Total Depravity

Total Depravity and Original Sin

And here we go. Total depravity. Total depravity is also known as total inability. Now, this means that man is completely touched or he's completely affected by sin in all that he is. That means his heart, his soul, his mind, his body, all of it is affected by sin.

But he is not as bad as he could be. You know, for example, not all people murder. Not all people do bad things. Not all people are doing the maximally bad things. There are good people out there in a human perspective.

But what total depravity means is that ultimately in every part, in every action of everything that we do, all of what we are is affected by sin. Everything is touched by sin. Our free will is touched by sin.

Our body, our emotions, our intellect are all touched by sin. This is total depravity. All right? Total. That's what it means. Now, this is from Wayne Grudem's book, Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Man's Total Lack of Spiritual Good and Inability to Do Good Before God.

That's what total depravity is. Now, with this, we have the doctrine of original sin. That is the state or the condition of sinfulness that people are born into because of Adam's sin. This means that our natures are born fallen.

Adam represented all of mankind when he died. When he died, we fell in him. We are all born fallen. Romans 5 .19 says, For as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.

Now, when it says were made sinners, it's the Greek katastestesan, which is the aorist indicative. This signifies a completed action in the past. Let me read this again. For as through one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, they were made sinners.

That's Romans 5 .19. 1 Corinthians 15 .22, For as in Adam all die. In Adam is a term of federal headship. Now, some people will object and say they don't like the idea that Adam represented us. Well, let me just quickly say that if you don't like the idea that Adam represented us, then you must also reject the idea that Christ represented us.

In 1 Corinthians 15 .45, Jesus is called the last Adam, and he represented us on the cross. And you go to Isaiah 53 .4 -6 for that, 1 Peter 2 .24, where he bore our sins in his body on the cross, but he represented us.

The Unregenerate Condition Described by Scripture

Now, let's get into more detail about what this means, about man's condition. So here are the scriptures. I'm going to read some stuff here, and I'm going to go through some of the scriptures afterwards.

Man's condition. It is man who is deceitful, Jeremiah 17 .9. Full of evil, Mark 7 .21 -23. Loves darkness rather than light, John 3 .19. And he cannot come to God on his own, John 6 .44. He does not seek for God, Romans 3 .10, 11, and 12.

He's helpless and ungodly, Romans 5 .6. He is a slave of sin, Romans 6 .20 and John 8 .34. He cannot receive spiritual things, 1 Corinthians 2 .14. He's dead in his sins, Ephesians 2 .1. He is by nature a child of wrath, Ephesians 2 .3.

And he is at enmity with God, Ephesians 2 .15. Enmity means hatred between two parties. Now, let me go over some of these verses, Jeremiah 17 .9. The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.

Jesus says in Mark 7 .21 -23, for from within, out of the heart of men proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.

In John 3 .19, this is the judgment that the light has come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. John 6 .44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.

That's what Jesus said, John 6 .44. This is critical as well, Romans 3 .10 -12. As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks for God.

All have turned aside. Together they have become useless. There is none who does good. There's not even one. Romans 5 .6, for while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

Romans 6 .20, for when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. John 8 .34, Jesus answered and said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.

1 Corinthians 2 .14 says, but a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them because they're spiritually appraised. He cannot understand them.

The Greek word there for understand is ginosko. He cannot know them. He cannot understand. He cannot. It doesn't say he can't if he strains or if he has little help. It says he cannot. Ephesians 2 .1 says, and you were dead in your trespasses and sins.

Ephesians 2 .3, among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. And, of course, Ephesians 2 .15, by abolishing in his flesh the enmity, which is the law of contained in ordinances, that in himself he might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.

Now, if we understand that the unbeliever has this condition, that he is deceitful, he's full of evil, he loves darkness rather than light, he cannot come to God on his own, he does not seek for God, is helpless and ungodly, is a slave of sin, cannot receive or understand spiritual things, is dead in his sins, is by nature a child of wrath, and is at enmity with God, then we have to ask the question, how does he simply believe in God?

See, when someone asks him about Jesus, his response will be in accordance with his fallen nature, with his unregenerate nature, which is full of evil, which can do no good, which is a slave of sin, is incapable of understanding spiritual things, and is at enmity with God.

Therefore, we must conclude that his free will, and we'll get into more about that, but his free will is restricted by his depravity and his natural inclination is to reject God. This is in accordance with the conditions ascribed of him by the Scriptures.

