The sin nature that is...

It struck me how the heart of man is revealed during disasters, whether manmade or natural.
For instance:
Near Devin, in the U.K., looters were taking advantage of a shipwreck which deposited various items on a nearby shore. All of the looters shown were white. This made me think about the aftermath of Katrina and the madness there. One of the complaints was that only the black looters were being televised.

Scripture speaks of the hardened heart; when squeezed, hidden inward character is revealed.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?Jeremiah 17:9

This condition crosses all racial, social and economic boundaries. We are all capable of doing awful things, one of the least of which is looting. With this said, I had to smile at the excuse one looter gave; "it's a lot of stuff, and it's free." Oh, how deceived he is on several levels. Secularly, he is probably guilty of theft as the "free" property is simply not his; morally, he is just wrong to take anything without permission; spiritually, he has to give an account for his actions as no sin goes unpunished.

In God's economy there are always consequences for the choices we make, either positively for good or negatively for bad. The first time anyone ever gets away with sin God will lose His standing as the righteous, holy, perfect and just ruler of the universe. I'm confident that He is not abdicating the throne and unlike 2008, He is never up for re-election. Again, no one has ever, or ever will, get away with wrong-doing unless they live forever.

This leaves us in quite a dilemma; the universality of nature reveals that we are all imperfect beings and therefore natural enemies of God. We have no natural aptitude for God what so ever. We are hopelessly depraved in our desire to self-rule. But God, who knows us better than we know ourselves, saw our need, was merciful and extended grace.

He made a way that reconciles mankind to Himself via the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are commanded to believe the sacrifice was performed on our behalf by receiving it willfully. This gift is "free" and sets us free.

Some will receive but many will continue to be slaves to their sin natures proving that the universality of sin is a given: We are even sinners that are lost, without God and hope in the world or sinners saved by grace.

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