The ethical views whether human nature is good or evil has been questions of long standing for human beings. But, Christianity says clearly that human nature is evil. Jesus declared the evilness of human nature as a settled matter without any hesitation, ‘though you are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children’ (Matthew 7:11), toward countless crowds who had flocked to listen to the Sermon on the Mountain from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan. Apostle Paul also concluded, ‘There is no one righteous, not even one’ and ‘There is no one who does good, not even one’, among Jews and Gentiles alike. (Roman 3:9-18)

Likewise, Human nature is evil, but they long for goodness and seek for it at the other hand. An Israelite psalmist revealed his urgent feeling: As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (Psalm 42:1-2) People are evil, and there is no goodness in them, but they cannot but long for goodness; psychologists call it a dual personality. Discovering this dual personality or being awakened by it is to begin a Christian life or to make the first step of life at the same time. Paul’s confession of his experiences in Roman ch. 7 addresses this dual personality most incisively and realistically. Paul was the greatest Christian during last 2000 years. But, he said, “I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet.’” (Roman 7:7) “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.” (Roman 7:14) He had fought for the perfection of the noble moral law of human beings, until he surrendered himself, facing the tenth Commandment, ‘Do not covet’, lamenting that he was the worst of all sinners. As the result of his sincere effort, he discovered that he had strange inconsistency within himself: “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” (Roman 7:15-20)

“Generally, in my inner being I delight in God’s law, but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” (Roman 7:22-23) He discovered that he was the prisoner under the power of self, standing firmly within himself that does the evil deeds, even though he wants to do good deeds. It is not only the experience of Paul but of all sincere men. It is a fact that all of us, Augustine, Bunyan, and our self, cannot deny. The most pressing need is to discover the true character of evil and sinful of our inner beings, about which the Bible teaches us most clearly. The Bible pointed out how wicked Adam became in his heart, soon after he had been created. (Genesis 6:5, 8:21) Elsewhere, Paul said, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” (Galatians 5:16) Apostle Peter said, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.” (1Peter 2:11) Apostle James said, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? (James 2:11) All taught us about the evil against the good, and lust (sin) against the Holy Spirit. When we discover the true character of this evil nature, as Paul did, we will also cry out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Roman 7:24) If someone has not experienced such a sorrowful appeal, he evidently has not discovered the true character of this evil nature.

The only way to know the evil nature clearly is to decide our attitude, by selecting the color of our flag clearly, toward the flesh that is against the spirit, and toward the law of sins that is against the desire to do good as soon as possible in order to clarify our position. Gandhi declared, before he started his independence movement, “All, who value life and property a great deal, should seek refuge abroad. Hoo-ji-ee Dah-keh-hee, a man with noble spirit, said at the memorial conference of his teacher, “We have to newly declare war toward all enemies of truth. We have to clarify our attitude as well as mine both inwardly and outwardly; whether we should obey the Holy Spirit that command us to do good deeds or side with the power of evil spirit and lust which are against the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, we can hardly walk in the realm of truth. Once we determine resolutely to go to heaven even if we lose part of our body, an eye, an ear, an arm, or a leg, we can declare war toward everything that belongs to flesh against the Holy Spirit, whether inwardly or outwardly, or toward someone in proximity or in distance. Then we can understand Luther who threw an ink bottle toward a devil, as well as Bunyan, Augustine, and Paul. Even if we wail like Paul, lamenting ‘What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death’, now we know Jesus Christ who said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Eventually, we can sing a victory song, ‘I thank God and we can come to Heavenly Father because of our Lord Jesus Christ’. Therefore, we have to declare war toward flesh to become a Christian.

(Message: Many people do not recognize evil nature of their soul and behave as their instinct dictates them what to do. Many, who recognize it, justify their evil behaviors as necessary for their survival or they cannot help it because they are born with it and they cannot change it because it is innate nature. We need to believe that we can change it with the help of God when we pray for it; we need to visualize the benefit of blessings and grace, which will come upon us if we live by obeying God’s commandments as summed up well in Deuteronomy 28:1-14. I am one of such beneficiaries.)