But after thy hardness
and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of
wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God (Romans 2:5-11).
Romans 2:5-11 that the wrath of God abides against not only those who do not obey the truth and obey unrighteousness. It also abides against self-seeking, those who living for themselves, seeking to satisfy their aspirations, dreams, visions, and anything else they seek. It is all too easy to say as a true follower of Christ that because one is not seeking one's own career, nor relationship, nor is seeking to amass vain wealth and riches, one is not being self-seeking. However, what self-seeking means is as long as one is seeking to do anything independently of God, that is exactly what one is. A person may one doing ministry work, or missionary work, but self-seeking, for example, by seeking to use his own human wisdom or the arms of the flesh in doing such works.
The classic examples of such a person are pastors who call on their local church to give more money to fund church activities, evangelists who love to emphasis 'cultural sensitivity' because they are full of the fear of people, and also because they ask people to donate money to them, and also missionaries who are concerned with the earthly needs of themselves and also those who they are reaching out to. This is all a manifestation of focusing on the arms of the flesh, that is, that which one can see to enable oneself to achieve what one wants, instead of fully trusting in God that God will provide absolutely all one needs. Self-seeking is indeed much more subtle than one thinks, or would like to think.
The modern world, and indeed, majority in the modern Church, assume, that is, simply assume that one is entitled to what one needs. Such an assumption is so deeply entrenched in the minds and hearts of so many that no one even questions the idea of entitlement and rights. The question to be asked is, what makes you entitled to what you need? What makes you entitled to what you want? What makes you entitled to satisfy your desires?
The very assumption that one is entitled to one's needs, let alone mere wants, desires, dreams aspirations and vision, is itself pride. It is to assume that one is entitled to seek one's own ways because one wants to, not because one needs to. You may think that you do not hold onto your so-called "rights" or seek to claim them, but that you stand up for that of others. You miss the whole point and do not understand that it is the idea of any person having entitlements at all that is the problem. Regardless of who is concerned, the very belief that a person, any person, is entitled to even one's needs is itself a vile, despicable, abominable sin. It is a doctrine of demons from the Pit of Hell!
The spirit of believing one's rights is the spirit of independence, seeking to be independent of God, in seeking one's own. It is the failure to depend on God, which is in and of itself a sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, they believed their they could be independent of God, seeking their own way:
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings (Genesis 3:6-7).
How exactly was Eve seduced by the devil to sin against God? The devil seduced Eve by the desire to be wise in one's own way, as opposed to wise in God's way, having one's one knowledge of Good and Evil, rather than having and receiving the knowledge of God. The devil appealed to her desire for her own wisdom by promising her wisdom, in having her eyes opened, and being as her own 'god': Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4).
Eve assumed that she was entitled to seek her own way, which lead to her fall, who then tempted her husband Adam to fall (Genesis 3:6). As a result, sin entered the world (Romans 5:12). The root of all sin is the failure to seek God. Romans 3:10-12 makes it very very clear that all under the wrath of God, regardless of whether Jew or Gentile. The elimination of the distinction between Jew who seek to be righteous in their own strength (Romans 9:31; 10:3), and Gentile who were not seeking righteousness (Romans 9:30), is made here in Romans 3 because:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Romans 3:10-12).
Many very well know this. The question is, why is it that there is none who understands, seeks God, is righteous or good? It is all too easy to just say it is human nature as many in the modern Church do. That is such an easy answer, simply to blame it on one's human nature, so flippantly and casually. The answer is that one all love to seek their own way, and rebel against God, because of their desire for their own way, pride and love of self. It is their desire to be independent of God, and of course, their corrupt nature which is diametrically opposed to God.
It is not that the desire to be independent of God comes from this corrupt nature. It is the desire to be independent of God, and seeking one's own self, which itself is the root of this corrupt nature. That is what lead to the Fall of humankind. It is because the first man and woman were tempted to be independent of God, which lead to the corruption of their perfect nature which they had before the Fall. It is not because they are corrupt in the first place before seeking to be independent of God. To claim that they were corrupt before the Fall is to blame God for the evil nature of humankind. It is to say that God created them corrupt, a vile, abominable blasphemy against God. Adam and Eve choose to sin, and in Adam, all sinned because all became corrupt in him (Romans 5:12-19).
It is not a lack of 'morality' that none seeks after God. For one can simply do do moral acts, all without seeking God, such as the millions of religious people, and people seeking to be decent and do 'good'. All "good" works done by those who are not good or righteous are not good (Isaiah 64:6) because they are not done to glorify God. They are done to glorify self, in seeking one's own way, to be independent of God, and rejecting Him and His ways.
The root of all sin is the love of self and the hatred of God. All sin, that is the breaking of God's Moral Law is an expression of the hatred of God. However, it is the hatred of God itself, to fail to seek Him, serve Him, glory and honour Him which is the root of all sin itself. Such hatred of God is the love of self for it is the flesh, the self which hates God. It loves itself, and in seeking to be independent of God and rejecting him, thinks itself entitled to any thing at all, in seeking it own way.
