SUB: TOTAL DEPRAVITY
TEXT: Gen 2:16,17. 3:1-7.
Intro: 1) God's command.
2) Disobedience to God's command.
3) Among the many consequences of disobedience was appearance of the sin nature in mankind and its accompanying characteristic of
loving darkness rather than light. John 3:19
1. CONSIDER MAN'S ORIGINAL STATE. To determine this we must be totally dependent on the revelation from the Scriptures.
A. Man was essentially created in the image and likeness of God. Gen 1:26,27. The term "image and likeness" is used synonymously and refer to primarily, man's spiritual resemblance (rationally and morally) to his Maker, God. Man was different from the created beast. Man was made holy, upright and very much capable of rationally making a choice to remain holy and pleasing to God or rebelliously disobeying and becoming alienated from God. Adam's choice was to disobey God's command of Gen 2: 16,17.
B. The Devil's part in this was to tempt the woman. Gen 3:1
C. The woman's part in this was to give to her husband, and in perfect love to his wife, he chose to follow his wife and he disobeyed God and in so doing lost his original state.
D. In disobeying God, he became a sinner by choice and we his offsprings, became sinners by birth and by choice because Adam's sin nature is passed unto us. This I say for two reasons.
i) Adam was our seminal head.. we, in seed form existed in his loins. Just as Levi existed in Abraham when he met Melchizidek. (Heb 7:10) Adam is the father of the human race.
ii) Adam was also our federal head. He chose for us. This then, is ...
11. MAN'S PRESENT STATE. After perfection came depravity. Strong defines depravity as... "the lack of original righteousness or of holy affection to God, and on the other hand the moral nature or bias to evil."
C. D. Cole says... " Total depravity means that man is depraved or corrupted in all his being"."
My understanding of the Scriptures reveals Total Depravity as that state of man's being of complete moral and spiritual corruption; the result being, he is spiritually dead, and unable to perform any action pleasing to God because of his inherent sin nature, which ultimately, except for Divine intervention, will make him an inmate of an eternal hell.
A. THE BIBLE teaches man is spiritually dead. Rom 5:12. Eph 2:1, 5. 1 Cor 15:22
B. In his dead spiritual condition, he is totally depraved
i) In mind. Rom 8:7 He is an enemy of God.
ii) In heart. Jer 17:9. A depraved heart capable only of wicked actions.
iii) His will is in bondage to sin. John 6:44. 5:40. Phil 2:13. In bondage, not only depraved but unable to come to God.
iv) Even his natural understanding is darkened by his spiritually dead state.
1 Cor 2:14
C. What now is man's real condition?
i) Totally depraved.
ii) Unable to come to God.
iii) Cannot do anything to please God.
iv) He cannot understand the things of God.
111. MAN'S RESPONSIBILITIES. As one of God's creation though, man has a responsibility to account to that God for his actions.
A. God has commanded man to repent of his sins. Acts 17:30.
B. The question arises though, if man is totally depraved, is it fair of God to command him to repent?
i) The measure of our duty is not our capability to perform but God's requirement of us; whether we can perform or not. That we cannot perform is our duty is our fault, not His, and there is no injustice in his refusal to lower His standard of requirement on account of our failure.
ii) That man is still responsible is also because no one has forced him into his degree of degeneracy but he only.
iii) While man is spiritually dead and cannot comprehend spiritual things, God's revelation of Himself, conscience within man, the natural spoken word, they all testify to the fact of God's order and holiness and command of justice and equity and when man fails to accept this, he is horribly accountable.
1V. WHERE THEN DOES THIS LEAVE MAN? Purely dependent on Sovereign Grace that as a creature of Adam's sinfully depraved race, he can come to see God's holiness in demanding repentance, can come to see, God's justice in demanding payment for sin, can come to see God's love in sacrificing His Son, and also to see God's grace in the salvation of this sinful wretch. The we can truly shout it "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow"
CONCL: It is a Biblical fact that natural man is a totally depraved creature, who is also unable to come to God. Nevertheless, man is totally responsible to God for all his actions. To the unsaved, the command is to repent and believe the gospel. Jesus said: "My sheep will hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." Are you one?
