Some people may not think this question is relevant to their lives, because they do not agree with the premise that God has given mankind instructions about how to live. Surely there are many ideas of right versus wrong floating around, and many ideologies upon which to base those ideas. However, for the purpose of this Topic, lets put aside all of the esoteric stuff and get right down to the basics. Aside from the more serious offenses like murder, stealing, sexual crimes, and other illegalities that can get us time in jail, let's think about lesser things like hating, lying, unforgiving, gossiping, envying, selfishness, etc. Almost everyone disapproves of these universally understood social "flaws", realizing that such character weaknesses are at most unfair to others, and at least lacking in minimum social standards of conduct.

It is obvious that such negative character traits are not good for a profitable life; indeed, the Bible identifies them unambiguously as forms of "sin" against God. Non-religious people are well aware that these negative traits do not make for a winning life, and religious people recognize that they constitute sin. Yet, in spite of the fact that everyone generally agrees that these negative qualities pervert right living, and we struggle individually to overcome them for one reason or another, we all continue to do them anyhow. Why in the world is this so?

The overall history of the human race is replete with examples of man's inhumanity to man. Indeed, just when the age of "enlightenment" and technology arrived in the 19th and 20th centuries, we were suddenly faced with two world wars when some of the most barbaric acts ever carried out against fellow human beings occurred. 

The Bible teaches that this continues to happen because we have a fundamental flaw in our personality. It claims that we have a "fallen (or sin) nature" that somehow gives us a predisposition to adopt attitudes, make decisions, and take actions that often work against our personal long-term well-being, can promote violence against our fellow man, and always results in disobedience against God. 

In order to see how the Bible first identifies this problem, here's a brief summary of the genealogy of mankind immediately before and after Adam and Eve's temptation in the Garden of Eden.

The two verses highlighted are quite significant with respect to this issue. In the beginning, God created mankind in His image, then Satan's temptation and the resulting fall occurred. Cain, the firstborn following the fall, killed his younger brother Abel, then later Seth was born to perpetuate the righteous line of Abel. At this point in the genealogy, a very important change is observed. Notice that Seth was born in the likeness and after the image of Adam rather than God. Of course we know Cain was a "bad apple", but the Bible records that even Seth, who was a good boy, was no longer created in the image of God. Thus the Bible earmarks the beginning of a problem that we have inherited.

If the Bible is really correct about our condition, we would have a basis for understanding "Why so difficult to do God's will even when known?". Accordingly, let's try to analyze what the Bible is saying by asking a few  questions.

1. What does it mean to have a "fallen nature"?
   
   There are fundamentally two different views about the way we develop as human beings. Many psychologists hold the view that we are born with a "clean slate", albeit with different temperaments and genetics that give rise to different personalities and tendencies as we interact with the outside world. 
   
   A study of the Bible will lead to a somewhat different view. While it cannot be denied that we possess different temperaments and genetics, it teaches that we are not born with a "clean slate", but rather have a "fallen nature", and that mankind's improprieties are really the result of that flawed nature.
   
   Some argue that this dispute really comes down to the question, "are we born 'good' or 'bad'?", but I believe this is an oversimplification of the issue. As we observe human nature, we can surely agree that no one is either 100% good or bad. Even the worst people possess some good qualities, and even the best some questionable ones. If the Bible is correct, we must look for a meaning beyond such a simplistic view. 
   
   Let's reflect on the following Scripture to better understand what happened back there in the Garden of Eden.

• The "serpent" focused on the one restriction that God had imposed on them.

• The woman responded with clear understanding about what God had said, thereby showing that she knew of the restriction with Adam.

• The "serpent" then brought God's veracity into question, indicating that God deliberately lied about their dying, wanting to hold back the knowledge of good and evil, because that knowledge would make them equal with Himself.

• Adam and Eve bought the deception, being physically attracted to the "fruit" and believing that such wisdom would enable them to make independent decisions concerning right versus wrong.
  
  So how do we usually fall into wrong doing? Does it not generally begin with a physical attraction for something or someone, after which we then make a decision, weighing the consequence of a possible adverse result against the prospect of gain? Furthermore, this mental process goes on even when our conscience warns us that the attraction is wrong. In other words, we tend to evoke a line of reasoning similar to that of Adam and Eve, when they weighed God's warning against the prospects of personal gain. At the root of this approach is a thought process that tends to operate independent of God, willfully or ignorantly. Moreover, just as Adam and Eve suppressed the truth of God's warning, we also tend to suppress common sense and the warning of our own conscience. Just as Adam and Eve made their decisions independent of God, we also tend to make important decisions in our lives independent of God. 
  
  Think about it --- do you typically make decisions in life with or without God's input? If it is without, you are doing the same thing that Adam and Eve did, and the final results will be the same! I believe this approach lies at the heart of what it means to have a "fallen nature".

2. What is the ultimate result of the "fallen nature" 
   
   If the self-centered path of independence from God is bad, where does it lead? Why is it so bad to weigh options and think independently? Well, it certainly didn't help Adam and Eve a great deal, because it turned out that were not operating with a "full deck". Since no one had "died" up to that point, they were unaware of the tragic reality of that word. Moreover, it probably never occurred to them that the knowledge of "good and evil" would carry with it the responsibility to always take account of all factors related to their decisions, so that the results might work toward their long-term best interests. The Bible unerringly describes what happens when we, who likewise do not operate with a "full deck", suppress God's truth and follow the path of self-interest, independent of God.

According to this text, it would appear that God is quite upset with this approach, and that most of the evils of this world stem from this faulty trait. The word "debased" in the text is defined as worthless or without discernment. It describes the type of thinking that develops from this "fallen nature" approach. Consequently, such thinking leads to views in the areas listed that are devoid of understanding, hence "lost". And just who are those unfortunates who come to have such an appalling lack of comprehension concerning the truth of God? Answer --- ALL OF US! We may not all have disobeyed direct commandments from God as did Adam and Eve, but we have all "suppressed the truth" and moved down the path to the precarious situation described.

3. Does this problem automatically go away when we turn to God?
   
   We may answer this question by reading Paul's own testimony after he had done this very thing.

In this discourse, Paul certainly believed that he had a right relationship with God, and the Lord must have agreed because He allowed Paul to write almost half of the New Testament. Nevertheless, Paul strangely continued to have a problem with obedience. If we didn't know better, we might accuse Paul of being schizophrenic, for he seemed to be confused about who he was. Indeed, he seems to have been confronted with some kind of an internal struggle in which one part of him was working in opposition to another part.

Actually, anyone who has experienced the new spiritual life in Christ will understand the nature of Paul's dilemma, for they will realize that a right relationship with God simply intensifies the  spiritual struggle that goes on internally. This is so because that person who has received the indwelling Holy Spirit has suddenly been given a new perspective on life. The mental depravity of that "fallen nature" has begun to disappear, and continued disobedience against God has become unacceptable.

 Unfortunately, they soon discover that just because there is a "will", there is not necessarily a "way", for they have no power within themselves to overcome those flaws that have become engrained in their life as the result of walking that "fallen" path. Paul's repeated use of the personal pronoun attests to the fact that he saw little change for the better as long as he tried to gain victory in the struggle by himself. Likewise, Christianity will never become a life-changing experience for us until we begin to depend on God's power over sin rather than our own. 

Therefore we are led to the conclusion that we don't do God's will even when known, because we have a "fallen nature" within us that has a predisposition to do its own self-centered thing, independent of God.

(For a more complete review of this problem see Activity I of the Spirituality Workshop).

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