“Deceitful and Wicked”?
“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart” says Proverbs 21:2. Our society teaches us that we are good people, who sometimes make mistakes, but we can make up for those mistakes by doing good deeds. You have probably been told by teachers, friends, parents, etc., that you are a good person, but the Bible has a radically different view of who we are at heart.
The Apostle Paul doesn’t hold back when he talks about the condition of all people:
“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.”
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:9-20)
When Paul talks about “works of the law” he is referring to the law given to Moses in the wilderness. The Lord gave the ten commandments to the Jews to show them their need for a savior. No one could possibly fulfill one of the commands, much less all ten! Have you ever lied? Stolen? Dishonored your parents? Maybe you can say you’ve never murdered anyone. However, if we dig into the scriptures a little we can see that we’ve all violated that one too. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:21,22)
We can see that we’re in trouble, but it gets worse! Paul says later in Romans, “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” (14:23) This is serious! If anything that someone does that isn’t from faith in God is a sin, what can someone who doesn’t have faith possibly do to make God happy? The answer is simple, NOTHING! Therefore, we can agree wholeheartedly with the prophet Jeremiah when he says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
The heart of every person who you’ve ever met is deceitful and wicked. This has implications for eternity. What does God do with people who violate his law? Most people would, at this point, start shouting: “But what about forgiveness? What about all the good things that I’ve done? If no one can please God, He must throw everyone into Hell, but that can’t possibly be true!” Let’s take a look at what the Bible has to say about it.
Eternal, Conscious, Torment. Really?
If we are all sinners, what does that mean? Well, the Apostle John says, “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8) Ouch. Did you catch that last group in the list? Liars. In the lake of fire. This isn’t looking good. How many lies do you have to tell to be a liar? Is the Jesus we see in paintings, meek and lowly, knocking at the door of our hearts begging to be let in really going to send people to Hell? Aren’t we talking about the mean old nasty from the Old Testament?
Paul says in his second letter to the Thessalonians, “since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,” (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9) It sure seems clear that Jesus is the one afflicting those liars, idolaters, and murderers we heard about in Revelation, doesn’t it?
So, here’s the verdict, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Everyone dies. Once. No reincarnation, no second chances offered here. We will all die, and stand before Almighty God to give an account of what we have done. Claiming to be a Christian won’t save you, either. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23) Apparently, going to church, going to youth camp, doing fundraisers, casting out demons, or any other “mighty work” just aren’t going to get rid of this sin problem.
The law of God should drive us all to our knees in despair. No amount of good we can do will make up for the countless times we’ve sinned against God. The standard God has given us to live up to, in order to get into Heaven, is simple. Perfection in thought, word, and deed, from the cradle to the grave. How are you doing?
Hell is real. We all deserve to go there, right now. Ignoring it won’t make it go away. Today, I’m 31 years old. It seems like yesterday I was 21, and the day before that I was 16. Life is fleeting, merely vanity to use biblical language (Ecclesiastes 1:2). In less than 100 years, all of us will be wherever it is that we’re going, forever. If we skip along through life, without taking these things seriously, chasing after all that the world has to offer, in the end we will be able to answer Christ’s question, “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36) with a resounding, nothing.
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