Are You Still Walking In The Image Of The Wrong Man?

*Reprobation *is the common course of life *for a man *of guilt, *but by sanctification, *an upright acquisition *is his. (mast)

Proverbs 21:8 (NKJV)

8 The way of a guilty man is perverse; But as for the pure, his work is right.

*[Reprobation] literally, WRONG. But wrong with an exclamation as the direction of the whole course of the construct. As a Hebrew adjective, this is the only time this word is used in the whole Hebrew Bible (OT). But in verb form, it means “to deliver over.” Therefore depending on the verb stem, it can mean “to be delivered over.” Therefore as a descriptive noun, it is a theological term referring to God’s reprobation of all mankind through original sin (Rom.1:24-26, 28). And therefore, this “turning over” or “giving over” describes the course of a man’s life that is perverse to God (Rom.5:15-18, 20; Matt.16:23; 18:7; Hos.5:15). God gave mankind over to perversity by imputing the likeness of guilt to the common man through Adam (Rom.5:13-14). So this is also a theological term, even in the Hebrew. “Crooked” just doesn’t justify the heart and depth of the term. It’s not describing a straight stick that was once right but has now become crooked; rather, it is describing something utterly contrary to what the original standard was to be; nor can it be straightened to be conditioned to what it was first intended to be. It’s not partially right that it once had a solid beginning and a good start; rather, its beginning is utterly and entirely WRONG, as if its whole bottom dropped out from underneath it. Reprobation leaves every man with nothing to stand on. Its whole starting point did not begin in righteousness but in guilt (Rom.5:14, 19). It is so wrong that it has no “good” beginning or ending in the eternal mind of God (Rev.1:11, 17; 22:13). It is a bottomless PIT of darkness (Ps.88:3-7). This image and pattern of its life is guilt in the misery of sin from the start (Ps.51:5; 58:3). It is just WRONG! It’s a house without a foundation (Lk.6:49; Heb.4:3; Num.16:30). It’s a tree without any roots (Matt.15:13). It’s a bottomless pit, completely and utterly wrong (Rev.9:2, 11; 17:8; 20:1-3). So then, what does this speak of?

*[is the common course of life] literally, manner of life. The AV translates it as “way” 590 times, “toward” 31 times, “journey” 23 times, “manner” 8 times, and miscellaneously 53 other times. Therefore it is speaking of a course of life regarding character and habits. It is the direction of a man’s moral, or wouldn’t it be more correct to say, a man’s immoral manner of life? In terms of the reprobate’s relationship to God, there is no moral representation of God (in him) (Eph.2:1,5; Col.2:13). He is no longer permitted to represent God (2Cor.5:20; Eph.6:20; Josh.9:4); therefore, we proclaim Christ’s death since it was His light to proclaim the death of sin in his body as a curse on the tree (cross) until regeneration leads the guilty man to the confession of his guilt into the baptism of a resurrection life (Rom.8:3; Gal.3:10, 13; 1Cor.15:54). He is “WRONG” by the decree of God’s reprobation (Gen.3:4). He is on the highway to hell because he is common and is no longer fit to serve God in a holy capacity (Rom.9:21). He is unholy, ungodly, unclean, and immoral in all of his behavior (1Tim.1:9; Lev.10:10; Ezk.44:23; 2Pet.2:10; Col.3:5; Eph.5:5). The good that he thinks he does is not good because of the extreme nature of his motivations (Matt.7:21-23; 13:41; 23:27-28). Lawlessness is immorality, and sin is lawlessness (1Jn.3:4). Sin is the immoral nature of the common man (Matt.24:12; 2Tim.3:2). Pride has blinded him from the reality of the offensive image of his sin (2Cor.4:3; Acts 9:18; Matt.15:14; 23:26). He cannot understand the depth of his inability to do good (in the manner) that pleases God (Ps.19:12; Jer.13:23; 17:9). Pride has put him on a course contrary to the nature of grace (1Jn.2:15-17). He is not upright before God because there is nothing in him that holds him up to God (1Sam.4:21; Ecc.7:29). He is like a wilted leaf dried up at the root (Isa.64:6; James 1:11).

