Understanding human nature in the Ten Commandments(Unless God helps us, human nature is not good)
Text Exodus 20:1-17; Isaiah 1:9; 6:1-7; Romans 7:18-20
1. Why understand human nature?
1.1 For self-reflection; to help you know who you are, how to behave, and what to do to become a better person.
1.2 To help you relate well with other people; to spot the liars, the betrayers, and to establish agreements and boundaries where necessary.
1.3 To help you seek God and give Him the due honour and worship.
What do the Ten Commandments reveal about Human nature?
The Ten commandments reveal to us who God is, our relationship with Him, and who we are. The first four commandments reveal who we are in relation to God: 1. our nature wants many gods; 2. we are idol worshippers (e.g., Ex 32); 3. We disrespect and abuse God; 4. we don’t want to worship God but spend all our time making money; want to move away from God (Col 1:21). The next six commandments reveal who we are in relation to our fellow humans: 5. dishonour parents, 6. murderers, 7. adulterers, 8. thieves, 9. destroy people’s character, 10. we’re covetous
Conclusions
What makes us do good is God’s mercy and grace: (e.g., the New birth, God’s word; Psalm 119:11, His Spirit Psalm 51:10, His servants as examples of good deeds, etc)
Our behaviour is not necessarily our true nature.
Human nature can behave well or badly depending on motivation (e.g, greed, fear, pride…)
Before the fall, human nature was godly (Genesis 1-2); after the fall, human nature is sinful (Rom 7:18-20; Isaiah 1:9).
Our sinful nature makes us do evil; naturally, we like what will hurt us and others