Christian Truth: What No Man Can Imagine Must Not Be from Men

It is natural for human beings to seek the approval of others, even if it means patting ourselves on our own backs. Except for the rare neurotic, we accentuate our goodness. And to say that we have none would be an insult.

Yet, that is exactly what the Scriptures say: "None is righteous, no, not one... All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one" (Romans 3:10, 12). Even Jesus Himself left no wiggle room: "No one is good except God alone" (Mark 10:18).

What greater contrast can there be between how we humans think of ourselves and the portrayal that is given in Scripture! And that contrast is my point.

Every other religion, including secular humanism and unbiblical distortions of Christianity, maintain that man is basically good, and can achieve his own spiritual welfare by his own efforts.

Only biblical Christianity stands on this contrary view of the universal wickedness of all men.

What does that tell us?

My point is primarily for the atheist, who demands proof of the divine origin of biblical Christianity. If the Bible teaches that which is universally rejected by the natural assumptions of men, does that not prove that it could not have been created by men? I think that conclusion is unavoidable. It must come from a person, not an impersonal source outside humanity. And it must come from a source with universal knowledge of humanity.

Such a source can only be the God of the Bible. He is the God who made us, so He knows what we are meant to be, and from what status we have fallen short. But He is also the God who intervened in the human world, becoming a man Himself, to live with all of the suffering and frailty of human life. Then He suffered and died to purchase His people from the consequences of the sin that we brought on ourselves.

Christianity begins with a creation that may be conceived by the non-Christian. But it alone assigns consequences from that creation that the human mind universally rejects. Therefore, it cannot come from the human mind. Therefore, it is irrational for any human mind to reject it.

"Who is like Me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before Me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen" (Isaiah 44:7).