*[for a man] literally, a common man. It is not the theological Adam referred to here (Ps.82:6) but the sinner in opposition to God (Ps.1:4-6; Rom.8:5-9). It is mortal man (Job.4:17; Isa.13:11-12). It is the man (in Adam) who has become mortal (Gen.3:22; Ps.2:1-4; 82:7; 1Cor.15:22). Yet, it is his commonplace to resist God in his pride (Acts 7:51). The root meaning of this common use for a man in the Hebrew verb form means “to be emboldened.” So it is referring to the proud man—the man without the fear of the LORD (Rom.3:18). Adam knew the shame of his guilt because he retained the likeness of God (Gen.3:10; Rom.5:14). But this common man doesn’t know his shame (Dt.1:39; Isa.5:13; 45:20; Jer.4:22; 10:14; Hos.4:1), but is rather courageous to stand up against Him and shake his fist in the face of God’s sovereignty (Rom.9:20; 1Cor.15:34). It is a reprobate man who hates God. It is a lesser class of man that has not been taught the fear of the LORD (Mk.7:27; Phil.3:2; 2Pet.2:22; Matt.7:6; Ps.22:16, 20; Rev.22:15). The guilt of such a man is rooted in his tongue as it is set on fire by hell (James 3:6), for again, he is set on a course of nature contrary to the truth by the evil and poison of the serpent’s lie (Gen.3:4). He curses the glorious ones that God has made to testify of His saving grace (James 3:9; Jude 8), who praise God in (the likeness of the wisdom) that comes from outside and above the heart of guilt in the common man (James 3:14-17; 1Jn.3:18-21). Therefore perversity is the root of his tongue. He is a worthless man to God’s glorious image (Ps.4:2; Pr.6:12; Isa.40:17; 41:29; Jer.14:14; 23:16; Zech.11:17). Sin is the pride of his life, and he loves the wages and benefits of his master (Rom.6:23; 1Jn.2:15-17). Therefore his life does no good to bear fruit to God (Matt.7:19; Rom.3:12), for his direction of life is introverted (Mk.10:22). He is a ticking time bomb ready to self-implode (Lk.14:24-35). He is wasted energy (Matt.5:13). He is good for the life of the world that is fading and dying but is good for nothing as a life made to please God (Lk.6:32).

*[of guilt] literally, a criminal. Again, this is the only time this word is used in the Hebrew Bible (OT). The AV translates it as “strange.” So this is pertaining to strange flesh (Jude 7). Persons without a soul (Matt.16:26). That is to say, without “a sanctified” soul in the mind of God’s judgment against sinners of the reprobate mind (1Cor.2:14; Rom.1:28; Jude 19). In the verb form, its meaning is “to bear guilt.” But again, this class of man doesn’t bear his guilt but suppresses it in more unrighteousness (Ps.22:6; Rom.1:18). It is a shameless man who is proud to possess the disposition of his sinfulness (Hab.2:4; Pr.16:5; Ps.14:1). It is a man who refuses to confess his guilt (Ps.36:1), and it may even be a religious man who doesn’t confess his guilt properly (1Jn.1:5-9). He may confess that he sins, but he refuses to confess that he is a sinner by original sin (Jn.8:31-38). It can be a man who justifies his free will and denies original sin in his theological representative head (Jn.8:38-41). He will not confess what the core of his existence is in the exclamation of God’s decree: “You are WRONG!” It is a man dead in trespasses and sins as the consequence of the forbidden tree (Jn.8:41-47). It is a man who denies God’s reprobation through the first sin (Rom.5:18). It is a man who has chosen free will over the sovereign will of God. It is a self-deceived man who denies that God is the only one who has free will in the matter of God’s decree (Rom.9:11). Therefore in the greatness of this abominable offense, such a man is a criminal. One theologian coined the phrase “cosmic treason” regarding the original sin. A criminal is worthy of death (Rom.6:23). That’s the nature, (the likeness) of the offense in God’s judgment, but God has offered mercy and forgiveness to the criminal through a particular set of terms.

