This doctrine is referred to as the doctrine of "total depravity" by Calvinists and is the first point in the acrostic known as TULIP.
In Latin you say mea culpa or I am to blame: put away the pointing of the finger and the blame game! We cannot just blame Adam for our sins because, though we are culpable with Adam who stands as the head of our race, we all individually verified and confirm our status in the divine verdict and sinned, because we are born sinners. Psalm 51:4 says, "In sin did my mother conceive me." The theological maxim says: "We are not sinners because we sin, rather we sin because we are sinners." Billy Graham says, "we cannot escape our birthright." Original sin is the name given to the result of the first sin, not to the first sin per se. It is not environmental or societal that we sin but intrinsic to our very nature. "We didn't cease to be human we ceased to be good," says R. C. Sproul.
It is commonplace to assume that man is basically good (as humanists believe) but man is basically evil. And this nature permeates his makeup through and through. It is like being pregnant; you cannot be only a little pregnant. If man were basically good, why is sin so prevalent and so universal; wouldn't we see some sinless personages? If it's environmental, how did it get that way? The rub is that we are basically, intrinsically, inherently evil and no part of us escapes the corruption of sin and doesn't have a fallen nature. Our complete soul: intellect, affections, and volition. They say, "nobody's perfect" and "to err is human;" and this is a right diagnosis.
Sin is not peripheral or tangential to our nature but we are totally flawed (note that we are totally depraved, meaning every aspect of us is flawed, but not utterly depraved, meaning as bad as we can be) by a sin nature, through and through. We are not as bad as we can be, but as bad off as can be. There is no sliding scale or grading on the curve even though the run-of-the-mill sinner looks like a saint compared to the likes of Nero or Hitler who are seen as paradigms of evil. Even though some never lose faith in the basic goodness of man, it is not man's estimation of man, but God's estimation of man that counts. We are radically corrupt and totally corrupt, but not utterly corrupt; we are as bad off as we can be but not as bad as we can be. We are degenerated and are degrading to the imago Dei that we have as icons of God. When we expose the dark side (like the moon--and everyone has a dark side) we see that God's diagnosis is correct and we are all found wanting on God's scale of justice.
There is a "catch-22": we don't know how bad we are till we have tried to be good, and we must try to be good to know how bad we are. We all have "feet of clay," says Chuck Swindoll (weak spots as well as our forte, or strong suit). We have gone from creation to corruption, from perfection to rejection. We cannot clean up our acts because Jesus sees through the veneer. Sin permeates the core of our soul and as Jeremiah says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." We cannot do anything apart from Christ's power (John 15:5).
Those who are in flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:8). "All our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). We must be wooed by the Holy Spirit, we don't come to Christ all on our own--the Spirit draws us! "No man can come to Me unless the Father grants it..." (John 6:44). "You were dead in trespasses and sin..." (Eph. 2:1). What can a dead man do to please God? Soli Deo Gloria!
In Latin you say mea culpa or I am to blame: put away the pointing of the finger and the blame game! We cannot just blame Adam for our sins because, though we are culpable with Adam who stands as the head of our race, we all individually verified and confirm our status in the divine verdict and sinned, because we are born sinners. Psalm 51:4 says, "In sin did my mother conceive me." The theological maxim says: "We are not sinners because we sin, rather we sin because we are sinners." Billy Graham says, "we cannot escape our birthright." Original sin is the name given to the result of the first sin, not to the first sin per se. It is not environmental or societal that we sin but intrinsic to our very nature. "We didn't cease to be human we ceased to be good," says R. C. Sproul.
It is commonplace to assume that man is basically good (as humanists believe) but man is basically evil. And this nature permeates his makeup through and through. It is like being pregnant; you cannot be only a little pregnant. If man were basically good, why is sin so prevalent and so universal; wouldn't we see some sinless personages? If it's environmental, how did it get that way? The rub is that we are basically, intrinsically, inherently evil and no part of us escapes the corruption of sin and doesn't have a fallen nature. Our complete soul: intellect, affections, and volition. They say, "nobody's perfect" and "to err is human;" and this is a right diagnosis.
Sin is not peripheral or tangential to our nature but we are totally flawed (note that we are totally depraved, meaning every aspect of us is flawed, but not utterly depraved, meaning as bad as we can be) by a sin nature, through and through. We are not as bad as we can be, but as bad off as can be. There is no sliding scale or grading on the curve even though the run-of-the-mill sinner looks like a saint compared to the likes of Nero or Hitler who are seen as paradigms of evil. Even though some never lose faith in the basic goodness of man, it is not man's estimation of man, but God's estimation of man that counts. We are radically corrupt and totally corrupt, but not utterly corrupt; we are as bad off as we can be but not as bad as we can be. We are degenerated and are degrading to the imago Dei that we have as icons of God. When we expose the dark side (like the moon--and everyone has a dark side) we see that God's diagnosis is correct and we are all found wanting on God's scale of justice.
There is a "catch-22": we don't know how bad we are till we have tried to be good, and we must try to be good to know how bad we are. We all have "feet of clay," says Chuck Swindoll (weak spots as well as our forte, or strong suit). We have gone from creation to corruption, from perfection to rejection. We cannot clean up our acts because Jesus sees through the veneer. Sin permeates the core of our soul and as Jeremiah says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." We cannot do anything apart from Christ's power (John 15:5).
Those who are in flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:8). "All our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). We must be wooed by the Holy Spirit, we don't come to Christ all on our own--the Spirit draws us! "No man can come to Me unless the Father grants it..." (John 6:44). "You were dead in trespasses and sin..." (Eph. 2:1). What can a dead man do to please God? Soli Deo Gloria!
You should also address. Whether man's will is free to choose and whether the unregenerate are capable of good works. Also explain what u mean by from perfection to rejection
ReplyDeleteMan is totally incapable of choosing Christ apart from grace. Grace is the sine qua non offaith. It is not just "prevenient" grace that enable us to choose, but God actually works His will and purpose in our hearts according to His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). The unregenerate is incapable of doing anything good (Isa. 64:6): "All our righteousness is as filthy rags." Faith is a gift that is the "work of God" (John 6:29) in our hearts and is "granted unto us"(Phil. 1:29). If faith were a work as Romanists believe, salvation would be meritorious and by works.
DeleteMerry Christmas, Karl.
ReplyDeleteSteve Hays