What I Believe: Total Depravity

So this is the first post in the new series "What I Believe," where we will be going over some of the key doctrines of Calvinism and Creationism.  We're starting off by diving into Calvinism, and today's post is on Total Depravity: the letter "T" in the acronym "TULIP," and the first of the five points of Calvinism.

First of all, I would like to point out that I am not an expert.  I don't claim to have any special theological knowledge, and I certainly don't have any credentials.  I'm just a normal guy who's done some research and read some stuff.  Also, this is not an exhaustive study.  There's a ton more information surrounding the subject than what I give in this post.  All that to say: I can't do justice to the subject.  Look into this yourself, do some of your own research, and be a Berean.  Don't just take my word for it on the subject.

With that said, let's get on with the post.  So here's what we're going to do.  We're going to look into:

1. What Total Depravity means
2. Where the idea of Total Depravity comes from
3. How Total Depravity applies to us.
4. Common arguments against Total Depravity (refuted!)

Let's get started!

So what is Total Depravity?  What does it mean?  This is how the Dutch reformers defined the "Doctrine of the Total Depravity of man" in the Canons of Dort: 

"Therefore, all people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath, unfit for any saving good, inclined to evil, dead in their sins, and slaves to sin; without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit they are neither willing nor able to return to God, to reform their distorted nature, or even to dispose themselves to such reform."

You may recall how in an earlier post, we talked about man's inability to save himself.  This is basically that same idea.  Let me illustrate it with a common analogy...
Let's say you're floundering out in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight.  With no hope of rescue, you will soon drown.  God comes along in a ship, and He throws you a life preserver.  You reach out, take hold of it, and are saved.  I think your average Christian would agree that this is a fairly accurate analogy of salvation.  But now let's adjust that analogy to fit the doctrine of Total Depravity.  Instead of struggling in the middle of the ocean, you're already dead.  Your lifeless body has sunk to the sea floor, and it's only a matter of time before the crabs and other bottom feeders have picked your carcass clean.  "You're fish food!" as one of my pastors likes to say.

So now that you've (hopefully) gotten a good idea of what Total Depravity is, let's look at where the idea comes from.

Back in the 16th century Netherlands, a man named Jacob Arminius began spreading teachings that conflicted with reformed views, sparking the Arminian controversy of the 16th and 17th centuries.  In 1610, Jacob's followers wrote up five statements of doctrine summing up their views. They submitted these statements to the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands in the hopes that they would be approved and adopted by other churches.  They were disappointed!  In 1618 a General Synod of the Reformed Churches from all over Europe gathered to consider these five points of Arminian doctrine.  The Synod rejected the five points of Arminianism, claiming that they were contrary to scripture.   The Synod then proceeded to write up their own five points of doctrine.  These five points were put into the Canons of Dordt, and are now known as the five points of Calvinism.  Total Depravity was one of those points outlined by the Reformers in response to the Arminians.  But the idea of total depravity didn't start with them, seeing as Calvin was given the credit (Calvin was dead at the time).  But the idea of Total depravity didn't start with Calvin, either.  John Calvin based his idea off of Saint Augustine's idea of Original Sin (Calvin often gave credit to Augustine).  But I don't want to get off track here.

Okay, so we have an idea of the history of this whole idea of Total Depravity, but where did all of these dead guys get the idea?  What did they base it off of?  The answer, as is the case with all Reformed doctrine, is scripture (Sola Scriptura, anyone?).  Let's look at some of the scriptures supporting Total Depravity.   There are too many to go into in one blog post, so I'll just touch on some of the more potent ones.
Genesis 6:5 says:

"Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Psalm 14:1-3 says:

"The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.  The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one."

Jeremiah 4:22 says:  

“For My people are foolish, They have not known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge.”

Jeremiah 13:23 says:

"Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?  Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil."

Romans 8:7-8 says:

"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God."

