Are People Basically 'Good'? And Whether The Sermon On The Mount Is Legalism?

Are people basically good or evil? And what should Christians make of the doctrine of “total depravity”?

Tom Wright and Mike Bird begin this episode by asking what the Bible really says about human nature. If all human beings are sinful, how can the Bible also describe people doing genuine good? Tom challenges the simple good-versus-bad framework and returns to Genesis and humanity’s vocation as image-bearers of God.

Next, they investigate one of the enduring mysteries of John’s Gospel: who was “the disciple whom Jesus loved”? Was he John the son of Zebedee? Lazarus? Another Judean disciple named John? Tom explores what we can – and cannot – confidently know about this enigmatic eyewitness to Jesus.

Finally, does the Sermon on the Mount contradict salvation by grace? If Jesus tells us that our righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, is he setting an impossible standard simply to expose our sin? Tom argues that this fundamentally misunderstands Jesus’ message. The Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount are a picture of what God’s kingdom looks like when it arrives on earth.

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