Total Inability
The Doctrine of Total Inability:
Because of the Fall, no human is able of himself to
savingly believe the gospel--
our salvation must begin with a work of God.
Original Sin --> Total Depravity --> Total Inability
Original sin (sin derived from our origin):
-
Sinfulness
marks everyone from birth and is present in a motivationally twisted heart
prior to any actual sins committed (Gen 6:5-6; 8:21; 1 Kgs 8:46; Ps 14:1-3; 51:5;
Ecc 9:3; Eph 2:3)
The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. ... - Gen 6:5
-
This
inner sinfulness is the root of our sins (Jer 17:9; Eph 2:1-3; 4:17-19)
-
It
is derived in us from Adam, our first representative before God (Rom 5:12-21)
Therefore, just as sin
came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread
to all men because all sinned... - Rom 5:12
Total
Depravity:
-
Makes
explicit the implications of original sin
-
Speaks
to the pervasiveness and effect of sin in our person, not the degree of
depravity (i.e. we're not saying that everyone is as bad as they possibly could
be)
-
No
single part of us is untouched by sin, but every component of our being is
effected by the corruption of the curse and our sin nature
1. The mind
has become darkened with respect to spiritual things: (2 Cor 4:4; Rom 8:5-8;
Eph 4:17-18; Col 1:21)
The natural person does
not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he
is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. - 1 Cor
2:14
2. The affections
have been perverted by sin: (Gen 6:5; 8:21; Job 15:14-16; Is 59:2; Jer 17:9; Mk
7:21-23)
And this is the
judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness
rather than the light because their deeds were evil. - Jn 3:19
3. The
will is in bondage to sinful desires: (Job 14:4; John 5:40, 43-44; 6:44;
Titus 3:3)
Can the Ethiopian
change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are
accustomed to do evil. - Jer 13:23
-
These
considerations are true for every human! (1 Kgs 8:46; Is 53:6; Rom 3:9-23; Gal
3:22; Eph 2:1-3)
Surely there is not a
righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. - Ecc 7:20
Total Inability (The result of the above
considerations!)
Because of the pervasiveness of the corruption in the
core of our being, no person is capable
of (1) doing that which is pleasing in God's sight, or, (2) coming to God in
their own strength and wisdom.
- No
one can do good spiritually good deeds on their own volition (Is 64:6; Jer
13:23; Jn 15:4-5; Rom 5:7-8)
A healthy tree cannot
bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. - Mt 7:18
- No
one can come to God in repentance and faith on their own (Mt 11:27; Jn 3:3,
5; 14:17; 1 Cor 12:3; 2 Cor 4:4; Rev 14:3)
All things have been
handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and
no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to
reveal him. - Mt 11:27
No one can come to me
unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last
day. It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.'
Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. - Jn 6:44-45
This is why every person must be born a second time... (Jn
1:12-13)
Jesus answered, "Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the
Total Inability in Pictures
In Scriptures, salvation is pictured in various ways:
the dead being raised, a new creation, a new heart being implanted, or the
blind receiving sight. In none of
these metaphors can the one receiving salvation possibly be seen to contribute
anything! In fact, the whole point of the pictures is to show how hopeless and
helpless we are on our own! What can a dead man do to bring himself back to
life? What can a blind man do to give himself sight? (Jn 3:3, 5; Eph 2:1-3; 2
Cor 4:3-6; 5:17)
And I will give you a
new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart
of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my
Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey
my rules. - Ezek 36:26-27
Do humans have a free will?
Yes and no. Humans will always act according to their
nature. The will is bound only by what the mind thinks and what the affections
desire. To illustrate, think of how the will operates in the animal kingdom.
Hang fifty pounds of raw steak in a cage and put a leopard and a zebra in with
it. The zebra will eat the grass around the meat. The leopard will eat the meat
(and maybe the zebra!) because each of them are freely "willing" according to
their nature.
But what if you were to paint
the zebra so he looks like a leopard and then put him back in the cage... what
does he do? The same thing! He must act according to his nature and zebras, by
nature, are herbivores.
Man is a sinner by nature
(original sin). Since sin has warped the way he thinks (his mind) and what he
desires (his affections), he will freely uses his will to rebel against God and
disbelieve God's Word.
Is a man's will free? Yes!
Will his free will bring him to come to put his trust in Jesus? No! Since his nature is sinful--he needs to be
changed from the core of his being.
Then how can we repent and believe?
Even repentance and faith are gifts of God that He
must work in us (Rom 9:16)
"When they heard these things they fell
silent. And they glorified God, saying, "Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to
life." - Acts 11:18
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." - Eph 2:8
Do all Christians believe this? Why does it
matter?
This is the historic doctrine of the church, but many
have been uncomfortable with it through the years. Why? Typically for the same
reasons that we don't like to think about ourselves in the categories we've
discussed: we're proud and we like to think better of ourselves than we ought.
We don't want to admit that in and of myself I can contribute nothing to my
salvation, but that it depends on God's sovereign grace alone.
The Arminian scheme of looking
at things suggests that while humanity was affected by Adam's sin, we maintain
a certain measure of innocence because of God's "prevenient grace." In this
view, man is not "totally" depraved and hence, not totally incapable of
spiritual good, or of choosing God. Therefore, it is thought that all man needs
to do is to choose Christ. In one sense it would be nice to believe this (it
sure appeals to our flesh!). The trouble is that it is biblically indefensible.
It is interesting--and should be noted--that the gospel presentations in the
Bible never use words like, "Just choose Jesus," or "Ask Jesus into your heart."
The gospel of the Bible is always repent from your sins and trust on the
finished work of Jesus!
This
matters because how we view the fallen state of humanity determines how we view
salvation, Christ's cross-work, God's grace, and ultimately, God himself! Let's
flesh that out some more...
Application: Speak of Your Salvation (1 Chr
16:23)!
- How does this help us to think
right thoughts about God / His character?
- How does this impact evangelism?
How can we use it in promoting the gospel?
- How does this aid in our
corporate worship?
- How does this help us to
encourage our own souls?
- How does this give us something
to say back to our Accuser?
- How does this prepare us for
heaven?
- How can we use this to encourage
one another in the faith?
- How will this help promote
cross-centered authenticity between one-another?