January 21 – LD 3, Day 7: Total Depravity
by Prof Herman Hanko
Read: Genesis 4:19-24, Genesis 6:1-13.
Total depravity is one of
the five points of Calvinism. It is first in the acronym TULIP. It is one of
the truths that we must confess.
Many have been the
attempts to deny it. Pelagianism maintained that man was born without sin, and
that if he does sin, it is only because he follows a bad example.
Semi-Pelagianism said
that man was born sick and his sickness would be fatal unless he called on the
divine physician to heal him. But he was not dead.
Roman Catholicism taught
that although man was very sinful, God would not save him unless he first
performed many works of penance.
The Armenians taught and
still teach that man has a free will and can choose between hell and heaven,
Satan and Christ.
Those who hold to common
grace teach that although man is totally depraved, he is not absolutely
depraved. That is, although sin discolors every part of him, it does not
completely spoil all of him.
Synergism teaches that
man can and does co-operate with God in the work of salvation.
The Bible teaches total
depravity. We are so sinful that no good thing can be found in us; we are not
able to do anything to please God, we cannot even want to be
saved. As an old farmer told his minister in 1834, the year of the Separation
in the
This is what our teacher
teaches us: Are we then so corrupt that we are wholly incapable of doing any
good, and inclined to all wickedness? Indeed we are, except we are regenerated
by the Spirit of God.”
Let us never forget that
this is a lesson we have to learn. We must confess before God that we are
totally depraved. We must believe this so that we know that we cannot do one
good thing – even pray, unless God gives us grace. This is a lesson we have to
learn if we really want to learn that we are saved in Christ and by his work.
If we know that we can do
no good, we will not try to buy our way into heaven or persuade God to save us
because we deserve it. We will only run as fast as we can to the cross of
Christ and hurl ourselves into the arms of our Savior.