Pelagius's system said what these people need is direction. They just don't have anybody showing them how to live the right way, but you know who did it really well, Jesus. So we should follow his example and do it. We have a therapeutic hearing about sin. Most people feel horrible about themselves. And so to counter that in our guilt and our shame, I think the therapeutic has been the way we've gone.
Many churches preach that your biggest problem is that you’re not living your best life now. Rather than calling people to repentance, they call them to “try harder, do better” so that they can be fulfilled, healthy, and happy. Reformed theology provides a doctrine to help counter this wrong diagnosis of our true problem: total depravity. But sometimes, this doctrine sounds much more like “utter depravity,” leaving nothing good or redeemable about humanity. In this episode of White Horse Inn, hosts Michael Horton, Justin Holcomb, and Bob Hiller consider how we hold total depravity in tension with the goodness of humanity.