So I have to ask a question. How is it possible that an unbeliever who cannot understand spiritual things, 1 Corinthians 2 .14, who does not seek for God, Romans 3 .10 .11 .12, and also says in there, who does no good, and who is a slave of sin, Romans 6 .14 .20, how does he simply choose God?

The Scripture says he cannot. See, that's why the Bible says he appoints people to eternal life, Acts 13 .48, and he grants that they believe, Philippians 1 .29. We'll get into more of that later. This is important.

We have to understand this. The condition of the fallen man is that he is a slave of sin, a hater of God who does no good, he doesn't want God, doesn't seek for God, he does no good. Is believing in God a good thing?

Yes, but it says he does no good. This is what the Scriptures teach. Now, if it's true, and it is true that that's what it says, then we would expect to find some very interesting verses, which we do find in Scripture.

It is God who appoints people to believe, Acts 13 .48, who chooses who is to be holy and blameless, Ephesians 1 .4, who predestines us to adoption, Ephesians 1 .5, and calls according to his purpose. He calls us according to his purpose, 2 Timothy 1 .9.

He chooses us for salvation, 2 Thessalonians 2 .13. He grants us the act of believing, Philippians 1 .29. He works faith in the believer, John 6 .28 -29. He grants us repentance, 2 Timothy 2 .24 -25. He causes us to be born again, 1 Peter 1 .3.

He makes us born again not by our will, but by his will, John 1 .12 -13. He draws all people to himself, John 6 .44. John 6 .44 says he draws people to himself. We'll get to that other verse later about that other stuff.

He grants that we come to Jesus, John 6 .65. He predestines us to salvation, Romans 8 .29 -30, and he does all of this according to the will, to his own purpose, Ephesians 1 .11. Now let me go over some of these verses I just referenced.

Acts 13 .48. When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life, believed. Why do they believe? Because they were appointed to eternal life.

Now the word appoint in Greek is tasso, and it's used of a military leader appointing certain military people in ranks, in an order. See, this is what the word is that Paul the Apostle uses here, or excuse me, that is used by Peter, excuse me, in Acts 13 .48.

As many as been appointed to eternal life, believed. This is what it says. Actually, Luke is the one who wrote this, but at any rate. Ephesians 1 .4. Just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless.

Who chose us? It was God. Now, in case you think that God looked into the future to see who would pick him under certain conditions, we're going to deal with that error tomorrow on the issue of unconditional election, and I'll show you why that can't be the case.

But nevertheless, for now, Ephesians 1 .5, he predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself. Second Timothy 1 .9, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose.

Second Thessalonians 2 .13, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation. Philippians 1 .29, for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake.

And John 6 .28 -29, therefore they said to him, what shall we do that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in whom he has sent. In Second Timothy 2 .24 -25, it says, the Lord's bond servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness, correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth.

If it's just up to them to repent, why does it say God grants them repentance? If it's just up to them to believe of their own sinful free will, why does it say that God grants that they believe? If it's up to them and their wisdom and their ability to do good, which is a violation of Romans 3 .10 -12, in order to choose God, then why does it say that their believing is the work of God, according to Jesus' own declaration in John 6 .28 -29?

You see, because of man's sinfulness, it must be that God predestines and elects and chooses and grants that we believe and grants us repentance. Otherwise, no one would be saved. Why? Because the unbeliever is a hater of God who does no good, cannot understand or receive these spiritual things, and he does not seek for God.

He's a slave of sin. That's what total depravity teaches. That's why Jesus says in John 6 .44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. You can't come to him unless the Father draws you.

You can't. And Jesus says in John 6 .65, for this reason I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it's been granted to him from the Father. You can't go to him unless it's been granted to you by God the Father, which is consistent with verses like Acts 13 .48, as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

Human Inability, Enmity, and the Need for Divine Action

Now, I want you to understand something. Man's condition apart from God. Jeremiah 13 .23, can the Ethiopian change his skin or the his spots? Then you also can do good who are accustomed to doing evil.

In other words, no, they can't. Romans 5 .10, for if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son. We were enemies and he reconciled us. Romans 8 .7, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.

Some might say, well, yeah, but that's for those who are hostile. But you know, when you really sincerely repent and turn to God, then it works out. But the Bible says no one seeks for God. Romans 3 .10, 11, and 12.

