Sunday School at 9 am | worship at 10 am

How About a Nice Rotten Egg Omelet?

A college professor once asked members of his philosophy class to write an anonymous essay about a personal struggle over right and wrong, good and evil. Most of the students, however, were unable to complete the assignment. And why not? "Well," they said, and apparently this was said without irony, "We haven't done anything wrong." Innocent people don't need mercy. Only sinners can know God's mercy.

In the last section of Romans 1 through chapter 3 Paul is referring to sinners in three categories—the rebellious, the respectable, and the religious. Everyone falls in one of these three categories. We are all under sin.

What does it mean that we are all "under sin?” It means we are biased toward sin, that we live under its control. We are not under sin in the sense that sin holds us down against our wills, but rather that sin has seeped into our wills, into our good intentions, into our self-images, even into our morality. Sin feels normal and acceptable. And this is true of us all, without a single exception, down underneath the nice appearances. Theologians call it "total depravity." But “total depravity” does not mean “utter depravity.” We do not always act as wickedly as we're capable of acting. Fortunately for society, our behavior is pretty good much of the time. We do a lot of good, and it makes a positive difference. We really are nice people. The problem is, we're nice, sinful people. So we’re not convinced our sin is bad enough to condemn us. Consequently we don’t see ourselves as being guilty. We see ourselves as being innocent. Innocent people don't need mercy. Only sinners can know God's mercy.

Let’s suppose I invite you over to my house this Saturday morning for omelets. While you wait in the dining room I reach into the refrigerator for the eggs. To my shock I discover that I only have six eggs. Six should be enough, but there’s only one problem. One of the eggs is rotten. There isn’t time to go get fresh eggs, and I need all six, so I say to myself, “I’ll just mix this rotten one in with the good ones and they’ll never know the difference.” In a few minutes when I serve the omelets, you begin sniffing the air. “What’s that funny smell?” “Oh, don’t worry about that. One of the eggs was rotten, but I just mixed it in with all the rest.” Would you accept that omelet?

No, you wouldn’t. And neither will God accept your life when you mix in your sin with your good works. Just as the stench of rotten eggs makes the whole omelet putrid, even so the stench of your sin completely cancels out the value of your good works.

That’s what total depravity means. Sin has so invaded your life that any attempt to please God on your own is doomed to failure. He will not accept your life when sin is mixed in with your good works. We are all under sin. We all have a degree of “rottenness” in us. We are sinners by nature and by choice. None of us is innocent. And that’s the point. Innocent people don’t need mercy. Only sinners can know God’s mercy.