily linked to some god. Therefore, if a man does not trust in the true God, he will trust in a false god (Matt. 6:24; Lk. 16:13). In fact, a man does not trust in the true God because he has put his trust in a false god. In general, the rejection of one god can only be done in the name of another. Accordingly, sin is more than unbelief, not trusting in God; it is trusting in a false god. Similarly, sin is more than disobedience, not obeying God; it is obedience to a false god. Likewise, sin is more than rebellion against God; it is allegiance to a false god. Sin, in general, is not only any choice contrary to faith and trust in the true God, but it is also any choice that implies faith and trust in a false god. Pride is not the basic sin; it is a by-product of idolatry. Pride is that attitude of heart that trusts and boasts in a false god.
“Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those go astray after false gods!” (Psa. 40:4)
Not all pride is wrong. Pride and boasting in the Lord is good and is commanded in the Scriptures.
“Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.'” (I Cor. 1:31; II Cor. 10:17)
“But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practice steadfast love, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord.” (Jer. 9:23 ERS)
The pride of Satan was an idolatry of himself; he put himself in the place of God as a substitute for the true God.
“2 Thus says the Lord God: ‘Because your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a man, and no god, though you consider yourself as wise as a god – …, 7 therefore, behold, I will bring strangers upon you, the most terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor. 8 They shall thrust you down into the Pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas.'” (Ezek. 28:2, 7-8; see also Isa. 14:12-14)
Idolatry of the self makes pride of self appear to be the basic sin, but this is because idolatry is not recognized as the basic sin and pride (in the negative sense) as the by-product of idolatry. Also pride in itself cannot be the basic sin because it is not prohibited in the Ten Commandments. Since by the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20), the Ten Commandments of the law surely must prohibit the most basic sin. The first two commandments are directly concerned with idolatry, and the third warns against taking God’s name lightly. But pride is not even mentioned, either in the Ten Commandments or in Christ’s summary of the law. Rather He says the first (and therefore most basic) commandment is to love God with one’s whole being. In fact, He adds that the love of God and of one’s neighbor is the foundation of the whole law and of the teaching of the prophets (Matt. 22:37-40). The sin of idolatry is the opposite of the love of the true God; it is the love of a false god. Idolatry, not pride, is the most basic sin.
The choice of a false god leads to bondage, the bondage of sin. Idolatry results in the bondage of sin in two senses.
1. Since idolatry is the basic sin, it leads to other sins. Because a person’s god, being his ultimate criterion of all his decisions, ultimately controls the direction and character of his decisions, the wrong choice of a false god will lead to other wrong choices, sins. A person committed to a false god does not necessarily always have to commit sins. Happily, he is often inconsistent in following his false god. But since his god furnishes him with an entire set of values and motives for his choices, the sin of idolatry will usually invariably result in other sins. This invariableness of sin is one aspect of the bondage of sin. As Jesus said, “…every one who commits sin is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34)
2. The second sense in which idolatry results in the bondage of sin is that idolatry reduces and ultimately will destroy one’s freedom of choice. A false god, having become the repository of a man’s trust and allegiance, proceeds immediately to reduce and ultimately to destroy his freedom. It becomes a straightjacket and a limitation on his freedom. Thus it reduces his freedom of choice by limiting his options as well as his reasons for his choice. Some false gods totally eliminate some areas of life from its followers consideration. Thus a false god circumscribes and restricts the freedom of choice of the person who chooses it as his god; it acts as a frustrating limitation, a ball and chain upon the exercise of the freedom of its worshipper. But a false god also destroys the freedom of its worshipper by denying his freedom. Since a false god is a being that has limited or no freedom or power of choice (it is determined and not self-determining) such a god by implication denies the reality of follower’s freedom of choice. Thus having used his freedom to give this god his ultimate allegiance, the worshipper finds his freedom denied to the point of extinction and himself bound in a miserable slavery. As long as the false god remains his ultimate criterion of decision, he will not have the grounds for rejecting that god, since that god has not allowed him to have freedom of choice to do so. His power of choice having been effectively taken away from him, he is unable to reject the false god and free himself from its bondage. This is the bondage of sin (John 8:34; Prov. 5:22). Man becomes a slave of sin when he gives his ultimate allegiance and devotion to a false god. In fact, the false god is sin personified as a slavemaster (Rom. 6:16).
