Total Depravity

Today’s Bible Verse: Is not a verse, but a concept. It is the first Principal of Calvinism; Total Depravity.

Calvinism is represented by the acrostic TULIP. It stands for Total Depravity; Unconditional Election; Limited Atonement; Irresistible Grace; and Preservation of the Saints. I believe that there is a sixth principal; Sovereignty of God and that would make it TULIPS.

Today’s principal will be Total Depravity.

[Ephesians 2:1-7 ESV] 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

This principal means that we are all born dead in Adam, in sin; yes, we are all born dead men walking; well, crawling to begin with. We remain in that state our entire lives unless we are born again in Jesus.

[Romans 8:7 ESV] 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.

More so, the man or woman hates God and his carnal mind is at enmity with God.

Consider what this means:

[Romans 14:23 ESV] 23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Whoever is not in faith is in sin so nobody can do good works if they are not born again.

[John 6:33 ESV] 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

A person cannot “want” to be born again and follow some formula to do it or say some prayer to get it. It would be like saying that a man in a grave can desire to come out of the grave or follow instructions on how to be made alive. The person born in Adam, all of humanity since the fall, is dead until God causes him to be reborn.

[John 6:44 ESV] 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Nobody can “accept Christ” as his personal savior until called.

[Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV] 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

What’s more, those not reborn cannot offer salvation to anyone. Those not reborn may speak of salvation and may offer formulas or prayers to get you there but their words are meaningless.

[Matthew 7:22-23 ESV] 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

The unborn that call themselves reborn or Christian are condemned self-professors.

[Jonah 2:9 ESV] 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!"

Only God can make us alive, and He does that sovereignly; without our aid or asking. You can pray all you want but the unborn prayers are not heard.

I can tell you that being reborn is a humbling experience. God has chosen the reborn and we know it and know that we are not worthy of it. Moreover, we become servants in that we bring the gospel and the word of God to our fellow man.

For me, I know that I am still capable of sin, but I also know that I have the strength of the Holy Spirit to help me keep my sinful thoughts from turning into actions. I know that I have His conviction and strength to repent when my sinful thoughts do turn into actions.

It is the elect that have salvation and it is my prayer that you are among the elect and that this serves as your catalyst for awakening.

This is the gospel:

[1 Corinthians 15:1-6 ESV] 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

[Acts 2:22-24 ESV] 22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-- 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

[1 John 2:2 ESV] 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Propitiation: ἱλασμός hilasmós, hil-as-mos'; atonement, i.e. (concretely) an expiator:—propitiation.

This is penal substitution; that is, our sins were transferred to Jesus and His righteous transferred to us.

We all have a job.

[Matthew 28:18-20 ESV] 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

All of the disciples of Jesus are to spread His word and the gospel.

Go forth and spread this good news.

I pray that God has revealed Himself to you and that you have salvation.

Remember, God is sovereign. That means that he controls everything.

I hope this has been a blessing to you. May the rest of your day be blessed. Peace.