The famous fifth-century theologian Augustine once reminisced on an earlier act of theft he had committed. While walking home one day he sneaked into a neighbor’s yard and stole a pear. Now looking back on the event he began to wonder why he did it. Why would he steal his neighbor’s pear? It was not because he was all that hungry. It was not because he did not have pears of his own. Nor was it because his neighbor’s pears were any better than the pears grown in his own yard. His own pears were every bit as good, and they were plentiful. Nor did he feel any need to “get even” with his neighbor—there had been no offense. So then why did he steal the pear from his neighbor?
As he reflected on it, the only explanation that really seemed to fit was that there was something about him that was very wrong. At his very heart, he concluded, he must be evil. There was no reason why he should have stolen the fruit but that his sinful heart led him to do it.
The Lord Jesus said it first. “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matt 15:19). That is, our sinful behavior does not rise out of nowhere. It is simply the inevitable expression of what lies in our heart. In our very heart of hearts, Jesus says, we are evil, and the evil that we do is proof of it.
Or, to change the figure, when we see a tree full of rotten fruit, we very naturally and rightly conclude that it is the tree itself that is rotten. The fruit merely demonstrates the ill-health of the tree itself (Matt 12:33–35).
So also when we sin it is merely a revelation of the sinfulness of what we are at the root level, so to speak. At heart we are not good people who occasionally happen to make mistakes. No, at heart we are sinners, and it is this that explains why sin is attractive to us. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. We do what is wrong because we ourselves are wrong.
Our problem goes deep. And if from our condition in sin we learn anything at all about salvation it is that salvation must be by grace. What we need is rescue. If we are to be saved, God must change us. All on his own he must re-make us, renew our hearts, and make us clean. In short, he must raise us from our spiritual death and give us life. Thank God this is what is offered is in the gospel—new life in Jesus Christ.
