There are many who say that people are born good, or at least indifferent to evil. They believe people come into the world innocent and able to freely do good. However, as Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones argues in this sermon on Ephesians 4:22–24 titled “Corruption, Lusts, Deceits,” according to God’s word, this is incorrect. The Bible presents people as born guilty and wholly corrupted by sin and all its deceit. Humanity is born into a world that is under the rule of the evil one who is the great deceiver and father of lies. They are born into this miserable state and unable to do anything to save themselves. This life of the unbeliever is one given up to sin, but the life of the redeemed is another story. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains, those who have been saved out of this world by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit and adopted into God’s family are declared righteous before His eyes. The indwelling power of the Holy Spirit gives all believers the ability to resist the deceit of sin and the devil. Yet it is because of Christ’s work on the cross in humanity’s place that they are declared righteous. This is the great division between people—there are those that know God and trust in his Son, and there are those that are outside the family of God and under the dominion of sin.

http://www.mljtrust.org/sermons/corruption-lusts-deceits/