TULIP (Part 2) Total Depravity

5 Points of Calvinism

TULIP

Beginning with the first letter of the TULIP, the "T" which is the "Total Depravity" of man. I will just restate the definition of Total Depravity as I defined it in the first post:

Total Depravity = The argument that man, in his naturally unregenerate state, does not have the ability to turn to God. Apart from God they are lost in their sin, and that it is only by the Grace of God that a man is reborn and saved, so regeneration comes before faith. Apart from the spirit there would be no faith, ever.

But to explain it further...
This is the idea that after the fall of man, via the original sin, man is completely unable to turn to God to love Him the way He requires, (heart, soul, and mind Matthew 22:37). That all of man is inclined to fulfill their own self-interests. A better way to state it is how the Westminster Confession would that, "Man is not just sick with sin; he is dead in sin." A dead person cannot love God, in fact a dead person cannot do anything unless something makes him alive.

Sinful depravity does not mean everybody is as bad as they could be. It means that anything that a person does even if it is intended to be good, is false in its motives and does not honor God, only the self (...whatever is not from faith is sin. Romans 14:23). The only reason that most humans have values is because they were created in the image of God, I like how John Piper says it, "If a king teaches his subjects how to fight well and then those subjects rebel against their king and use the very skill he taught them to resist him, then even those skills become evil." It is important to realize man's complete and utter sinfulness, with no hope, unless God's grace and mercy intervene. And it is only by God's grace that a man can be born again. This is one point in the Calvinist belief that I will not disagree with in the slightest, because if you take this point away, you completely deface the grace and mercy of God.

Biblical Support
*As with all things that I say it is essential that biblical support be used. It is not important what a person thinks God should do, or that a person thinks "an all-loving God would never do that." It must be backed up with scripture or it is irrelevant.*

So now that I have explained what it is to be totally depraved, what right do I have in saying that?

Genesis 6
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that ever intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Romans 3
10 "...There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useles; There is none who does good, there is not even one."

And if it couldn't get more clear...
Romans 8
7 Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.
8 And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

To top it off, this will kind of touch on unconditional election and irresistable grace...
John 6
44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent me draws himl and I will raise him up on the last day."
It is important to realize from that last few verses that man by himself, has no ability or want to come to God (thus making him totally depraved). Making the ability to do so [come to God] no longer a choice, but only in the confines of God's grace and election.

By nature man has no ability to turn to God apart from the spirit. (I know that I continue to reiterate this point, but I believe it is important, in order to truly understand God's work in converting a human soul). So man does not have the "free-will", as it is said today, to turn to God and to live for God, apart from the Spirit's work in the person's heart.

Just in case those verses weren't enough, I'll give a few more:

Ephesians 2

3 "...[we] were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."

Dont miss that "by nature" part, it is not in our nature to turn to God, therefore the "free-will" of man is not an option here.

1 Corinthians 2

14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

Once again the natural man has no ability.

Conclusion

Okay so in summary- man has no will, want, or care to come to God. He is totally depraved of the Spirit, and everything that person does is dishonoring to God even if the person intended good. (Because: ...whatever is not from faith is sin. Romans 14:23) The rebellion against God is completely deserving of eternal punishment.

But do note that man is "totally" depraved not "eternally" or "forever" depraved. Obviously man is not utterly hopeless, the idea of total depravity really helps one to understand better the mercy and grace of God. You can understand how we all once were, and how totally deserving we were of hell. We hated God at a point, and we hated all things spiritual. God could have left man alone, we could have been left hopeless, but God gave us something magnificent, something not even the fallen angels had a chance for. He became man, lived a sinless life, became a curse, died a murderers death (and is still being spat on today), and rose again all because he loved us enough to do so.

"I will bless the Lord at all time; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Psalm 34:1

4 points left...

"If we humble ourselves under this terrible truth of our total depravity, we will be in a position to see and appreciate the glory and wonder of the work of God discussed in the next four points." -John Piper-