I've asked people before, do unbelievers seek for God? Of course they do. And I'll read them the scriptures, Romans 3 .10, 11, and 12. And I'll ask them, does the Bible say that you can seek for God? And they say, of course you do.

It says right there you can't. It's what it says. And yet they'll go against the scriptures. Why? I believe it's because they want God to be a certain way. They want him to be a certain way. They want fairness according to what they say is fair.

Now, we can go to all kinds of verses in the Bible. For example, Genesis 6 .5, then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Let me ask you, do you think unbelievers are always evil? Well, that's a discussion we could have. The Bible says unbelievers cannot receive or understand the things of God. 1 Corinthians 2 .14. They don't seek for God.

They don't do any good. That's Romans 3 .10, 11, and 12. They don't do any good. On a human level, do they do good? Sure, on a human level, but that's not what counts. What counts is the standard that God has described.

What God requires of us, he be holy for I am holy. 1 Peter 1 .16. It's not up to us and our standard and our sentimentality and our beliefs and our desires. We must subject ourselves to the word of God and its truth and its revelation.

Micah 7 .4, the best of them is like a briar, the most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post a watchman, your punishment will come, then your confusion will occur. John 3 .27, John answered and said, a man can conceive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.

Our dependency is on God, absolutely. Now, there are verses that talk about our, we'll get into this a little bit more, about our free will and what people are going to say about our free will. We need to understand that the Bible tells us that we're born again not of our own will and that God grants that we believe.

He grants these things to us. He's the one who causes these things to be in our hearts and our minds. It's not up to us and our wisdom in our sinfulness. That's arrogance. People talk about grace, prevenient grace and whosoever.

We'll get to that, but I want you to understand the Bible teaches what it teaches and we need to submit ourselves to it. The Bible teaches total depravity, that man is touched by sin in all of what he is.

It teaches that we are helpless and sinful and enslaved to sin. That's the unbelievers. And how does someone who's a slave of God, a hater of God, who does no good, doesn't seek for God, how does he simply just choose God?

When he's a slave of sin and at enmity with God and who can do no good, how does he just believe in God? He cannot, which is why the Bible says God predestines us, grants that we believe, grants us repentance and works faith in us.

Free Will, Compatibilism, and Libertarianism

Let's get into the doctrine of free will here a little bit because this is really an important doctrine when it's related here to the doctrine of total depravity. A lot of people think, no, we have to be free, otherwise God's a tyrant.

I've heard people say, don't bring that God in here, this God you're describing. Really? Oh, man. Well, I ask people, what do you want? Do you want the God of scripture? Do you want the truth of God's word in scripture?

Or what do you want? Do you want him to be the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Caucasian surfer dude standing at the door of your heart asking for your permission? To enter in because he's such a gentleman, he won't violate your free will?

Is this the image that you've been taught? That's not the image portrayed in scripture. Let me talk about free will a little bit and we'll talk about God in relationship to our free will. Now, what is free will?

Now, some people just assume so much in this. We have free will and they haven't even thought about what it means. They haven't defined it. So let me ask you a question. Does free will mean that you have to be able to choose between right and wrong?

You have to be able to accomplish them and make that free will choice between good and bad, sin and not sin, in order to be truly free? Some people say yes. But you see, that's a problem because if that's what free will is, then God himself is not free because God cannot choose to sin.

He cannot choose to do that which is ungodly. He cannot choose between good and evil because he can never choose to do evil. He can only do that which is right, that which is holy, that which is pure, that which is consistent with his holy nature.

We should start with God and not with man. We should define free will as it relates to God, not to man. If you start with man as the standard, you're going to end up in error. You start with God, well, you're a lot less prone to end up in error.

So God is completely free but he's not free to sin. Therefore, we would say that free will is the ability to make choices, voluntary decisions that are uncoerced, that are consistent with your nature.

So God makes his free will choices, no one coerces him, and he makes them in a manner consistent with his holiness. So all of his choices are holy and right and good. That's what free will is. Now within theological circles, there are two main views of free will.

One's called compatibilism and one is called libertarianism. Compatibilism is the position that man's free will, the unbeliever's free will, is restricted by his sinful nature. And as a result, he can only choose what his sinful nature will allow him to choose, which means he will never choose God of his own free will since he is a slave of sin, Romans 6, 14 -20.

