Is this teaching biblical?
Joel Osteen's claim that nearly everyone is good flatly contradicts the Bible's teaching on human depravity. Scripture declares 'there is none righteous, no, not one' (Romans 3:10). This feel-good theology removes the need for a Savior — if people are already good, why did Christ need to die?
What did Joel Osteen say?
"99.9% of all people are good people."
Speaker: Joel Osteen
Source: Interview on Fox News Sunday
What does Scripture actually teach?
Romans 3:10-12
"As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.'"
— NKJV
Paul quotes Psalm 14 to establish universal human sinfulness. Not 99.9% good — 'none who does good, no, not one.' Osteen's theology inverts the biblical diagnosis of humanity.
Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?"
— NKJV
God's assessment of the human heart is not that it's 99.9% good — it's 'deceitful above all things' and 'desperately wicked.' This is the starting point for understanding the need for salvation.
Mark 10:18
"So Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.'"
— NKJV
Jesus Himself redirects the concept of goodness exclusively to God. If Christ says only God is truly good, on what basis does Osteen declare 99.9% of humanity good?