We are made of two natures the soul which is comprised of the emotions, intellect and will; the other is the spirit by which we have life and can communicate with God. The sin of Adam infected our human nature, brought physical and spiritual death to all humanity. When we are born into this world we are enslaved by this fallen nature. There is nothing we can do in and of ourselves to escape this bondage. No matter what we try to do we fall short because of Adam’s disobedience, there is a natural bent towards what is wrong.

J.I Packer said it this way, “A perverted energy within people which enslaves them to God-defying, self-gratifying behavior, and by distraction, deceit and direct opposition weakens and overthrows their purposes of righteousness. (It is) the moral equivalent of a wolf in sheep's clothing, presenting itself to us again and again as good, desirable and a necessity of life, thereby corrupting our conscience so that we lose the sense of its guiltiness and cherish it as if it were a friend rather than an enemy.” 1

The Holy Spirit led the apostle Paul to write in Romans, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

A school teacher lost her life savings in a business scheme that had been elaborately explained by a swindler. When her investment disappeared and her dream was shattered, she went to the Better Business Bureau.

"Why on earth didn't you come to us first?" the official asked. "Didn't you know about the Better Business Bureau?"

"Oh, yes," said the lady sadly. "I've always known about you. But I didn't come because I was afraid you'd tell me not to do it."

The folly of human nature is that even though we know where the answers lie--God's Word--we don't turn there for fear of what it will say.²

Next stop - Ebeneezer Park