How is a person who is 'not that bad' ever saved?
A person who thinks they are “not that bad” must first be shown that they are a sinner because of Adam, not merely because of bad deeds or lifestyle. Being a good sinner cannot save them; salvation comes by recognizing that Adam made every human a sinner and by believing the gospel.
Les teaches that people who say, “I’m not that bad,” need to be taken back to Genesis and shown that it all began with Adam. Their problem is not merely that they broke God’s law; they broke His law because they were already sinners in Adam. Every human being became a sinner in Adam, so a person is unrighteous and ungodly not because of what they are doing or their lifestyle, but because God has decreed every child of Adam to be a sinner. There can be good sinners, wet sinners, and dry sinners, but they are all sinners until they recognize it and are saved by believing the gospel. Paul writes this to believers, reminding them that they too were once sinners and are sons and daughters of Adam just like everyone else.