Post 92 - Total Depravity: What Sayeth the Scriptures?
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"God is always previous"
--Friedrich von Hugel
The quote above—“God is always previous”—is an expression of the biblical truth that God has made the first move to provide every human being with sufficient grace (we can call that “prevenient grace”, if you like) to know him and to respond to him, so that "people are without excuse" (Rom 1:20).
Even John Calvin could not deny that every human being has been graciously seeded from birth with a bit of God himself:
“Men of sound judgement will always be sure that a sense of divinity which can never be effaced, is engraved upon men’s minds … there is some God … naturally inborn in all, and is fixed deep within, as if it were the very marrow …” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, 1559, 1.3.3)
There is some God in everyone, "as if it were the very marrow." Indeed, God was previous in everyone.
Totally Depraved?
Contrary to the testimony of Scripture, the Calvinistic doctrine of total depravity/total inability proposes that everyone is born "spiritually dead", which they define as completely unable to respond positively to spiritual things, including the gospel, without a special, enabling grace that God gives only to a relative few.
In my post on the Calvinistic doctrines of T-U-L-I-P (Post 90 - Calvinism: a Primer), I cited this statement from John Piper, a popular promoter of Calvinism:
"If our doctrine of total depravity is true, there can be no salvation without the reality of irresistible grace. If we are dead in our sins, totally unable to submit to God, then we will never believe in Christ unless God overcomes our rebellion."
John Piper was right. If the doctrine of total depravity/total inability is true, and if, as he asserts, “dead in sins” means we are born “totally unable to submit to God", then everything that follows in the T-U-L-I-P acrostic must be right.
John Piper is not alone. Most Calvinists support this unbiblical understanding of man's condition. James White tells us that, "Man is dead in sin, completely and radically impacted by the Fall, the enemy of God..." Voddie Baucham posits that, since the Fall, all humans are "born with desires that are evil", as rebels and haters of God.
"Enemies of God". "Haters of God". "Evil". Those are strong words often used by Calvinists to express the innate, unregenerate human. But is that what the Bible says?
Note that White and Baucham, like most Calvinists, blame man's condition, including his inability to submit to God, on the Fall--the moment of Adam's disobedience in the Garden of Eden. So, let's begin by looking at what sayeth the scriptures regarding the Fall.
The Fall
First, let's establish that Adam and Eve sinned prior to the Fall. Adam and Eve were not "fallen" when they chose sin over obedience to God, and choosing sin over obedience should sound familiar to all of us.
Simply put, it seems God created man capable of sin--maybe even with a bent toward sin--from the very beginning, and in that regard. it's apparent that nothing has changed. Ontologically, we humans are exactly as we have been since day six in the Garden.
Not only is it clear that the ability and desire to choose sin over obedience was always part of the plan, but it seems our propensity toward sin was actually an intentional design feature. The apostle Paul tells us of God's benevolent purpose in designing us in such a way.
"For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all" (Rom 11:32).
Indeed, throughout biblical history, over and over again, a patient God chooses to respond to man's disobedience with mercy, compassion, and grace.
So, if man's nature didn't change as a result of the Fall, what did change? In Genesis 3:16-19, a merciful, yet just God describes the penalty suffered by Adam and Eve:
pain in childbirth
enmity between man and Satan
conflict between husband and wife
cursed ground requiring toil to produce food
physical death/return to dust
It is important to note that when God explained the punishment for their disobedience to Adam and Eve , there was no mention of "spiritual deadness" from God, no mention of a sudden inability to love/obey/know/submit to God, no mention of "hatred for God", nor "enemies of God", nor any other significant change in the relationship between God and man.
George W. Burnap, noting the disconnect between what Calvinism proposes and what the scriptures actually say, observed,
"If [the Calvinistic doctrine of total depravity] is true, God did not tell man the true penalty, neither the truth, nor the whole truth, nor a hundredth part of the truth... “[i]
The Glory of Being Human
Contrary to the Calvinsist's proposal that all are born radically depraved because of the Fall, the Bible tells us that you and I are pretty amazing creatures.
Psalm 139 reveals that God was intimately and lovingly involved with every aspect of our development. We were created, formed, knitted together, wonderfully shaped, molded and crafted by a God who personally oversaw every intricate detail to ensure that we were adequate reflections of his own glorious image.
Then, to these precious creatures, he gives "life, breath and everything else" (Acts 17:25). Finally, God gives all people a spirit (1 Cor 15:44), a conscience (Rom 2:15), the ability to know him through creation (Rom 1:20), the ability to believe/trust in things unseen (Heb 11:1). and the ability to love (1 Jn 4:19).
I call the above list the Basic Human Glorification Gift Pack--innate qualities given to everyone from a benevolent, merciful God--a God who is love (1 John 4:8, 16). Indeed, God created us as uniquely glorified creatures, image-bearers of the divine, a little lower than the heavenly beings, crowned with glory and honor (Psalm 8:4-5).
Finally, if being imbued with a part of God himself and the pinnacle of God's creation were not enough, it seems that this loving God intervenes in our lives, stacking the deck for us, manipulating our circumstances specifically so that we will "seek him, reach out for him, and find him, though he is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17:26-27).
Yes, God is always previous.
What This Means
Contrary to the Calvinistic doctrine of total depravity, the biblical truth that everyone has been given sufficient grace to understand spiritual things, to respond positively to the gospel appeal, means that no one has ever been unable to submit to God, except:
(1) where God has temporarily blinded them to achieve his purposes (Mark 4:11-12), or (2) where God has judicially hardened them for refusing to love the truth (2 Thes 2:10), or (3) due to their persistent & inexcusable unbelief (Rom 1:20, 11:20).
Final Thoughts
Are we born enemies of God? Haters of God? Evil? By no means!
The Calvinistic doctrine of total depravity is an unbiblical doctrine which denies the potential for divine splendor imbedded in each of us by our Creator. The biblical truth is that God has graciously preloaded every one of us with a bit of himself and he provides every human being with sufficient grace to "come to the knowledge of the truth and so be saved" (1Tim 2:4).
Understanding the truth about the unbiblical doctrine of total depravity is important.
Here are some additional resources:
Next Post: Unconditional Election: What Sayeth the Scriptures?
I am curious of your thoughts on all the verses I compiled on the absolute sovereignty of our Father:
The Absolute Sovereignty of our Father | Sum Of Thy Word