Image of God - Part 1

You were dead in your transgressions and sins… (Ephesians 2:1)

Three years ago in a different context I wrote a couple of articles entitled, "You Are Basically Good" which challenged the notion that human beings are devoid of any intrinsic goodness. Some more theologically minded people had trouble with this. In Christian theology there is a teaching called, "total depravity". Many proponents of this teaching would say that we are "basically evil," but I think that is a misapplication of what the "total depravity" idea is seeking to convey.

The biblical concepts that lead to "total depravity" have to do with our inability to establish a right relationship with God on our own. The predicament caused by Adam and Eve's sin is one where we all come into the world alienated from God. We ourselves cannot resolve that predicament. It is only God's power that can rescue us from this spiritual death.

It may be logical to think that our spiritual plight means that we have lost the image of God entirely. How can we be spiritually dead, as Paul teaches in Ephesians, but still bear God's image?

I understand the logic, but there is more to understanding this than some may think. Over the next little while we will explore this in more detail.