The Roman Road Doctrinal Point #1: Every member of the human race needs God.
As a kid I used to watch Roy Rogers movies--at least every chance my Mom let me. In almost every Roy Rogers movie it was very easy to "see" the difference between the good guys and the bad guys. Most of the time Roy actually wore a white hat--and good always trumped evil--and the good guys really were good. It was an era when Hollywood avoided what has now become popular; that is a protagonist with a lot of baggage. Many of the modern movie heroes are presented as conflicted characters, full of flaws, vices, weaknesses and questionable moral values. This is probably more true to life than the good guys with white hats.
According to scripture, the world is full of "bad guys." They are commonly called sinners in church circles. Romans 3:23 boldly declares the following: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." This is a truth that is disputed in some circles. The American Humanist Society slogan is simple and to the point: "Good without God." Essentially all Secular Humanist thinkers believe in the basic goodness of man. Furthermore, they believe that the main factor standing between people and good behavior can be fixed by social engineering. By improving environmental factors such as education and prosperity, along with greater social control and less personal freedom--they believe that utopia on earth is possible.
Is it possible for humanity to achieve "goodness" apart from God's grace? Are the Secular Humanists correct? I read the news every day and every day, without fail, the news provides me with a plethora of evidence that indicates and supports the idea that mankind is fundamentally flawed. In Christian circles this is often referred to as original sin. Meaning--all of us are born with the natural inclination to engage in behavior that is self-centered and by God's standards, sinful. When I view our world full of self-inflicted wounds, such as hatred, violence, greed, laziness, jealousy, anger, prejudice, exploitation and foolishness, I am forced to come to the conclusion that collectively mankind has a screw loose. We are either a species that is naturally "crazy" or we have a sin problem. The bottom-line is this: We need God's help to transform and to achieve a level of goodness. Can we become "Good without God?" Maybe..."When pigs fly!"*
Prayer: "Dear heavenly Father, I am reminded of the following lyric: 'I need thee, O I need thee, every hour I need thee...' I know that I cannot, and I will not achieve a level of Godly morality and good behavior apart from the working of Your Holy Spirit actively working to change me. I can no more save myself that I can grab my shoe strings and lift myself off the ground. Please continue to work in my life and wash me white as snow. Amen"
*The phrase "when pigs fly" is an adynaton—a figure of speech so hyperbolic that it describes an impossibility.
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