we've fallen......and we caaant get upppp

i think many different cultures offer different explanations to the state of mankind.  psychologists refer to the 'id' somewhat similarly to what christians call 'sin nature'. 

Romans 7:18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it...

and again, the bible claims, through the seemingly nursery school story of Adam and Eve, that sin entered the world through Adam and therefore all his descendents are as a result, fallen. 

Genesis2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

God gave the first man and woman ONE commandment in the garden (Eden means paradise btw) - and they broke it.  which is where we get the term "original sin" from.  then they were forced from the garden.

Rm. 5:12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—

This is tricky and one needs to understand this.  This verse is speaking of an inherited sinful nature. We as man when we hear the word SIN think of the old method of "have you ever lied, cheated, stolen? - then you're a sinner."  deal.  But it's beyond that.  It's the fact that, according to the Bible, we're born INTO this sinful nature because of the original fall of man.  It's not individual sins that makes us sinners, it's the fact that we're born according to the image and likeness of Adam.  According to the Bible, ALL men are fallen.  which is the reason why we all sin.

Rm 3:23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

and

Rm 11:32For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

some believe a somewhat heavenly coexistance can be attained here on earth, some believe earth is bound over to futility just like man is and will never achieve this utopia - and, in fact, will only get worse.  personally, i adhere to the latter.  man will not fix this world, cannot and will not.  we may get a quality band aid on this thing, but in the end man is full of deception and greed and will exert himself over his neighbor eventually.

i make no mistake.  I am a liar.  I lie to myself at times.  I am a cheater.  I'll cheat and not even realize it.  I'm a hater.  I'm a violent person.  I'm a maniupator.  etc...  I will do all these things at one time or another, regardless of whether i want to do it or not.  It's in my nature.  It's in all of our natures.

But the funny thing is that everyone realizes this is imperfection.  that there is SOME sort of taint in humanity.  a darkness.  a "sin nature,"  or whatever.  The idea that man is broken and needs to be fixed permeates societies.  Why else would we go to psychiatrists and psychologists to prescribe us this and that and this other thing?  It's interesting that we are trying to fix ourselves and eachother, yet never being able to do so because even the "fixers" are bound over into this same futility that we all share in.  even they go home and lie to themselves or cheat or hate...

So, and here is nothing i heard back when i was super against christianity, what the whole deal is with Jesus is that according to the Bible - MEN are fallen naturally and have been bound over under sin/disobedience.  What man does is try and do good works here and good works there to try and develop a righteousness.... but it's a self righteousness.  For example, maybe I don't swear a lot.  And my neighbor swears all the time.  i could easily think myself holier than him because of the fact that I don't swear.  BUT , according to the Bible, God cut out all room for men to boast by binding all over unto sin.  Adam fell, and everyone sucks because of it.  So God was like "ohh, you think you're good or great or righteoues because of you're own merits ;  what about according to MY moral standard???"  and then came the Law to the jews.  And all men fell short of it.  They couldn't handle the perfect standard of God, and man realized that they needed to rely less on their own works and merits and more (completely) on the mercy and grace of God for righteousness, for standing upright, for a reversal to the fall. 

So, accoridng to the Bible it goes from a works based righteousness that all men, i think, secretly adhere at least partially to (im better than this guy cuz he's an asshole, im better than that guy cuz he cheats on his girlfriend)... to a faith based righteoussness based not on man's works but on God's mercy and grace.

Rm 5:17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.  18Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

According to the Bible, man is born under Adam (and into sin) according to the flesh - according to our bodies - according to our humanity.  BUT, through faith in Christ, we are BORN AGAIN into/under Christ (you've probably heard the term "body of christ" referring to the church) and are now not according to the fleshly Adam but the spiritual Christ.  Jesus stepped in and took the punishment for the sins of mankind (the death God spoke of when he commanded Adam not to eat of the tree) and has liberated us from the Law that kept us in bondage to knowledge of sin (i cant live up to this law, i sinned - i cant live up to that law, i sinned). 

1 corinthians 15:If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being" ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.  50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Do i still sin?  yes and no.  Yes, in the flesh, I do still sin.  I'll never stop.  BUT

Gal 2:20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

Rm 6:8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

I'm dead to sin.  dead to my sin nature.  been born again.  spiritually.  and since the flesh is dead, the falleness is gone because im a completely new identity.  in this world, but not of this world. 

and this is the BASIC BASICS of christianity.  i could go forever, but im gonna cut it here.  i dont expect comments or anyone to agree with me or anything, but this is who and what i am and i cant help being me.