The Nature of Man - Psalms 12-14

 Psalms 14:2-3 (ESV)

2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God.

3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

The Nature of Man

If we were to ask the man-on-the-street about the nature of mankind, the majority might say that man is basically good.  They might believe that man is good but has bad surroundings or bad opportunities and that, in turn, makes or forces him/her make poor decisions.  The majority of people would say man begins on a good path or lane for life but the world around him/her forces them into a bad path/lane of life.   Most would not say that man is born on or into a bad path or lane.    We simply don’t want to admit that man is corrupt or defective or lacks basic goodness.  Most people believe that mankind is basically good.   When men and women look at men and women they see goodness.

That thought is dramatically different than what God says to us.  In the above passage we have God’s opinion of the man/woman-on-the-street.   God looks down from heaven and sees that man is corrupt and has no goodness in his/her heart.   He states that they have become “corrupt.”   He states that in His all-seeing powers that “there is none who does good, not even one.” This is not how mankind thinks of himself or herself.  

Here is the essence of the need for the Gospel and why people simply don’t flood God’s grace asking for forgiveness.   They don’t believe they need it!  If a new store opens in your community and it sells a product no one wants, that store will not be around anymore.   If someone does not believe they need the product, they will not buy it.   Marketing is about telling people they can’t live without the product.  If that thought is true we would have long lines to buy the stores product.   The problem with the Church is that we don’t tell people they need the Gospel because they are corrupt and have no good in them.  We just don’t want to say it.  This psalm starts out with this verse:

Psalms 14:1 (ESV)

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;

there is none who does good.

They say there is “no God” because they don’t need a God if they are right in their own eyes.   The Gospel begins with the point that man needs God because man is corrupt.  Fail to communicate that and we fail to show a need for Christ.