Total Depravity

Adam

Man was made from the earth, which is the meaning of Adam. God breathed into Adam and he became a living soul, the emphases meaning a living being (Gen 2:7). John Gill notes that by this, man is “not only capable of performing the functions of the animal life, of eating, drinking, walking, but of thinking, reasoning, and discoursing as a rational creature” (Gill’s Commentary on Genesis).

Adam was earthly. He was not in Christ. Adam had fellowship with God when He appeared to his flesh, but he was not heavenly. He was not spiritually dead, but as Calvin put it, “before the fall of Adam, man’s life was only earthly, seeing it had no firm and settled constancy” (Calvin’s Genesis Commentary). Paul explained it, “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam a living spirit.” (1 Cor 15:45). We who are in Christ are heavenly (Phil 3:20-21).

Total Depravity

Without an understanding of total depravity firmly established there can be no understanding of the real gospel. The Fall of man was complete. Self is utterly at centre stage, so that there is no goodness or righteousness in man at all. We may claim that while man has problems or bad traits, he is basically good, but this is not the testimony of scripture. Paul said:

And you has He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our life in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (Eph 2:1-3).

This text speaks on the nature of all men. The problem with sin is not that we have committed sin, but that any person who is not born again is by nature a sinner. The problem is nature, not any particular issue of or act of sin. All men are born sinners by nature. They are not a sinner because they have sinned, but they sin because that is their nature. It starts with their nature.

There is no goodness in man. Jesus said, only God is good (Luke 18:19). Even the good that man does is not good. There is some trait in the motive that makes the act self-serving. Is 64:6 says even our righteousness is as filthy rags. Jer 17:9 says the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it.

So, even when man thinks he has done good he does not know his own heart. He cannot know his heart and cannot be his own judge. The heart of man is deceitful above all things, so that includes above even the devil. People are shocked by this. They like to blame the devil for their sin, but the sin comes from their own nature.

People do not need the devil’s help to sin. They sin because it is their nature to sin. Man can invent things from his own nature that would surprise even the devil. There is no difference between fallen man and the devil in nature. Man will always flatter himself. He does not acknowledge the truth about himself.

This does not mean that we adopt a harsh attitude towards men. It does not mean that we have less compassion on man, or disregard the good that God can do through man, even when they do not know Him. It just means that we recognize the truth about mankind.

This does not mean that if we are born again we cannot sin. It means that with Christ us, not in our own resources, we can live free from sin by grace. It does mean that in Christ we cannot go on living a life style of sin.