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I once heard a non-Reformed professor in college make this point: “Total depravity—that is, the sinfulness of humanity—is the one Calvinistic doctrine that is objectively verifiable.” He was right. We need only turn on our local news or glance at the front page of our newspapers to see the depths to which humans are willing to go to display the universality of our ignoble sinful disposition. Whether it is kids killing kids, drug-addicted mothers giving birth to addicted babies, murderous police officers, corrupt politicians, or serial killers, we are daily made aware of the degenerate nature of the human heart.
From Socrates to Sartre, humanity has tried to diagnose its propensity for self-destruction. Every age has formulated new ideas as to the driving force behind human desires and the seemingly indomitable presence of evil. Yet, long before it was a popular philosophical or sociological discourse, Scripture explained our ever-present tendency toward evil deeds. Its diagnosis is sin.
The Scriptural assessment of the sinful condition of humanity is demonstrated daily. It seems our appetites for the immoral grow even as we believe we are becoming more sophisticated and advanced as a civilization. The irony is that humans have tried to curtail their self-destructive behavior by applying various theories on sociology (put humans in the right environment and they will become better people), economics (give humans the right resources and advantages, and they will prove morally capable), and education (give the proper academic stimulation and humans will lift themselves up from the mire of immorality). All these theories sound noble and have some advantages to them, but as the Bible asserts and history testifies, none of these approaches can cure sin. Give sinners more money and economic opportunities, and they will only show themselves more resourceful and creative in the exercising of their sinful dispositions. Educate the immoral and they inevitably will demonstrate that immorality has no boundaries. As someone once said, “If you take a fool who is stealing railroad ties and educate him, he will only come back and steal the entire track.” No program will cure our ignoble condition.
But not only does the Bible give us the most accurate diagnosis of our predicament, it also gives us the only solution—the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the only one sufficient unto the work of conquering seemingly unconquerable sin. The greatness of our sin is surpassed only by the greatness of our Savior. With sin being so great and our Savior being so great, is it any wonder that the author of Hebrews refers to our salvation as “so great” (Heb. 2:3)?