We begin our examination of the five points of Calvinism with the “T” of the TULIP reformed acronym which stands for Total Depravity. The expression concerns the nature of man and its impact on how we should biblically understand salvation. Almost univariably, when Christians reject Calvinism, it is in great part because they do not understand how lost they were before their conversion. Indeed, we were dead in sins and unwilling to come to God.
We will first define what total depravity is, then what it is not, and finally provide selected biblical verses with brief exegeses to understand them as they relate to our human nature according to the all-knowing Lord of all.
While society and pagan philosophies claim that man is basically good [...] the Bible affirms that we are evil, totally corrupted by sin, and therefore in need of a Sovereign and Almighty Savior.
What Total Depravity Is
Total depravity is the biblical doctrine concerning the nature of fallen humanity before God. The word depravity means impacted by sin. The word total speaks of the fact that all of our human nature is impacted by sin. We, as human beings, are totally depraved, which means completed corrupted by sin. Our bodies are corrupted by sin. Our souls are corrupted by sin. Our wills are corrupted by sin. Our consciences are corrupted by sin. Nothing is neutral or pure in us, we are sinners through and through. This is why total depravity is also called radical corruption.
While society and pagan philosophies claim that man is basically good, on the contrary, the Bible affirms that we are evil, totally corrupted by sin, and therefore in need of a Sovereign and Almighty Savior.
Now, total depravity is also known by another name which total inability. These two names both speak of biblical anthropology (the doctrine of man) but they have a different focus. The former speaks of the nature of man itself (which is depraved/corrupted), while the latter concerns the results of that condition (spiritual inability). Total inability means that we are totally unable and unwilling to do anything spiritually good and to come to God, which is precisely because we are totally depraved.
What Total Depravity Is Not
On the one hand, total depravity does not mean that every person on earth is a bad as they can possibly be. Some people are clearly worse than others. The doctrine says that all men are completed corrupted by sin in every part of their being.
Total inability, on the other hand, does not teach that people cannot do good according to human standards or seek God as religious people do all over the earth. Yet, as we shall see, Scripture says that none of the works of unbelievers are considered good before God because their motives are always flawed and selfish, and although they appear to seek God, they seek, if anything, a god of their own making and refuse to obey their Creator and His Son Jesus Christ the Lord.
Selected Biblical Verses
On the depravity of our whole being
God said before the flood: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Thoughts are completed corrupted by sin from birth, as God also reaffirmed after the flood (Genesis 8:21). We are sinful from conception (Psalm 51:5).
The great apostle Paul himself said: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). How much more corrupted by sin must unbelievers be! When we are born again, we are no longer slaves of sin, but we are still corrupted by it until we are given an incorruptible body which cannot sin when Christ comes back and we are glorified.
We are called to “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22). Therefore, even our consciences are depraved and in need of purification (Hebrews 9:14). We ought to have “a clear conscience” before God and men (Hebrews 13:18).
Our inner immaterial being, known as the soul or the spirit (both terms are used interchangeably in Scripture) are depraved, touched by sin: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20), “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).
On the inability to do good or to seek God
Paul wrote in the book of Romans a powerful treaty on salvation and the reasons why we need it. Here is what he said under divine inspiration, quoting the Old Testament scriptures for his demonstration:
“9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”” (Romans 3:9-18).
Without hyperbole Paul asserts that we are all sinners and not a single one of us on earth seeks God or does anything good in His perfectly pure sight. Further, Paul describes what humans do, and frankly, none of it looks good! This is because a true and precise diagnosis is required for a man to be healed and come to the divine Healer Jesus Christ. We are so prone to excuse and flatter our human nature, but God describes it as it is because of His great love for us.
“For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:21).
On our being evil
The all-wise Lord Jesus, when speaking of human beings in comparison to God the Father, says: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:11).
Next, the below rhetorical questions made in the book of Job are clear statements on our nature: “What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous? Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in his sight; how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks injustice like water!?” (Job 15:14-16).
We cannot even come to Jesus without divine intervention [...] “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent [Jesus] draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day”
On our spiritual condition
Unlike most Christians today who think that sinners can change themselves and make a decision to follow Christ, the Bible affirms that God is the one who must first intervene in the new birth. This is because all the above verses are true and no man seeks after God to begin with, but it gets worse, for the Bible says that we are dead in our sins. Our condition is not critical, it is not even terminal, it is terminated. We are dead. No hope is thus left in man. It is God who intervenes to bring us back to life. Our deadness means that we are both unable and unwilling to participate in any part of that transformation from death to life:
“1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:1-6).
“13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:13-15).
On our total inability to please God and seek Him
In a passage comparing those who are born again and have the Spirit and those are still carnal and without the Spirit, Paul teaches us truths regarding total inability. Before being regenerated by the Spirit, we cannot obey God’s law: “7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8).
In fact, we cannot even come to Jesus without divine intervention: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day […] 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.). 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father”” (John 6:44, 64-65). Since those drawn to the Father will also be glorified/raised on the last day (per the above verse), we see that the Father only draws the elects. Only the elects come to Christ (more on that in future posts).
In a nutshell
This concludes our introduction to the biblical doctrine of Total Depravity which is the truth about man's condition before God as dead in sins and unwilling and unable to come to Christ for salvation. This is why claims of man being able to choose God on his own or seek God are unbiblical. Instead, the Trinity worked for our salvation. The Father elected us, the Son died for us, and the Spirit regenerated and sealed us. We have no contribution to any of these facets of salvation, and thus, God gets all the glory for our redemption.
In our next post, we will examine the next letter in the TULIP: Unconditional Election.
Blessings in Christ,
Jonas Croissant
Pastor-Elder
Acts Church of Maricopa
Contact & Sunday service information: https://www.actschurchmaricopa.com/location
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