Denying the Fall to Deify the Self
In the modern “seeker-sensitive” church and the secular world alike, a comfortable lie has taken root: the idea that every human being is born with a “spark of divinity” or is “naturally good” at their core. This doctrine is not merely a feel-good sentiment; it is a calculated attack on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If man is inherently good, he does not need a Redeemer; he only needs a “teacher” or an “awakening.”
The Biblical Diagnosis: Total Depravity
The King James Bible provides a grim but honest diagnosis of the human heart. Unlike modern psychology, which seeks to excuse sin as “trauma” or “misalignment,” the Scripture identifies it as a terminal condition of the soul inherited from Adam.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, KJV)
When we teach that children are born “perfect” or that people are “mostly good,” we contradict the Holy Spirit’s testimony. The Apostle Paul, under divine inspiration, laid the hammer down on human pride:
“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one… For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Romans 3:10, 23, KJV)
The “Spark of Divinity” vs. The New Birth
The false doctrine of inherent goodness suggests that salvation is the process of “uncovering” the goodness already inside you. This is the “Doctrine of Inner Divinity” that traces its lineage back to the Serpent in the Garden: “ye shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5, KJV).
Biblical Christianity, however, teaches that there is nothing good in our natural state. We do not need an “uncovering”; we need a resurrection.
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3, KJV)
If man were inherently good, the “New Birth” would be unnecessary. By promoting inherent goodness, false teachers are effectively telling people they are safe in their sins, leading them away from the Cross and toward the “Great White Throne” judgment.
The Precursor to the Antichrist
Why is this doctrine so dangerous for those watching for the Lord’s Return? Because the Antichrist—the “Man of Sin”—will be the ultimate personification of “Human Goodness” apart from God. He will represent the pinnacle of human achievement and the “divine potential” of the race.
The world is being conditioned to look for a leader who validates their “inner light.” When the Church stops preaching the “desperate wickedness” of the heart, it leaves the doors wide open for a “Global Religion of Self” where man sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
The Theological Verdict
To deny the fall of man is to deny the necessity of the Blood of Christ. We must stand firm on the “unpopular” truth: we are lost, dead in trespasses and sins, and utterly incapable of saving ourselves. Only when a man realizes his “goodness” is but “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) will he reach out for the only hand that can save him.