Since he cannot understand spiritual things, 1 Corinthians 2, 14. Since he is full of evil, Mark 7, 21 -22. Since he does not seek for God and he can do no good, Romans 3, 10 -12. That's what compatibilism teaches.

It also states that a person is only as free as his nature permits him to be free and that his sinfulness prevents him from freely choosing God. This is something you have to understand. People will tell me, well no, Matt, we're just able to be free.

We could just be free. Unbelievers are free. All they need is a little help and we'll get into that. All they need is a little bit of help. It's just up to their free will. That's how it has to be, Matt.

That's not what the Bible says. You know, this wishful thinking and imposing upon the scriptures this wishful thinking idea of God's fairness according to what you want, it's ridiculous. But it's prevalent in the Christian church today.

See, the Bible tells us the unbeliever is a hater of God who does no good, doesn't seek for God, he's full of evil, he's depraved. He doesn't want to serve God, to want God, to seek God, because that's his nature.

That's his nature. Now, if that's the case, then we have to believe that God is the one, God is the one who's going to change us and work in us. Proverbs 21 .1, the king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord.

He turns it wherever he wishes. Ezra 6 .22, and they observed the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had caused them to rejoice. Jeremiah 32 .40, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do good to them, and I will put the fear of me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from me.

John 1 .12 and 13. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to be the children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Do you get that? It says you're born not of the will of man, not of the will of the flesh, not of the blood. This is John 1 .13, of course, the context talking about receiving Christ, about being born again.

And it says in verse 13 that they were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Do you get that? That proves the necessity of God's work in us, because the unbeliever is a slave of sin, a hater of God who does no good.

He's enslaved to it. He's at enmity with God. That's why the one who's born again is born again not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1 .12 and 13. If it's simply up to the unbeliever to believe, given the right circumstances and the right help, really?

If that's the case, then why do we have Acts 16 .14, and a certain woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening, and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

The Lord opened her heart. You know, I really find it interesting that a lot of times the anti-Calvinists, what they'll say is that the God of Calvinism is evil, and the God of Calvinism, that he's bad, and that he just decides who he wants to be saved, lest the other go, and he's arbitrary.

All these, so to speak, misrepresentations. And then I ask them, how do you pray? Do you pray for God to open up people's hearts? Do you pray for God to change them? But wait a minute. If you believe in the sovereignty of man's human free will, then you shouldn't be asking God to violate that free will and open their heart and change them.

It should be up to the individual, and at most you should be asking God to put circumstances in their life to help them see the truth, because it's up to the wisdom of the sinner. This is a very high view of man's sinfulness, and a low view of God.

Check this out, Revelation 17, 17, for God has put it in their hearts to execute his purpose by having a common purpose. See, what was that? God put it in their hearts to execute his purpose. He put it in his heart to execute his purpose.

You know, Proverbs 21 .1, the king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever he wishes. And people say, it's up to your free will. You know, they elevate free will.

Aseity, Idolatry, and Libertarian Free Will

Let me explain something about free will. And we'll get into this. I'll use this illustration, and we'll segue into the issue of libertarian free will. I want you to understand something about God. There's a quality of God called his aseity.

His aseity is his non-dependence upon anything else. He's independent of all things. He's eternally self-sufficient. From everlasting to everlasting, he is God, Psalm 90, verse 2. He doesn't depend on anything.

He's non-contingent. He existed forever before the universe was ever made. He didn't need the universe. In no way did he need anything. He's self-sufficient. It's called his aseity, A-S-E-I-T-Y.

This also means that his decisions, his decisions are also independent of all things. They're completely self-contained. He doesn't look into the future. We'll talk about this more tomorrow. He doesn't look into the future to see who's going to pick him and then make a choice.

That means his will is influenced outside of himself, violating his aseity. Now, here's a statement you got to understand. What is idolatry? Idolatry is when you attribute that which belongs to God to the created thing.

If it belongs to God alone and you attribute it to the created thing, that's a form of idolatry. Some people will elevate man's free will to the level of idolatry. They will say that human free will is independent of its own sinfulness, that somehow, some way, that by presenting the gospel, they have this ability in themselves, the self-sufficiency in themselves to simply choose God.

