Total Depravity


Can man choose God on His own? Is man completely fallen or just somewhat fallen? Is man dead in their nature or is man just sick and is in need of some assistance in accepting Christ?

Let's take a look at scripture, and see what scripture says...

Romans 3:9-11, 18
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD . . . THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES.”

Romans 7:18
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

Ephesians 2:1-5
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

No one seeks after God! None whatsoever. Humans are dead in their nature! Nothing good dwells in fallen man.

John Piper writes, "It is a myth that man in his natural state is genuinely seeking God. Men do seek God. But they do not seek him for who he is. They seek him in a pinch as one who might preserve them from death or enhance their worldly enjoyments. Apart from conversion, no one comes to the light of God.Some do come to the light. But listen to what John 3:20-21 says about them. "Every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God."Yes there are those who come to the light—namely those whose deeds are the work of God. "Wrought in God" means worked by God. Apart from this gracious work of God all men hate the light of God and will not come to him lest their evil be exposed—this is total rebellion. "No one seeks for God...There is no fear of God before their eyes!" "


Joh 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

That verse specifically states that we will not come to Christ on our own!


Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

How can someone of the devil choose to come to Christ when we are archenemies of God?


Joh 8:47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God."


Joh 10:26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.

"So we have a very distinct metaphor here - spiritual death, then rebirth, then life...Man is so dead in his sins that only God can save him. Man cannot even try to choose God. It isn't that he has no will - rather, sin has so tilted the scales of his will that he can only choose to do evil and wander away from the Lord. Only God can even the scales of man's will and give true freedom - the freedom to freely serve God. Thus, only God can give free will."-Taken from AspiringTheologian, http://aspiringtheologian.blogspot.com/2006/04/god-chose-you-look-at-calvinism.html#total

AspriringTheologian says "only God can give us free will". Free will is a very misleading term, so I choose not to use the word "free". We must see that God ordains everything, nothing comes at Him by surprise. I totally agree that man has a will. But God is the one who causes us, man, to act a certain way by secondary agents. God does not force us as man to do anything we would not like to do. God does not make us do things. God does not cause us to do anything contrary to our will.

We as man are God's workmanship. God can do whatever He wants to do with his "clay".

One error that keeps coming back to me if you say, "God gives or allows free will," is no guarantee that the Bible is inerrant, no mistakes. If man has totally free will, then wonder if one of the authors of the Bible exercised free will instead of God causing the man to write what we have today. God would have had to be okay with a mistake. Then we would have to discern what the mistake is. Or even worse, maybe the whole Bible is full of errors. What then?

That is only one reason why God has to be sovereign over all and not just some. The Bible must be inerrant.

I will be talking about grace in my next post. Thank you for reading. God bless,


-AgapeTheologian