The Problem with Us

This is a series of brief devotional articles on The Orthodox Catechism (“OC”), a Particular Baptist document written by Baptist pastor Hercules Collins in 1680. Read the series.

Question 2 from the Orthodox Catechism told us that one of the three things we must know to have the comfort that we belong to Jesus is “how great my sin and misery are.” We’re in very great trouble, and we can’t get out of it. If that’s true, then …

Question 3: How do you come to know your misery?

Answer 3: The law of God tells me^.1

The scripture tells us that: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin” (Rom 3:20). God’s law is like a mirror that strips away all our pretense and self-righteousness to reveal the blemishes underneath—and what there’s isn’t pretty (Rom 3:9-19). It shows us that we’re sinners.

When the Christian story speaks about “sin” in this context, it isn’t simply about “the bad things we do.” Yes, we think and do bad things, but back of all that is infidelity² or unfaithfulness to God—spiritual adultery (Hos 1-2). God made us to love him and want a relationship, but because of our first parent’s faithlessness we’re born alienated from him. The bad things we do are the fruit from this poisonous tree. Sin is indeed lawlessness (1 Jn 3:4), but this lawlessness is the crop from our first parent’s spiritual adultery. So, when Paul says, “through the law we become conscious of our sin,” he means something like “through the law we realize we’re alienated from God because of our unfaithfulness to him all our lives.”

In his letter to the church in Rome, the apostle Paul presents two groups of people—unbelievers who don’t care about God (Rom 1:20-32), and Jews who both (a) wear their status as “God’s people” as a self-righteous badge of pride, and (b) twist the old covenant into a system of “resume-ism” as a vehicle for salvation (Rom 2:1-3:8). No matter which group you’re in, Paul says, you’re in trouble: “… Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin,” (Rom 3:9). Sin is an evil force—a dark power that captures and holds us in prison, and Jesus is the only one who can get us out.

Everyone needs rescue. Everyone needs to be liberated from Satan’s grasp. When we read what God’s law says and we see how badly we fail to follow it, it shows us how big the ditch is in which we’re trapped. This doesn’t mean God’s law is an evil thing to be feared. It does mean that, without the freedom and peace that new spiritual life brings, the law confronts us as a mountain we can’t scale. “Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law,” (Rom 7:7).

God has revealed himself to his people in many ways. He’s done it through dreams (Joseph), visions (the prophets, Paul at Acts 18:9), profound impressions or direct communication via the Spirit (Balaam; Paul forbidden to go to Asia—Acts 19:6-7), by personal appearances (angel of the Lord (e.g., to Abraham, Samson), burning bush, pillar of fire, cloud of glory, etc.). Most specifically, God reveals himself in Jesus himself (Jn 1:18; Heb 1:1-2). But Scripture is the concrete, objective revelation by which we can weigh everything else.

The bible tells us we’re in trouble. But it does more than that—it also tells us that Jesus is the way out.