If we deny the depths of our depravity in order to obtain a better self-image, we will have lost far more than we’ve gained. Today, R.C. Sproul teaches that recognizing our sinful corruption is foundational to understanding the gospel.
I know it doesn’t give us a good self-image or a lot of self-esteem to think of ourselves as being so corrupt that that corruption defines us morally as creatures born under the judgment of God. But if we’re going to take the New Testament seriously about the human fallen condition, we’re going to have to acknowledge that in light of God’s standard of righteousness, our sinfulness is massive. Christianity’s not about therapy. Christianity is not about feeling good or good feelings. Its basic orientation is an orientation of guilt and forgiveness. It has to do with real law, real sin, and real redemption, and denying the reality of our corruption as compared with the perfection and righteousness of God is really not therapeutic in the final analysis. It is destructive.
