The Illiteracy of Man’s and Sin’s Nature

This is a series addressing the problem of theological illiteracy using the results of the 2022 State of Theology survey by Ligonier Ministries, available here. For an overview of the results and methodology used, see the first post here.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

-Genesis 1:27-28, ESV

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.  The venom of asps is under their lips.  Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.  Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.  There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

-Romans 3:9-18, ESV

Now that we have established what Scripture teaches about who God is—and how deficient most American Christians’ knowledge of God is—we need to look at who we are.  Scripture is clear about the nature of man as both created in the image of God and corrupted by sin.  As with the nature of God, the condition of man cannot be adequately covered in a short space, but here are some key points that are important to understanding the survey results on the subject of man and sin:

• Image of God: Mankind is created in the image of God, which means that both men and women are equally created to resemble and represent God. While God in His holiness is utterly distinct from all of creation, mankind most clearly reflects God’s nature as being both physical and spiritual beings.[1] (Genesis 1:27-28)

• Sin: Sin is both the action and condition of rebellion against God, including all thoughts, words, actions, and motives that are contrary to His commands as well as refraining from thinking, speaking, doing, and being motivated in ways God commands. Since God cannot tolerate anything unholy, sin separates us from God. And since every sin is an act of rebellion against God, every sin likewise deserves God’s wrath.[2](Romans 6:23)

• Original sin: Adam and Eve first sinned in the Garden of Eden by failing to trust in the goodness of God and therefore breaking His command in thought, word, and action in order to pursue their own selfish ends, which I discuss in more depth here. As a result, all people inherit a sin nature and are therefore naturally sinful. We are all born dead in sin and therefore depraved and in need of a savior.[3](Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:9-18)

The 2022 Ligonier State of Theology survey addressed the topic of man and sin with four questions, the results of which are shown below.

State of Theology: Man as Male and Female

While no questions on the survey addressed how mankind is made in God’s image, one question addressed the clear teaching of Scripture that both men and women were created by God:

8. God created male and female.

Results for question 8 were quite positive, with over 70% of respondents in all categories (and at least 95% of all except the three “overall” categories) affirming God’s creation of people as male and female.  In some ways this is unsurprising considering how clear Scripture is on the subject, but it is still refreshing to see this doctrine so universally affirmed in our modern era of gender confusion.  Still, the “overall” categories scored low enough to raise concerns that some churches have compromised to the world on this subject.  Regardless, this result is clearly positive—much more than the other questions in this category.

State of Theology: Man’s Sinful Nature

Two questions cover the topic of original sin:

12. Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.

15. Everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God.

Results for both questions 12 and 15 where overwhelmingly negative, with less than half of respondents across all categories affirming original sin.  For question 12, only 44% of regularly attending evangelicals and a mere 24% of Northeasterners affirmed the clear teaching of Scripture that all people are generally evil (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:9-18, Ephesians 2:1-3).  For question 15, only 41% of regularly attending Midwest evangelicals and a mere 19% of Midwesterners overall affirmed the clear teaching of Scripture that everyone is born in sin and therefore not innocent in God’s eyes (Psalm 51:5, Romans 5:12-14).  

These results are unsurprising considering our society’s general cheapening of sin.  The American church has clearly bought into the world’s view of the general goodness of mankind, viewing sin as the exception rather than the rule.  I believe this also stems from a view that sin is merely doing the wrong thing, completely neglecting the inherited sin nature of all people, the fact that sins of omission (failure to do what God commands) are still sins, and the fact that wrong thoughts, words, and motives are just as sinful as wrong actions.  Furthermore, even good deeds are stained by our sin nature (Isaiah 64:6) and anything not rooted in faith in Christ is sinful (Romans 14:23), which means that we all sin constantly and therefore cannot be considered even remotely good by nature.  The fact that the majority of the American church denies this is disheartening to say the least.

State of Theology: Sin’s Seriousness

One question dealt with the nature of sin itself, particularly its seriousness in God’s eyes:

13. Even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation.

Only 47% of regularly attending evangelicals nationwide and in the Midwest and a mere 22% of Northeasterners affirmed Scripture’s teaching that every sin deserves damnation.  With the aforementioned societal cheapening of sin, this is not surprising.  If sin isn’t that bad, it is hard to see all sin as deserving hell, but Scripture teaches otherwise.  All sin is rebellion against the infinitely holy God and thus deserves infinite punishment from the perfectly just God (Romans 2:6-11 and 6:23, James 2:10).  In that way, there is no such thing as a small sin.  The fact that so many American Christians both believe that small sins exist and that they don’t deserve damnation shows how much we have cheapened sin—and therefore cheapened the Gospel.  From our perspective, sins do vary in their heinousness to one another, so a in very real sense there are varying degrees of sin.  But from the vantage of the perfect God who is the primary victim against whom all sins are committed (Psalm 51:4), those differences become so insignificant that they are invisible.  God equally abhors arrogance and murder, lying and malice, divisiveness and general wrongdoing (Proverbs 6:16-19), and all sin equally brings about the curse of God (Genesis 3:16-19, Galatians 3:10).  Jesus also equated hate with murder (Matthew 5:21-26), and lust with adultery (Matthew 5:27-32).  Finally, evil deeds and words come from evil thoughts and motives (Mark 7:15-23, Luke 6:45, James 4:1-3).  All of this removes any change of a distinction between large and small sins.  All sins deserve hell, no matter how small they might seem. We have to come to grips with our sin before we can truly grasp the Gospel, and is is clear that the American church has yet to truly grasp our sin.

Key Takeaways

The category of man and sin saw some of the largest deviations from orthodoxy, which is very concerning.  The American church has exalted man and cheapened sin.  To remedy this will require repentance of teaching a false doctrine about the goodness of man and a return to the teaching of Scripture on the fallenness of man and the abhorrent nature of sin.  America needs to relearn how to mourn over sin.  While not neglecting the amazing truth of man being made in the image of God, we must stress our corruption and corresponding need for a savior.  Without this, the Gospel becomes worthless and easily substituted.  If my sin really isn’t that bad, it can be atoned by my own effort—if it needs to be atoned for at all.  If sin isn’t that bad, then honest attempts to worship God and live good lives—however deviant they may be from Scripture—will be acceptable rather than disgusting in His sight.  In later questions, we will see how this distorted view off man and sin has led to religious pluralism in the American church.  Only when we see how helpless we are to deal with our own sin can we truly understand our need for the Gospel—and a church that does not see the need for the Gospel is soon to be a dead church, replaced by various worldly offerings of man-exalting good works and good feelings.  Just as a company that forsakes its distinctiveness dies, so the church that gives up the distinctiveness of the Gospel dies.  Therefore, the American church must heed Christ’s warning to the church of Sardis:

I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

-Revelation 3:1-3

NOTES:

[1] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan: 1994: 442; Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust: 2021: 199-200.

[2] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan: 1994: 490-492; Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust: 2021: 228-230.

[3] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan: 1994: 494-498; Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust: 2021: 237-242.