"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest" (Eph 2:1-3)
"There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Rom 3:10-18).
When Adam was in the garden God told him that "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”( Gen 2:17) So what does Adam do? He eats of the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil of course. And in so doing He begins to die physically and immediately dies spiritually. We see this spiritual death in the change of Adam's relationship with God. Adam now tries to hide from God rather than seeking God's presence. " And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. " (Gen 3:8).
Just as Adam tried to hide from God because of His sin we also run from God, many denying His very existence but others dismissing God as being of little or no importance.
"The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
there is none who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good, not even one." (Psalm 14:1-3)
If God leaves us to our own desires we will never seek Him. A change must be made to our very nature before we will have any desire to have a relationship with God.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2:8-9).
Notice that it is God that gives us a new heart, God causes us to walk in His statutes, God gives us a desire to follow His decree's. Also notice that even our faith is not our own, but is a gift from God. Our fallen state leaves us completely bankrupt with no desire or ability to come to God. It is only through God's gracious sovereign mercy that anyone is saved.
In our desire to understand these great doctrines let us not forget that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."( Jn 3:16), but then we must also recognize that it is God that gives us the ability to believe. All praise, honor and glory belongs to God, Amen
Soli Deo Gloria
