FAQs Mondays: What Is the Nature of Man?

We are going to continue looking at Henry Clay Fish's Baptist Scriptural Catechism. We will look at mankind in this post. These questions come from Lesson 5, part 2: "Man, His Fall, and Universal Corruption."

We have already noticed that God, having made man upright, and having placed him in the garden, commanded him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Did he obey that command?
 

He did not.  "Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it" (Gen. 3:6).

What penalty had God annexed to eating of the forbidden fruit?

God had said, "for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die" (Gen. 2:17).

What is meant by "death in this place; was it the death of the body, or moral and spiritual death; or was it both?

Did our first parents stand in such a relation to their posterity, as to involve them in the consequences of their transgressions?
 

They did. "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all men, because all sin" (Rom. 5:12).  "For just as through one man

s disobedience the many were made sinners" (Rom. 5:19).

Are we not, nevertheless, alone responsible for our own sins?

We are.

What does the Bible teach concerning the wickedness of mankind?
 

It declares that "all have turned away;all alike have become useless" (Rom. 3:12),  that "there is no one righteous, not even one" (Rom. 3:10). See also Eccl. 7:20.

Is this corruption natural, that is, are men by nature depraved? 

They are.  "Man's incliination is evil from his youth" (Gen. 8:21).

Can we account for the very early waywardness and sinfulness of children, on any other ground than that of a natural bias to evil?

Is man wholly, or only partially depraved?
 

Wholly.  "The Lord saw that man's wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time" (Gen. 6:5). See also Ps. 14:1-4; Rom. 1:20-32, and Rom. 8:7-8.

Does the expression wholly depraved necessarily imply that all men are as bad as they can be?

It does not.

Does it imply that all men are equally wicked?
 

It does not.

Do not impenitent individuals often possess many amiable and estimable qualities?

They do.

What, then, is meant by being wholly depraved?
 

It means being who is destitute of love to God or true holiness and, not only so, but in a state of enmity against Him, "But I know you--that you have no love for God within you" (John 5:42). "For the mind-set of the flesh is death" (Rom. 8:7). See also Eph. 2:1-3, 5.

Is every impenitent individual, because of his sinfulness, under condemnation?
 

He is. "Anyone who does not believe is already condemned" (John 3:18). See also Rom. 5:16.

Are you under condemnation? If so, what should be your feelings?

The nature of mankind is fallen. We are not able to be what God demands us to be. If man in his disobedience is under condemnation (and he is), he needs help. We will begin looking at the solution for mankind's problem next week (hint: it is the work of Christ on the cross). Feel free to leave a comment.

Note: All quotations are the HCSB. I took the liberty to update the quotations for easier reading.