Our Natural, Fallen Resistance to God’s Will Being Done

And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled…

Colossians 1:21 NKJV

This morning we look at Westminster Larger Catechism Question 192, which asks, “What do we

pray for in the third petition?” It gives the answer, “In the third petition (which is, Thy will be done

in earth, as it is in heaven,) acknowledging, that by nature we and all men are not only utterly

unable and unwilling to know and do the will of God, but prone to rebel against his word, to

repine and murmur against his providence, and wholly inclined to do the will of the flesh, and of

the devil: we pray, that God would by his Spirit take away from ourselves and others all blindness,

weakness, indisposedness, and perverseness of heart; and by his grace make us able and willing

to know, do, and submit to his will in all things, with the like humility, cheerfulness, faithfulness,

diligence, zeal, sincerity, and constancy, as the angels do in heaven.”

How does Scripture show that all fallen human beings are by nature “wholly inclined to do the

will of the flesh, and of the devil”? First, we must see that the will of the flesh here refers to the

will of the sinful nature. Before conversion every Christian had only one nature: the nature he

received in the likeness of his father Adam. Scripture describes this nature as not merely sick or

dying, but dead in sin (Eph. 2:1, 5). Here the death referred to is a spiritual death, meaning that we

have no life toward God in our spirits or souls. God created man body and soul. The body is the

physical part: all atoms, molecules, cells, and matter comprise the body. The soul or spirit is the

nonphysical part: it includes all that we are in our nonphysical beings. Our thoughts, wills,

judgment, memory, intellect, and also our emotions and feelings all arise from what the Scripture

refers to in various places as the soul, spirit, heart, mind, or strength. In Adam and Eve, before the

Fall, this spiritual part had life. That is, our first parents had motions and affections towards God

and His will. In the day that they sinned this spiritual part wholly died in all of its Godward

activity. From that point on the spiritual nature of every human being, in and of itself apart from

the grace of God, will not exert any effort to please God. Unconverted people can keep God’s

commandments outwardly in their bodily actions, but none of that “obedience” comes from any

true love for or reverence to God in the heart. Every motion of the soul, every thought of the

mind behind any outwardly obedient act is entirely for reasons other than to glorify God.

Scripture describes it this way: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the

earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).

This text allows for no exceptions. Every human being in each purpose or intention of every

single thought does not seek to obey God and so he necessarily aims at what can only be evil

continually, or “all the days” of his life. And lest we think this referred merely to the generation

destroyed in the flood, we have Scripture’s assessment of man’s spiritual state immediately after:

“And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again

curse the ground for man's sake, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I

again destroy every living thing as I have done” (Gen. 8:21). Here we must understand that the

phrase “from his youth” does not lessen the sinfulness indicated by the phrase “all the days” but

strengthens it. For in Genesis 6:5 someone might understand “man” to refer exclusively to adults,

but Gen. 8:21 disallows for that limitation when it says that this evil intention in man is from man’s

youth, that is to say as soon as he is able to self-consciously and intentionally act.

Moreover, the Scripture at the head of this article shows us that man’s mind cannot be the

solution, as is so often taught by moralists and even some Bible teachers. Educating, informing,

or teaching the mind cannot bring any spiritual life to man. For the mind is the problem! The

fallen mind is the enemy of God; it is alienated from God. The mind, which is to say the heart and

the soul, is where sin begins. Thus, Eve transgressed the command when she saw and judged in

her mind that the forbidden fruit was pleasing and desirable (Gen. 3:6). Accordingly, we see how

necessary it is for us to pray to our Father that His will would be done on earth. If sinners are

going to do God’s will, the power and ability to do so first must come wholly from God, for apart

from His enlivening, enlightening, and empowering, we would never do it.