The true God, on the other hand, preserves and fulfills the freedom of the one who chooses and worships Him. Since the true God is a living God (Jer. 10:5-15; I Thess. 1:9), that is, a being that has the power of self-determination, with unlimited freedom, He can and does affirm His worshipper’s freedom. He gave them such a freedom of choice when he made them. When this Being who has such freedom is made the ultimate criterion of one’s decisions, one’s freedom of choice may be exercised without frustrating limitation. His freedom is not denied or taken away from him. But more importantly, the true God not only affirms the freedom of the one who chooses and worships Him but also fulfills the freedom of the one who commits and devotes himself to Him. This He does by loving him, that is, by acting toward him for his highest good. Now man’s highest good is the true God; because He alone does not deny but affirms the freedom of the one who chooses Him. For when a man chooses the true God as his God, he has found his highest good and obtained true happiness (Prov. 16:20; Psa. 40:4; 84:12; 144:15; Jer. 17:7, etc.). Since the true God is love (I John 4:8, 16), He acts toward man in such a way as to bring man to the choice of man’s highest good, that is, to the true God, and hence the fulfillment of his freedom. He sets him free from the bondage of sin, the slavery to a false god, and brings him to the freedom of righteousness, the righteousness of faith. Just as the basic sin is trusting in a false god, the basic righteousness is trusting in the true God. Righteousness is not a quality that we possess, neither merit that we have earned or have imputed to our account, but it is a right relationship to God; faith in the true God relates us rightly to Him (Rom. 4:3-5). In this right relationship to the true God, man’s freedom is fulfilled and man is truly free. “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)
The universal extent of sin is clearly taught in the Scriptures. In the days of Noah, the Scriptures say that
“The Lord saw that the wickedness of men was great in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5; compare Gen. 8:21)
David, the psalmist, says
“1 The fool says in his heart ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none that does good.
2 The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any that act wisely, that seek after God.
3 They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt, there is none that does good, no, not one.
(Psa. 14:1-3; see also Psa. 143:2)
Solomon in his wisdom makes a similar observation.
“Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but a faithful man, who can find? (Prov. 20:6)
Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin’? (Prov. 20:9)
“Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.” (Eccl. 7:20)
“Behold, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices.” (Eccl. 7:29; see also I Kings 8:46; II Chron. 6:36.)
The prophet Isaiah repeats the same judgment except more personally.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” (Isa. 53:6)
The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans reaches the same conclusion.
“9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all; For I have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10 as it is written; ‘None is righteous, no, not one; 11 No one understands, no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one.'”
(Romans 3:9-12; Paul’s quotation is from Psa. 14)
In Romans 3:23, Paul succinctly expresses the teaching of the Scriptures that the extent of sin is universal.
“For all have sinned and are in want of the glory of God.” (ERS) [1]
This universality of sin is presupposed through all Scripture but particularly in the teachings of Jesus: “…if you, then, who are evil…” (Matt. 7:11). And the universality of sin is not just a universal statement about man but is a fact known by all men about themselves as shown in the incident when the Pharisees brought an adulterous woman (“caught in the very act”) to Jesus and he met their question with the very revealing answer: “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Their actions show their own participation in the universal fact of sin. [2]
“But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him” (John 8:9).
The knowledge of the universal extent of the sin of man is not the conclusion to an investigation concerning sin as a fact of human experience, but rather it is the revelation from God concerning the human race. The Scriptures make only one exception to this universality of sin. Of our Lord Jesus alone is it said that he “knew no sin” (II Cor. 5:21) and “no guile was found on his lips” (I Pet. 2:22; compare John 8:46). He as our high priest is “holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners” (Heb. 7:26). He alone is the lamb “without blemish or spot” (I Pet. 1:19) [3]