But the evangelical does not put his trust in human endeavours. He is a pessimist. He sees that dictatorships of the left and dictatorships of the right alike end up in oppression. He sees that democracies all too often end up in muddle and soulless bureaucracy. He will do his best to make any system work, but his trust is not in systems.
Every system has to work on the raw material of sinners.
The evangelical is clear-sighted about this. That man is a sinner puts a firm limit on his ability to do good. And it puts an end to the possibility of his attaining the ultimate good. The fact that he is a sinner means that he cannot work out his eternal salvation. Sin leaves its mark on life here and has consequences for the hereafter.