Romans 2:5-11 that the wrath of God abides against not only those who do not obey the truth and obey unrighteousness. It also abides against self-seeking, those who living for themselves, seeking to satisfy their aspirations, dreams, visions, and anything else they seek. It is all too easy to say as a true follower of Christ that because one is not seeking one's own career, nor relationship, nor is seeking to amass vain wealth and riches, one is not being self-seeking. However, what self-seeking means is as long as one is seeking to do anything independently of God, that is exactly what one is. A person may one doing ministry work, or missionary work, but self-seeking, for example, by seeking to use his own human wisdom or the arms of the flesh in doing such works.
The classic examples of such a person are pastors who call on their local church to give more money to fund church activities, evangelists who love to emphasis 'cultural sensitivity' because they are full of the fear of people, and also because they ask people to donate money to them, and also missionaries who are concerned with the earthly needs of themselves and also those who they are reaching out to. This is all a manifestation of focusing on the arms of the flesh, that is, that which one can see to enable oneself to achieve what one wants, instead of fully trusting in God that God will provide absolutely all one needs. Self-seeking is indeed much more subtle than one thinks, or would like to think.
The modern world, and indeed, majority in the modern Church, assume, that is, simply assume that one is entitled to what one needs. Such an assumption is so deeply entrenched in the minds and hearts of so many that no one even questions the idea of entitlement and rights. The question to be asked is, what makes you entitled to what you need? What makes you entitled to what you want? What makes you entitled to satisfy your desires?
The very assumption that one is entitled to one's needs, let alone mere wants, desires, dreams aspirations and vision, is itself pride. It is to assume that one is entitled to seek one's own ways because one wants to, not because one needs to. You may think that you do not hold onto your so-called "rights" or seek to claim them, but that you stand up for that of others. You miss the whole point and do not understand that it is the idea of any person having entitlements at all that is the problem. Regardless of who is concerned, the very belief that a person, any person, is entitled to even one's needs is itself a vile, despicable, abominable sin. It is a doctrine of demons from the Pit of Hell!
The spirit of believing one's rights is the spirit of independence, seeking to be independent of God, in seeking one's own. It is the failure to depend on God, which is in and of itself a sin. When Adam and Eve sinned, they believed their they could be independent of God, seeking their own way:
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings (Genesis 3:6-7).
How exactly was Eve seduced by the devil to sin against God? The devil seduced Eve by the desire to be wise in one's own way, as opposed to wise in God's way, having one's one knowledge of Good and Evil, rather than having and receiving the knowledge of God. The devil appealed to her desire for her own wisdom by promising her wisdom, in having her eyes opened, and being as her own 'god': Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4).
Eve assumed that she was entitled to seek her own way, which lead to her fall, who then tempted her husband Adam to fall (Genesis 3:6). As a result, sin entered the world (Romans 5:12). The root of all sin is the failure to seek God. Romans 3:10-12 makes it very very clear that all under the wrath of God, regardless of whether Jew or Gentile. The elimination of the distinction between Jew who seek to be righteous in their own strength (Romans 9:31; 10:3), and Gentile who were not seeking righteousness (Romans 9:30), is made here in Romans 3 because:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Romans 3:10-12).
Many very well know this. The question is, why is it that there is none who understands, seeks God, is righteous or good? It is all too easy to just say it is human nature as many in the modern Church do. That is such an easy answer, simply to blame it on one's human nature, so flippantly and casually. The answer is that one all love to seek their own way, and rebel against God, because of their desire for their own way, pride and love of self. It is their desire to be independent of God, and of course, their corrupt nature which is diametrically opposed to God.
It is not that the desire to be independent of God comes from this corrupt nature. It is the desire to be independent of God, and seeking one's own self, which itself is the root of this corrupt nature. That is what lead to the Fall of humankind. It is because the first man and woman were tempted to be independent of God, which lead to the corruption of their perfect nature which they had before the Fall. It is not because they are corrupt in the first place before seeking to be independent of God. To claim that they were corrupt before the Fall is to blame God for the evil nature of humankind. It is to say that God created them corrupt, a vile, abominable blasphemy against God. Adam and Eve choose to sin, and in Adam, all sinned because all became corrupt in him (Romans 5:12-19).
It is not a lack of 'morality' that none seeks after God. For one can simply do do moral acts, all without seeking God, such as the millions of religious people, and people seeking to be decent and do 'good'. All "good" works done by those who are not good or righteous are not good (Isaiah 64:6) because they are not done to glorify God. They are done to glorify self, in seeking one's own way, to be independent of God, and rejecting Him and His ways.
The root of all sin is the love of self and the hatred of God. All sin, that is the breaking of God's Moral Law is an expression of the hatred of God. However, it is the hatred of God itself, to fail to seek Him, serve Him, glory and honour Him which is the root of all sin itself. Such hatred of God is the love of self for it is the flesh, the self which hates God. It loves itself, and in seeking to be independent of God and rejecting him, thinks itself entitled to any thing at all, in seeking it own way.
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