In Romans 3:9-19, Paul hammers the point home by quoting 8 separate scripture passages:

"What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.' 'Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit'; 'The poison of asps is under their lips'; 'Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.' 'Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.' 'There is no fear of God before their eyes.' Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

Okay, so we've looked at what Total Depravity is and where it comes from.  But how does it apply to us?  Let's take a look.

Probably the most important way is in evangelism and repentance.  We (as well as those who we witness to) can only truly realize how much we are in need of a savior when we realize that 1: we have sins that we need to be saved from, and 2: that we can't save ourselves from it.  Total Depravity teaches exactly that!

Look at Ray Comfort's evangelizing style.  When Mr. Comfort tries to convert someone, he usually starts by asking them if they've ever told a lie.  The person he's witnessing to almost always says "Yes."  Ray then goes on to ask the person if they've ever stolen, blasphemed, or committed adultery.  He keeps talking with the person(s) until he has convicted them of all four of those sins.  Only then, after Mr. Comfort has convinced the person that they are a sinner, does he show them that they are in need of a savior.  Do you see how that works?  This is why the doctrine of Total Depravity is so important to us today.

Alright, so now that we know what Total Depravity means, where it comes from, and how it applies to us.  So now we're going to look at a few of the most common arguments against it!

"The idea of Total Depravity is depressing!"
It is!  But you know, sometimes the truth hurts.  But let's consider this argument.  Basically, this argument says that the idea of Total Depravity destroys our happiness and causes despair.  Doesn't "Gospel" mean "The Good News?"  If so, then Total Depravity must not be true because it sure as heck ain't good news. But here's the problem: How do you share the good news without first sharing the bad  news?  Like I said above, you can't convince somebody that they need salvation from sin unless you first tell them that they have sin they need to be saved from.  Total Depravity teaches us that we are not only sinners, but that we can't do anything about it.  This is bad news, yes, but it paves the way for the good news!  Without the bad news of Total Depravity, the good news of salvation is irrelevant.

"If total depravity is true, then why do we see good people who aren't saved?" 
Basically, this argument states that Total Depravity cannot be true based on our personal experience.  When we look at the people around us, it can sometimes be easy to think that people just aren't as bad as Total Depravity makes them out to be.  I mean, there are plenty of non-Christians who are decent people and who do good deeds, right?
There are a few problems with this argument.  First, it puts our personal experience above the authority of scripture.  We've already looked at how Scripture teaches Total Depravity.  So which do you think has more authority on the subject?  The infallible Word of God, or our own personal opinions and experiences?  The answer is obvious.  But this brings us to the other problems with this argument, concerning some of the many reasons why our personal opinion shouldn't be taken above God's.  First of all, man looks on the outside, while God looks on the heart.  We can't see a person's secret sins, and we can't see the true motivation for their good deeds.  But God can, and He does.  So what looks like a good person to us could in reality be a horrible person on the inside.  Their deeds may look selfless and pure to us, but in reality they may have selfish and sinful motives.  Also, our ability to judge a person's character is affected by our sinfulness.  One of the defining characteristics of the sinner is that he is blind to sin, not just in himself but in all mankind.
So this argument falls apart in that it supposes our own personal perceptions trump those of God, and that we are a better judge of character than He is.

Let's recap.  We've looked at what Total Depravity means, where it comes from, how it applies to us, and we even looked at (and refuted) some common arguments against it.  I don't know about you, but I had fun!  And I learned a lot, too.  I didn't know half of this stuff until I researched it specifically for this post.  So even if you didn't learn a thing, at least it was beneficial for me. ;-)

Well, this has been a long post!  I hope you were able to read through it all.  Like I said earlier: I'm not an expert, and this is not an exhaustive study.  DO SOME RESEARCH FOR YOURSELF.  "Search the scriptures daily, whether these things be so" like the Bereans in the book of Acts.

So... are you Totally Depraved?  I know I was!  "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Amen.