Here’s another objection to the viewpoint of “total depravity”: in every time period, there are people who have lived virtuous lives. You shouldn’t pay attention to the small indiscretions in their character. Their overall conduct demonstrates they had a pure nature. (I’ll treat the value of these kinds of virtues in the sight of God when I tackle the topic of “works). These examples seem to provide evidence against the claim that human nature is thoroughly corrupted, since they have lived virtuously their entire lives. 

But I’m not arguing that human nature is as bad as it possibly can be. God can certainly provide grace to people in order to restrain their sinful tendencies. However, if the Lord let every person live their lives according to the desires of the heart, wouldn’t they be exactly like the people that Paul condemns in Romans chapter 3? Can anyone exempt themselves of those who are run toward violence, who’s hands are filled with rape and murder, who speak vile and deceitful things, whose words poisonous like a snake bite, whose actions are useless, unjust, rotten, and deadly? There are those who soul is without God, whose heart is full of wickedness, whose eyes are always trying to deceive, and whose minds are on the look for any way to be offended. In short, these people are capable of doing endless deeds of wickedness! 

It’s easy to see what the results would be if the Lord allowed every person to follow their bent. The second the Lord took his restraining hand off the human heart, people would rush into evil like madly charging beasts or a raging river which overflows its banks. In the elect, God cures the disease of sin. In unbelievers, he puts them under restraint to preserve the world. People try to disguise their sin, but some are only restrained by shame while others are restrained by fear of the law. Some aspire to an honest life, believing it is the best way to get what they want. Others live a seemingly virtuous lot because they were placed in a position of power and comfort and they want to remain there. Therefore, God, in his providence, curbs the perverseness of human nature, preventing its worst excesses. Yet, his restraining work does not mean that people are inwardly pure. 

“Blogging the Institutes” is my on-going attempt to paraphrase John Calvin’s work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion. You can find out more about the series in the Introduction. For all the posts in this series, check out the Master List.