I have had the privilege of teaching through our statement of faith article by article since Feb.  One of the most convicting lessons was on the fall of man.  According to the article, we have inherited “a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and his law.”  This means we rebel against God with every breathe, every action, every thought.  Even our best motives are tainted with sin. This should help us only see our need for Christ more and praise him that his blood covers every sin.

The hardness of our hearts and our need for God’s grace had a whole new application after reading an article my father sent me from the Greenville News.  The article is by a Jewish Rabbi that my dad talks about often because he has some far left opinions and likes to share them.  This particular article was excellent in a study of the fall of man.

A summary of the events from the article are as follows…The Rabbi is prayed over by some “fundamental Christians” for a kidney stone he was going to have zapped the next day.  The Christians were getting a lesson on the passover and  they prayed for him in Jesus’ name that he would be healed but “not by the hands of man.”    The amazing thing is that the next day he no longer had blood in his urine and when he went to the doctor the kidney stone was not there.   He admits it is a miracle and recognizes that the miracle took place under the explicit name of Jesus.  So one would think, here we have a man whose heart has to be softened and ready for the gospel.  Right?

No, he has inherited “a nature corrupt and wholly opposed to God and his law.”  The Rabbi thinks that the special moment was being around people who still believe in miracles.  He confesses, “I firmly believe that [the prayer for healing] could have risen heavenward through Jesus, Yahweh, Buddha, Krishna or the Bab, or anyone or thing who manifests the Supreme Power.”

I am astounded by the hardness of the heart in this confession.  I have heard people say, “if only I saw a miracle or lived when Jesus did, then I would believe.”  Actually, no you wouldn’t.  Our hearts hate God and his work.  The sinful nature twists, corrupts, perverts every good and perfect gift that comes down from the Father above.  We come up with excuses to deny him, reject him, discount his goodness, and spit in his face when the occasion arises.  In our evangelism we cannot think that enough proof, argumentation, evidence, etc will convert the unbeliever.  It is the grace of God alone and the power of the Spirit.  The clear evidence of a miracle would not convert the rabbi just as many saw miracles done by Jesus himself and their hearts were only hardened further.  God saves by a special grace “wrought by the Holy Spirit.”

Christian,we are just like this rabbi.  As Christians we have God’s blessing all around us all the time, but we still grumble and complain.  We have the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit working in us and for us to make our sinful deeds somehow acts of worship.  Apart from God’s grace we would never recognize any good gift, most importantly the gift of his Son who died for our sins.

Seeing this hardness should cause us to thank God for the mercy shown to us that gives us eyes to see.  There can be no pride concerning our ability to see where this rabbi cannot see.  Our response is only humility that God loved us.  It should also give us an urgncy in prayer for those with whom we are sharing the gospel.  Our words about sin, the death and burial of Christ, and new life are necessary, but will prove to be ineffective without the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Glory to God for his grace.

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