Since man’s heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked, and filled with all kinds of unrighteousness and wickedness, it is naturally at enmity with God. Men are hostile toward God in their thoughts, desires, and decisions. Hence, they have become enemies of God (Col. 1:21) and sons of disobedience, walking according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit who now is operating in them (Eph. 2:2). Furthermore, because men are enemies of God, naturally they are not subject to the law of God, nor are they acceptable to God (Rom. 8:7-8). Even if they desire to be, they cannot be because they are corrupt to the core and devoid of power.
Although God’s eternal power and characteristics are invisible, they are clearly seen, being apprehended by the things made, so that men are without excuse (Rom. 1:20). However, although people can know God, they test Him, try Him, refuse to know Him, disapprove of holding Him in their knowledge, and do not glorify Him as God nor thank Him, much less worship Him. Hence, they become vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart is darkened. They even exchange God, changing the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things. They alter the truth of God into the lie, and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:21, 23, 25, 28).
Since men disapprove of holding God in their knowledge, exchange God, and abandon God, they become lost (Luke 19:10), wandering outside, like sheep going astray (Isa. 53:6). Created by God for Himself, men came out of God and belonged to God, their Owner. But by sinning and deserting God, men have become lost and are without an owner. They are harassed and cast away, not knowing to whom they belong, and are as sheep not having a shepherd (Matt. 9:36).
Men are not only sinful and lost, but they are also dead in offenses and sins (Eph. 2:1, 5) and in the flesh (Col. 2:13a). This death, referring to the deadness of man’s spirit, has invaded and permeated man’s entire being, and it dwells in man with the law of death (Rom. 8:2b), the natural power that causes man to become weak, to wither up, and to age and die, thus bringing every part of man into decay and death. On the one hand, death disables man; on the other hand, it desensitizes man. Death causes man to become not only powerless in doing good and righteousness, but also insensitive to the shamefulness and hatefulness of sin. That is, it makes man helpless when doing good and numb when committing sins. Men are weak and impotent in doing good and righteousness. Furthermore, men can do many shameful things without feeling disgraceful, and they can do many hateful things without feeling sorrowful. Men behave like walking corpses when they sin and do evil.
Within man there is not only the law of death but also the law of sin (Rom. 8:2b), which is the inherent sinning power in him that causes him to sin spontaneously and makes him a slave of sin (John 8:34). Under the slavery and manipulation of sin, people do many things not of their own will. They desire to be free, yet they cannot be free; they struggle and endeavor, yet they cannot break away from the tyranny and slavery of sin. They do not like to commit sin or do evil, yet they cannot help it, and they desire to rid themselves of sin, yet they cannot do it.
Originally men belonged to God, but now they belong to sin; formerly they were under the ruling of God, but now they are under the ruling of sin. Sin has authority over people, making them its slaves and putting them under its tyranny. As a result, men commit sin and do the evil that they do not will (Rom. 7:14b-15). Hence, men are truly slaves of sin in the law of sin.
Men are brought forth in iniquity and are constituted of sin, their heart is deceitful above all things, and there is nothing good dwelling in their flesh. Furthermore, men are at enmity with God, have become sons of disobedience, and disapprove of holding God in their knowledge. Thus, they are lost, dead in offenses and sins, and have become slaves of sin. Hence, people live in the world today without hope (Eph. 2:12), without aim, without a destination, and not knowing the meaning of their life. Although they labor and toil all day long, covet blessing and pleasure, and seek vainglory, eventually everything is in vain and nothing is gained. It is like trying to catch a shadow and like chasing the wind. In the end men can only wait to die in sins (John 8:24), go to Hades in sorrow, and enter into eternal perdition. These are the different aspects of man’s condition in himself.