What is the human condition according to the Bible?
By Rod Dreher
Rawlings School of Divinity
CLED 800: Biblical & Theological Foundations of Education
Genevieve Hamer
July 3, 2022
When God first created Adam and Eve, humanity’s condition was ideal—the perfect
environment, an innocent nature, and intimate fellowship with the Creator. After Adam’s willful
disobedience of God, the human condition changed. Gone were the perfect environment, the
innocence, and fellowship with God. Ever since then, the human condition is lost, blind, sinful,
guilty, enslaved, morally ruined, and dying. Thanks to the grace of God and the salvation Christ
provides, we can look forward to the human condition being restored to its original state.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau theorized that man is naturally good but is corrupted by society. Others
agree with Aristotle’s and John Locke’s notion that we are born an empty slate, that we are free
to define the content of our character, and that outside forces shape us. However, according to
the Bible, the natural human condition is sinful and estranged from God. We are not born
innately good or morally neutral. We are born sinners, and every person’s destiny is death and
wrath because of it (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23; 6:23; John 3:16–18; Ephesians 2:1–5).
The biblical doctrine of total depravity defines the true human condition. Due to Adam’s fall
into sin, mankind is corrupted by sin in every area of his life: mind, emotions, and will have all
been tainted. We think sinfully, we feel sinfully, and we choose sinfully. We naturally love
darkness (John 3:19), and we do not understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The human condition is lost; we have all wandered astray (Isaiah 53:6). We are spiritually blind
(2 Corinthians 4:4). We are sinful, having broken the law of God (1 John 1:8; 3:4). We stand
guilty before God, the righteous Judge (Romans 5:12, 18). We are enslaved by sin (John 8:34).
We are morally ruined (Romans 7:18). We are dying physically and dead spiritually (1 Peter
1:24; Ephesians 2:1).
In our natural human condition, we do not willingly seek God or God’s will (Romans 3:10–11).
Because of our sinful nature, we are “hostile to God” (Romans 8:7). Fortunately for us, God
loves His enemies, and He demonstrated His great love for us by sending His only begotten Son
to die in our place (John 3:16–21; Romans 5:8). We were lost, and the Good Shepherd gathered
His sheep; we were spiritually blind, and the Healer found us; we stood guilty before God, and
the Judge has justified us; we were enslaved, and the Redeemer has paid the price for our
release; we were morally ruined, and He has restored us; we were dead, and the Resurrection
and the Life has raised us up.
