In this article, I give the Biblical view of human nature. Are we good, evil, neutral, or something else? Specifically, we will look at the Israelites of the Bible.

Human Nature

Here is the answer regarding humanity: we are sinful.

The Bible continually proclaims the evil and sinfulness of all men (See Romans 3:10-18). Our thoughts, intentions of the heart, speech, and behavior are dominated by wickedness and rebellion. We are lawbreakers; moreover, we have evil lying within us. This is the state of man. And God, being perfect, will not stand for it.

To believe that anyone is good, then, is to woefully underestimate God’s standards, woefully underestimate the wickedness of our own minds, and woefully ignore the endless evidences of evil all around us (Think about the hate people show each other, the viscous sexual and violent crimes that occur every day, and the thoughts that swirl around in your own mind, just to name a few).

” The heart is deceitful above all things,
    and desperately sick;
    who can understand it? ” (Jer 17:9, ESV).

You cannot clean up your own heart. You are sinful. And your actions prove it.

Israel’s Sin

Now to ancient Israel. Israel’s chief sin was pride; that is, they believed they could achieve right-standing with God through self-effort and ritual. (In reality, their hearts loved everything except the Lord.) Israel made themselves out to be God. Faith, being the full weight of one’s trust in the Lord, was completely absent. Instead, Israel fell into the trap of self-deification. Their faith was in themselves.

“ In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6, ESV).

Thus, the Israelites in the Bible, called to represent the Almighty God, led lives marked by evil, sexual promiscuity, worship of foreign gods, mistreatment of the poor, and injustice. Israel replaced their true Rescuer with themselves, and this decision resulted in the deplorable lifestyles I just mentioned. Israel often willingly forgot God and believed they could get away with this god-of-self lifestyle. But the reality of human sinfulness led the the inevitable: self-destruction. Self-deification (living as if one is God) always leads to self-destruction. This happens because sin always finds a way to creep in, rule you, and eventually overtake you. And God, in his judgement, often allows sin to take its course. Think of a drug addict: he starts small, later increases the dosage, becomes addicted, and eventually starts selling. The drug addiction controls him, ruins his life, destroys his family, and ravages his community. In the same way, sin spreads. It never stops. Pride, which is the act of placing ones-self above above God, is an attitude founded on sin. It will overpower and destroy you as it destroyed ancient Israel.

Or scan the book of Exodus and see what becomes of the Egyptian Pharaoh, a man full of pride, ego, and thus a god-complex (Pharaoh would have gained his pride over time, a result of military conquests and constant success). The Lord humbles him and the Egyptians in a series of nearly-indescribable plagues. So, self-destruction is rooted in a greater reality, that God destroys those who oppose him. Specifically, God punishes sin, and the penalty for sin is always death (see Romans 6:23).

Christ’s Solution

So how does Christ fit into this equation, the equation of proud Israel? The answer is that Christ came into the world to save sinners. He did not descend to earth to stroke the ego of self-deified Israel. Rather, he came to pronounce judgement on Israel’s sinfulness and offer true rescue as the unblemished Lamb of God.

According to the Bible, Christ has and will save a remnant of ethnic Israel. This salvation comes through confessing Jesus’ Lordship and truly, inwardly believing in his status as risen Son of God (Romans 10:9). It is achieved by turning away from the sinful lifestyle of the god-of-self and turning to the risen Lord, Jesus Christ. It is a rescue obtained by faith in the person of Christ. Throughout the Old Testament, God’s true followers lived by a faith in God. Communion with God has always been established by faith. Abraham serves as the archetype of this wonderful reality. The majority of Israel, however, simply missed the whole point. They serve as a warning and reminder for us. Let us beware of pride, the god-of-self mentality that Israel lived by. Instead, let us look only to Christ, our true righteousness and the one who changes hearts.