The Bible says that people are wicked beyond description. In the words of Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” The Psalms give an even more graphic depiction: “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths and the paths of peace they have not known.”

Now if you are a thoughtful person, you must be asking the question: If people are as bad as the Bible says, then why are there so many seemingly nice people in the world? Though in some places one might fear being killed walking out of their house, this is not the norm. So what does the Bible mean by such sordid descriptions of human nature and activity?

When the Bible speaks in this way, it is speaking concerning the tendencies of the human heart. Fortunately, God has placed many things in the world to restrain the external expressions of our hearts, such as human government, parental authority, and the like. In addition, He sprinkles His redeemed people throughout the world as preserving agents against further personal and societal decay. But if God were to remove all these structures of common grace what would happen? Well, personally, I wouldn’t want to see it.

Something to think about from “The “Kingdom Perspective.”

“The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”

~ Jeremiah 17: 9