I believe that on the sixth day of creation God created man and woman (Gen. 1:26-28). Made in the image of God, humans have an amazing ability and awesome responsibility to make visible God’s invisible attributes and to serve as His vicegerents over creation (Gen 1:28). Humans image God in their similarity to Him, dominion for Him, and representation of Him. We are spiritual, emotional, rational, relational, moral beings who have the ability to cultivate and create (Gen. 2:15-25). As the image of God, every human being has intrinsic dignity, value, and worth (Gen. 9:6). As the crown of God’s creation (Psa. 8:3-8), humans live in special relation to creation—part of, but distinct from. We also live in special relationship to God and other people. We’re created to glorify God (Isa. 43:6-7) by loving Him and others (Mk. 12:30-31) as we live in communities of family and society (Gen. 9:7). In marriage, man and woman together bear the image of God (Gen. 1:27; 2:24) as they live as equal persons (1 Cor. 11:11-12) with distinct relational roles (Eph. 5:22-33).
I believe that every person is a complex unified being—one person of two essences with a wide range of facets and functions. Just as God formed Adam from dust and breathed life into him (Gen. 2:27), so too every human from conception is made of material body and immaterial spirit (Jas. 2:26) or soul (Matt. 10:28). The body gives physical form while the spirit gives life—vital power and affinity for God. As somatic-spiritual beings, body and spirit are intricately connected (Matt. 26:41; Rom. 6:12-13). As complex unified begins we have a variety of inner and outer facets (2 Cor. 4:16)—immaterial mind, conscience, and will, along with physical flesh, blood, and bones. According to the Bible, the heart (not the physical organ) is the deepest center of our personhood, the driving force of our lives (Prov. 4:23).
I believe that all humans, as descendants of Adam and Eve, comprise a single human race (Gen. 3:20; Acts 17:26) that is marred by sin (1 Cor. 15:22). Since Adam was appointed by God to be the representative of the human race, when he fell all of humanity fell with him (Rom. 5:12-21). Every person, therefore, has inherited sin—Adam’s guilt imputed to us, Adam’s depravity imparted to us. We are sinners by nature (Ps. 51:5, 58:3), but also sinners by choice (Rom. 3:23). God has given us freedom to make morally responsible choices (Josh. 24:15) and every one of us has chosen to sin against Him (Ps. 51:4).
I believe that sin is multifaceted and its effects are severe. Sin is any falling short of God’s righteous standard (Jas. 4:17), breaking God’s revealed law (1 Jn. 3:4), or missing the mark of His glory (Rom. 3:23). Sin is violating relationship with God (Ex. 20:3) or vandalizing of His shalom (Gen. 4:8). Sin is loving the wrong things (1 Jn. 2:15), loving the right things the wrong way (Matt. 23:5-7), or placing someone or something in God’s rightful place of preeminence (Ex. 20:3). Sin is ungodliness, godlessness, or active rebellion against God (Rom. 1:18). Sin is a turning in on oneself (Hos. 11:7). Sin can be both intentional or unintentional, active (things I do) or passive (things done against me), committed (doing wrong) or omitted (not doing right). Sin can be through internal thought and motive, or external word and deed (Matt. 15:19). All sin is sin (Jas. 2:10-11), but some sins have greater consequences (1 Jn. 5:17) and are qualitatively worse than others (Jn. 19:11). The effects of sin are vast and varied, interfering with the way things are supposed to be (Gen. 2-3). Sin mars, warps, twists, spoils, perverts, pollutes, enslaves, defiles, divides, disconnects, and destroys. Sin produces guilt, shame, and death (Gen. 3:1-24). Sin is first and foremost an offense against God (Ps. 51:4) that secondarily affects other people and creation (Rom. 8:23-24).
I believe that human depravity is pervasive. Everything we do is corrupted by sin and there is no part of our being that is not affected—our minds are dark (Eph. 4:18), hearts deceitful (Jer. 17:9), consciences defiled (Tit. 1:15), emotions enslaved (Tit. 3:3), and wills distorted (Rom 6:16-17). By nature, we are slaves to sin (Jn. 8:34) and totally unable to fix our fundamental problem. We are totally depraved (Gen. 6:5) and cannot restore our broken relationship with God (Eph. 4:18). Nor can we respond to the gospel apart from divine intervention (Acts 26:18). By nature we are objects of God’s wrath who stand in need of a Savior (Eph 2:1-9).
I believe that though we are totally depraved, we are not utterly depraved (Lk. 10:30-37, 11:13). There is dignity that remains in every human being despite his or her depravity (Gen. 9:6). The good news is that God has come to save us in the midst of our sin (Gen. 3:8-9; Rom. 5:8). The true image of God, Jesus Christ, has come to rescue us and restore us to full life in Him (Col. 1:15-23). For those in Christ, the distorted image is gradually being renewed (Col. 3:10). We’re being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29), transformed into His likeness (2 Cor. 3:18). One day, in those who are in Christ, the image of God will be fully and finally restored—we shall be like Him (1 Jn. 3:2)!
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