The Nature Of Man

“Seeing also that, as the world is aging, man’s nature is gradually growing weaker.”

That sentence was written by Paul Melanchthon. It’s a line out of the Augsburg Confession, a document of faith submitted to King Charles V in the year 1530. It is an interesting observation of both the world and of man. It’s also very disturbing.

There’s no question that the world is changing. Man has made some of the more obvious changes to it. But that’s really a surface level change. Man has had no real impact on the nature of the planet. We haven’t altered what nature is or does. The observable effects of nature may have changed but that’s due to several reasons.

Documented observational change in the planet is a relatively new phenomenon. We have basically no observed changes in the earth that were documented by man 1,000 years ago, barely even 500 years ago. According to the Smithsonian, the earth is 4.6 billion years old, so in the grand scheme of things, what man knows firsthand is a mere drop compared to a world of oceans.

But the world changing and man’s time of observing and documenting that change isn’t the issue here. It’s Melanchthon’s statement of “man’s nature is gradually growing weaker” that is so troublesome.

I’ll begin with the fact that Melanchthon’s observation about man was made almost 500 years ago. So back in the 16^th century a change was noticeable. But what is this change in man’s nature? The nature of man are his shared traits, characteristics, drives, and instincts. These things compose the very essence of man. How could man’s essence and being change? These are qualities and attributes that are inherent, they are built into the system, so to speak.

Human nature, like the world’s nature, doesn’t change due to external influences. They are revealed by them.

So, what could change the nature of man? How is it, “gradually growing weaker”?

There has only been one documented time when the nature of man has changed.

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:6-7).

Man’s nature changed due to the fall. Since that event in the Garden of Eden, man has been susceptible and prone to sin. If left alone man will gravitate towards unrighteousness. If man doesn’t have a Holy Ghost experience, if God’s Spirit doesn’t mingle with man’s spirit, then his days will continue to grow dark and sinful.

But Paul Melanchthon didn’t observe a change in man’s nature. He observed the weakening of man’s nature. Melanchthon observed that the weakening is a process in the present tense. He said that his nature, “is” gradually growing weaker. And for man’s nature to weaken, it must first be in some position of strength, or in this case righteousness.

The fall of man is an active process. It’s ongoing and in the present tense. When Adam and Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, they didn’t become sin and unrighteous complete. That is the state and condition of the devil. As I mentioned earlier, Adam and Eve became susceptible and prone to sin. What Melanchthon observed 500 years ago is that man has become more sinful thus more susceptible and prone to sin. The distance from God has increased and is made manifest by man’s thoughts and actions.

What Melanchthon was doing was to describe the effects of a progressing fall.

Sin unabated grows while it weakens the one who sins. Sin will kill off the very thing that is keeping it alive and active. That might sound strange and self-defeating, but that’s the sole purpose and intent of the devil and sin.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10a).

But while the basic nature of man has degraded and is not what it once was, there is no reason to give up hope.

Never give up hope. Never forget, it was God, “who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” (Romans 4:17).

Did you catch that? How can you give up hope when we have a God that can raise the dead and call things into existence that did not exist before! With God there is always hope and there is always a way!!

Look at Abraham. It was his hope, when there was no hope and hoping ran counter to logic and reason and it was his belief in the promises of God that assured his righteousness and salvation.

“Who against hope believed in hope... And being not weak in faith……He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.”

“Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Romans 4:18-25)

Hope, faith, and belief. It’s all based on hope, faith, and belief.

Jesus Christ came to fulfill that hope. He is the promise! Jesus told us, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10b).

The Apostle Paul, who more than recognized that he was a sinner in the midst of the fall said, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

Do you get the message? Paul Melanchthon’s observation was correct. The nature of man is getting weaker. But we have a God that can do anything and everything, anytime, all of time. We have a Savior that came for us literally and is still here for you and I spiritually. We have a sure method of salvation by flushing the past and running straight into the arms of our loving Savior!

Are you weak? Then be “strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:16)

Jesus Christ said, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

There is no degree or level of weakness that can’t be filled with and by the strength of Christ. None!

Bill Hitchcock