Berean Bible Church, Edgewater, Florida – Pastor Doug Dodd s.b.g.
Rom 3:10As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Eccl 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
Harmartiology is the study of sin; it's origin, nature, extent, and consequences. There is a
shortage of this teaching even among grace circles.
This doctrine came under major scrutiny, in this country, in the early 1900’s due in large part to
the churches caving into the teachings of Sigmund Freud which says that man is basically good and
just needs to release his inner wants and needs.
Freud said - "I started my professional activity as a neurologist trying to bring relief to my
neurotic patients" His patients were "neurotic" because of suppressed SIN. Freud succeeded in
eliminating the "shame" associated with sin.
Freudism gave rise to the I’m OK, your OK society in which we live today.
Freudism gave rise to the acceptance of blame shifting to avoid personal responsibility.
Freudism gave rise to the basic goodness of man contrary to the Word of God.
Freudism gave rise to situation ethics which is - A system of ethics that evaluates acts in
light of their situational context rather than by the application of moral absolutes. Which means
if you can get away with it DO IT – Forgetting that the Bible says:
Num 32:23 … be sure your sin will find you out.
The Bible is not a popular book because it is negative towards sin and positive towards God. The
Bible is negative towards the sinner and his efforts, while it is positive towards God, his power,
his justice, his judgment, his mercy and his son.
Harmartiology is the study of sin; it's origin, nature, extent, and consequences
Sin
Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
What Constitutes Sin?
Sin is anything that is contrary to the law or will of God.
For example:
If you lie, you have sinned. Why? Because God has said not to lie (Ex. 20:16).
If you do what God has forbidden, then you have sinned.
In addition, if you do not do what God has commanded, you sin (James 4:17).
Prov 21:4 An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
Prov 24:9 The thought of foolishness is sin:
Rom 14:23… whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
1 John 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin
Origin of Sin
Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Some Observations:
It must be kept in mind that Adam and Eve were free moral agents.
That while they were sinless beings, it was yet possible for them to sin, just as it was possible
for them not to sin.
The sin of our first parents was purely volitional; it was an act of their own determination. Their
sin was, like all other sin, a voluntary act of the will.
It came from an outside source, that is to say, it was instigated from without. There was no sin in
the nature of the first human pair. Consequently there must have been an ungodly principle already
in the world. Probably the fall of Satan and the evil angels had taken place already.
The essence of the first sin lay in the denial of the divine will; an elevation of the will of man
over the will of God. It was a deliberate transgressing of a divinely marked boundary; an
overstepping of the divine limits.
In its last analysis, the first sin was what each and every sin committed since has been, a
positive disbelief in the word of the living God. A belief of Satan rather than a belief in God.
It is helpful to note that the same lines of temptation that were presented to our first parents,
were presented to Christ in the wilderness (Mat 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was
afterward an hungered. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God,
command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil
taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto
him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels
charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy
foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the
kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:
for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the
devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.) and to men ever
since then (1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust
of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God
abideth for ever.)
The Nature Of Sin
The essential characteristics of sin is: Rejection of Righteousness leading to bondage, blindness
and separation from God. The entire being of man, mentally, morally, spiritually and physically is
affected by sin. It is the nature of sin to be religious and the religion of the sinner replaces
God and his word with a different value system built on the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes
and the pride of life.
The understanding is darkened - Eph 4:17 This I say therefore, and testify in the
Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, 18 Having
the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in
them, because of the blindness of their heart: 1 Cor 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned.
The heart is wicked - Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give
every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
The mind & conscience is defiled - Gen 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually. Titus 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and
unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
The flesh & spirit are defiled - 2 Cor 7:5 For, when we were come into
Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings,
within were fears. - 2 Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind.
Christ condemned sin in the flesh - Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that
it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for
sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
The Extent Of Sin
All Lost People Are (present tense) children of the devil
Acts 13:10 And said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou
enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins: 2 Wherein in time past
ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Rom 3:23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
The consequences of sin
Job 20:4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, 5 That the triumphing of
the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?
Job 21:7 Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power? 8 Their seed is
established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. 9 Their houses are
safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. 10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not;
their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. 11 They send forth their little ones like a flock, and
their children dance. 12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. 13
They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave. 14 Therefore they say unto
God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 15 What is the Almighty, that we
should serve him? and what profit should we have, if we pray unto him?
Ezek 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is
mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
2 Th 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with his mighty angels, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and
that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 10 When he shall come
to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony
among you was believed) in that day.
The Heathen In Africa
This idea that there is or has been a group of "good hearted" lost people that died without hearing
the gospel is a bunch of liberal bunk. There never has been, "as it is written", anyone who was out
there looking for God - Read Romans Chapter 1!
Let's forget the heathen in Africa( a racial slur! ) for a moment. How about the heathen at
Wal-Mart, Eckerd's and K-Mart? What about those heathen? What makes them any different than the
heathen any where else. "Rom 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."There is no difference.
The integrity of God is called into question when we do not acknowledge his rightness and justice
to condemn the wicked.
Deu 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and
without iniquity, just and right is he.
Job 8:3 Doth God pervert judgment? or doth the Almighty pervert justice?
Psa 99:1 The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the
earth be moved. 2 The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. 3
Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.
Rom 3:1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? 2 Much every
way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
Rom 3:3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without
effect? 4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou
mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
Rom 3:5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God
unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) 6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the
world?
When we attempt to circumvent the justice of God by making unbelievers and sinners the
victim we defile and change the glory of God - see Romans 1!! . There is but one way
to be saved in this age and that is by the hearing of the gospel of the grace of God.
What God has obligated himself to do is summed up in two points
Calvary & Agency
God has all that he is going to do to save mankind. He has established the finished cross work of
the Lord Jesus Christ in his death, burial and resurrection.
If there is a failure to get the message out the failure is to be laid at feet of the agency
through which God is working in this dispensation which is the church the body of Christ!
If there is a failure of one person who "truly" wants to hear the gospel NOT being able to hear
that gospel then the failure is to be laid at the feet of the agency through which God is working
which is the church the body of Christ!
Conclusion
The doctrine of Harmartiology is very clear. The heathen, in any country, are not seeking after
God. The Ninevites were not seeking after God. God was seeking after them through his agency which
at that time was Israel. You were not seeking after God. Some local church reached you through it's
ministry.
If you are saved God has made you a part of what he is doing today. He is not willing that any
should perish - the church, by and large does not care. The church today is failing just as Jonah
failed.
Why not be a part of what God is doing today and be actively seeking the lost.
