Have you ever misdiagnosed something that physically ails you? Most of us have learned that self-diagnosis has its limits. We often find that our problem is either more serious than supposed, or that it is less grave than feared. How fortunate we are that so much great technology is available to find out what is really going on!

When it comes to the human spiritual condition, self-diagnosis always fails. Human intellect, sinful and self-centered as it is, always puts a smiley face on the human condition—most especially on the capacity of the will. And a false diagnosis in this case is loaded with danger.

We need God’s Word, the instrument of divine revelation, to tell us how things really are. The Scriptures function as God’s MRI (magnetic resonance imaging system), you might say.

Here’s the issue: What is the condition of the human will [from God’s perspective] of fallen human beings before their conversion? Do they have a spark of goodness that can be fanned into faith?

Download a PDF of Apologia: The Human Will.