*[but by sanctification] literally, but with purity. But this purity pertains to flawlessness in the nature of the object (Ex.27:20; Lev.24:2). So it goes beyond a mere “state” or “condition” of purity. It is sometimes used figuratively to describe an innocent state and position of justification by which an individual is free of guilt, as in the case of Job (Job.8:6; 33:9). However, in this context, it goes beyond the mere declaration of innocence because (it refers to the means) by which the guilty and perverse man obtains a position of uprightness (with purity) (Pr.20:9). Therefore this sanctification speaks not of a personal acquisition by the guilty man but of the gracious gift of grace to be upright in the flawless purity of another (Jn.17:17-19), who provided (the means) for him to walk in the works prepared and sanctified to him (Eph.2:8-10). It is the power not of his own to be sanctified (Acts 20:32). It is a sanctification acquired for him to be free from guilt and from the power of a reprobate direction of life (2Tim.1:7; Eph.2:1-7). Therefore the conjunction renders the guilty and perverse man passive in the acquisition of this sanctification (Jn.3:1-13). The sanctification here refers to regeneration more than it is to the progressive nature of sanctification by which we grow in grace and knowledge through Jesus Christ (Tit.3:5; 2Pet.3:18).

*[an upright acquisition] literally, straight conduct. Therefore the conjunction renders the guilty and perverse man passive in the acquisition of this sanctification (Jn.1:12-13; Ezk.36:24-29). Through the holiness and sanctification of another, he is justified; but justified to continue to be sanctified (Rom.8:28-30). He is made like the one who acquired the sanctification (Matt.10:24; Lk.6:40). The sanctification sets him on his feet to conduct himself aright (Phil.1:6; Tit.3:8; 2Tim.2:19). Where he was wrong before, he is now given a new beginning (Jer.2:19; Pr.16:6). This uprightness is the reward of the one who sanctified him (1Cor.9:24; Heb.12:1; 2Tim.4:7; Rev.22:12). So it is like a wage that the guilty man did not earn (1Tim.5:18; Matt.23:19). The labor of the sanctified man gives the guilty man the paycheck that he earned for his purity in exchange for his sinfulness (Rom.6:23; Lk.6:23). With this blank check, backed by the eternal purity of the holy one (Lk.1:35; Isa.43:3), the guilty man writes a life of good works on the uprightness of the one who signed it (1Pet.3:18).

*[is his] literally, is his. His works, now being made pure, become his own on the basis and standard of another’s work which is flawless in his own purity (Heb.6:1; 9:14; Eph.2:10; 2Tim.3:17; Tit.1:16; 2:14; Matt.5:16). The Hebrew pronoun is in logical conjunction with the reprobate man who is set free by this act of sanctification. But it is conjunctive with the genitive construct with the acquired upright “course of life” by means of this sanctification. A new path is his because he has been justified and sanctified through the birthright of the firstborn (Rom.8:29; Col.1:15). He is not only made right but is made clean of his guilt and his perversity (Jn.13:10-11; 15:3; Ps.51). He is set in a good direction towards the one who sanctified him (Mk.1:15; Jn.14:1, 12; 17:20-21). He is a new creation in the absence of the old way (2Cor.5:17). In contrast to Proverbs 21:6, where the treasuries are “built” upon the labor of a lying tongue, this “acquisition,” which is a slight variation of the same Hebrew noun, signifies here that a new foundation is laid so that this newly purified soul can work out his salvation in a manner that is true and upright (Phil.2:12-13; James 2:24). But again, it is like a reward that he did not earn because he did not have the goods in himself to acquire it (Rom.3:10-20; Mk.3:27; Jn.2:18-21; 10:18). Nevertheless, it is his (Rom.3:28, 30; 5:1; Gal.2:16; 3:8, 11, 24). It’s as if his soul is restored (Ps.23:3). It is his by birthright (Matt.22:4, 9-10, 14; Lk.23:34), even though he is not the firstborn (Heb.1:6), for the birthright was earned for him (Rev.1:5); and given to him in exchange for his perversity and the damnation that he had earned (Heb.12:14-17; Rom.9:13).