THE ORIGIN OF SIN & THE INCLINATION OF HEART

THE ORIGIN OF SIN & THE INCLINATION OF HEART

Genesis 6:5 – “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the Earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” [JHK Note: Not “some of the thoughts some of the time,” but “all of the thoughts all of the time.”] Furthermore, God says in 8:21, “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” * God knows in advance that the Children of Israel will fall into sin once they enter the Promised Land, as He prophesies in Deuteronomy 31:19-21 – “I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them into the land which I swore to give them.” * The depravity of humanity is expressed in Ecclesiastes 7:20 – “There is not a just man on Earth who does good and does not sin.” And in Romans 3:10-12 & 23, where Paul is quoting from Psalms 14:1-3 & 53:2-3 – “There is none righteous, no, not one. .. There is none who does good, no, not one. .. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Hebrews 4:12-13 – “The Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Similarly in 1 Samuel 16:7 – “”The Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Psalm 19:14 indicates for us a way to counter this evil inclination of our hearts – “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation [inclination] of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” [JHK Note: That God Himself is our Redeemer! See also Isaiah 47:4.]

Eve knew but did not do the Word and Will of God. Adam knew but did not do the Word and Will of God. Sadly, they inclined their hearts and then their minds and then their actions to leave their Father God and follow the Devil Satan; and because both of our Original Parents were disobedient sinners, we are born in sin and have a split mind – we can “hear” the Voice of God & Goodness, but we can also “hear” and are inclined to follow the voice of Lucifer and Evil. Original Sin is thus a birth defect of the spirit.

Yet as we grow in knowledge through education, and wisdom through experience, we can learn to “discern” the spirits, i.e., to understand the whisperings of demonic spirits (the third of the angels who fell with Lucifer, as we read in Revelation 12:3-9); and we can develop mature Christian character to choose instead to “listen” to “the still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12) of our conscience, our Original Mind, which can still “hear” the Voice of God. Eve had a choice! Adam had a choice! Cain had a choice! We always have a choice! And by reading and learning from the many stories in the Bible, we can discipline our “flesh” (our worldly inclinations, our feelings, and our thoughts) so that we consistently choose to be obedient to the Word and Will of God. Much wisdom is contained in the pithy sayings we read in Proverbs and in that longest of Psalms (#119:1-2) – “Blessed are the undefiled, the blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who seek Him with their whole heart.” This quality of “whole heartedness” is extremely important and found throughout the Bible, notably in the first of the Great Commandments – “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4 & Matthew 22:37) Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that “the thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy,” and in John 8:44 that “the devil was a murderer from the beginning, a liar and the father of lies.” Consequently, we must all learn to circumcise our hearts (Deuteronomy 10:16 & Romans 2:29) so that we train ourselves to always choose righteousness and godliness. “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)