They're ascribing to the created thing that which belongs to God alone, the complete self-sufficiency, self-generation. That's what they're doing. They don't even realize what they're doing. See, libertarian free will is a position that man's free will is not restricted by his sinful nature in that he is not enslaved by sin such that he can only choose sinful things and that he can freely choose to accept or reject God despite his enslavement to sin.

He's independent of it. He's not restricted by it. His free will is independent of that. It's self-sufficient. Well, what does Satan say? You'll be like God. You'll be like him. This is one of the very dangerous doctrines that's taught in the Christian church, that human free will is independent even of God because it's self-generated and God must politely sit on the outside and knock politely waiting for you to make a decision in the sovereignty of your own will.

May that heresy be buried. Now, libertarian free will also states that a person is able to choose contrary to his nature, contrary to his sinful nature. That's what they teach. I've already gone over this, that the Bible restricts the unbeliever's free will to that of sinfulness.

He restricts it to sinfulness. He's a slave of sin, a hater of God, and he can do no good. Choosing God is doing good. But the Bible says he cannot, Romans 3, 10 -12. That's what it says. He cannot receive these things, 1 Corinthians 2 .14.

Oh, but just a little bit of help and he'll be able to do it. No, not the case. People say, well, then you don't have true free will if you're only doing what God wants you to do. Well, we'll get to that in a little bit.

But nevertheless, before we do that, there are people who will respond and they'll say, and we'll get to this later in more detail, they'll say, but Matt, God says whosoever, John 3, 16. God's soul of the world.

He gave his only begotten son, whoever believes. It doesn't say whoever believes in the Greek. It says, paspistulon, all believing one. That's what it says, but we'll get into that more later. There are verses like that we'll get into.

Now, I want to raise something here. I want you to understand something. Did Jesus have free will? Of course he did. He's God in flesh. John 5, 19, Jesus therefore answered and said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself unless it is something he sees the father doing.

John 5, 30, I can do nothing of my own initiative. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me. John 8, 28, Jesus therefore said, when you lift up the son of man, then you will know that I am he.

And I do nothing of my own initiative, but I speak these things as the father taught me. You see, Jesus had free will, but he only did the will of the father. People get the idea that free will means to be able to rebel.

Jesus only and always did the will of the father. I get so tired of seeing and hearing Christians who describe free will based on their personal experience, and then they impose this upon God himself and the scriptures, and they only look for those scriptures that they think teach their idea of free will.

For example, John 3, 16, God so loved the world that whoever would believe. See, that means he had free will to be able to do that. No, it doesn't say that. Where does it say that God so loved the world that whoever exercises his free will choice in his sinfulness is able to pick God?

It doesn't say that, but that's what they imply when they say the word whoever, but it's not even what it says in the Greek. Today, I did a study. I went through and looked up every instance of where it says whoever believes, and every time I found it occurring in scripture, the Greek says or all the believing ones.

It's a participle, an active participle, the believing, all the believing one. That's what it says, all the believing one, all believing one. That's what it says. It doesn't say whosoever, and the word whosoever doesn't exist in the Greek.

It's hos, hos, and it's not there in John 3, 16, or John 6, 36, he who believes in the Son is eternal life. It's not there, or Romans 10, 11, for the scripture says whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.

It doesn't say whosoever of their own free will. It just simply says in Greek the believing one. It doesn't say how they come to believe. Now, Jesus did the will of the Father, and we are to do the will of the Father, too.

We're to freely as regenerate people to exercise our will to serve God, but that's because we've been set free. That's what it means. See, if free will is a thing that enables choice, I've got a question for people who say, no, it's up to man.

It's up to man in his freedom to be able to choose God. A lot of times what they'll do is they'll offer this idea of prevenient grace. They'll say that prevenient grace, some say this, some recognize a problem that the scriptures present to them in their position.

They understand the Bible says that the unbeliever is a slave of sin, a hater of God who doesn't seek for God, who doesn't do any good, who cannot receive these things. That doesn't allow any room for so-called, oh, I'll just freely believe God.

All I need is a gospel message. It's just not there. Now, I've got a question for people who say, teach it. That is the case. I've got a question for you. Let's say we have a pair of twins, Bob and Frank, and they're born, same mom, same time, same situation, same parents.

They have the same job, same schools, same everything. At the age of 30, one believes and the other does not. One receives Christ, the other one does not. Why? Well, they're going to say to me, because one freely chose.