Intro to the Five Points of Calvinism
Alright, after doing five points of introduction to the Five Points of Calvinism, today I'll begin talking about them with the first letter of the Tulip - T, which stands for Total Depravity. Let's begin with a pretty straightforward defintion from the Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics.
Total Depravity is probably the most misunderstood tenet of Calvinism. When Calvinists speak of humans as "totally depraved," they are making an extensive, rather than an intensive statement. The effect of the fall upon man is that sin has extended to every part of his personality -- his thinking, his emotions, and his will. Not necessarily that he is intensely sinful, but that sin has extended to his entire being. The unregenerate (unsaved) man is dead in his sins (Romans 5:12). Without the power of the Holy Spirit, the natural man is blind and deaf to the message of the gospel (Mark 4:11f). This is why Total Depravity has also been called "Total Inability." The man without a knowledge of God will never come to this knowledge without God's making him alive through Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5).
I agree with that definition wholeheartedly - now let me try to unpack it a bit. Notice that this says that sin extends to every part of man's personality, or being. It means that sin permeates every part of man, but it doesn't mean that man is as bad as he could be. I used to think that is what "total depravity" meant. In fact, I used to tell people that, when I was first learning about it. I don't know where I got the idea, but that is not what total depravity means. For that reason, I would prefer not to use the term "total depravity" when speaking of man's sinful condition. In his book Chosen By God, R. C. Sproul prefers the phrase "radical corruption." I agree with R. C. in this regard. "Total Depravity" conveys some ideas that we probably shouldn't convey. True, man is depraved, but it's taking things too far to say that his depravity is total. There are several factors that keep man's depravity from being as total as it could be.
The first is the fact that man has been created in the image of God. Being in the image of God in and of itself puts some restraint on man's depravity. Further, even unregenerate man has the law of God written on his heart according to Romans 2:14-15. This, in and of itself is enough to restrain much of the sin in our hearts. Also, we must not forget the doctrine of common grace. In His common grace, for the good of mankind and the world He has created, God restrains evil in this world. Jonathan Edwards once spoke of such things when he commented on what a terrible world this would be if only Christians had the ability to love, if only Christians had the ability to care for their children and be good neighbors and things like this. In His common grace, God enables all men to do "civic good," for the good of civilization.
The above comments reflect a hobbyhorse of mine. I do think that Calvinists need to preface their remarks on the sinfulness of man by such considerations. I would also like to see those who design evangelistic tracts and programs to address these things. Often, the first thing a Calvinist wants to talk about is the sinfulness of man. The more hard bitten Calvinists seem to take a perverse glee in describing man in the most awful terms they can. And, evangelistic programs usually jump straight from God's wonderful plan for your life or something like that straight into man's sinfulness. In both cases, they are basically right, but they miss the import of what it means to be created in the image of God.
In my opinion, the sinfulness of man makes no sense apart from understanding man's creation in the image of God. It is our identity as image bearers that renders sin so sinful. Furthermore, sin is a parasite. Man was created upright, not sinful according to Ecclesiastes 7:29. Sin is not the essence of what it means to be human. The essence of being human is being an image bearer. To be human is to be made in the image of God. To be sinful is to be an aberration of being human.
With this as a backdrop we can understand the sinfulness of sin. The sinfulness of sin doesn't arise from our failure to be obey a divine law. Failure to obey divine laws are the evidence of sin, not the essence of sin. The sinfulness of sin isn't mere wrongdoing. An image of a king is a display of the glory of that king. This is why rulers, from time immemorial have placed statues and paintings of themselves all over their land. The image of the ruler is a manifestation of the glory of that ruler. The sinfulness of sin is found in exchanging the glory of the creator for the glory of the creature. When Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, this wasn't merely a failure to obey an order, it was a declaration of independence. We here in America know all about this - our declaration of independence was a declaration that King George would not rule over us. Adam and Eve's tasting of the fruit was a declaration that God would not rule over them. When they did this the image of God was defaced by the image of man. Think of someone taking a big wide black paint brush and swiping it across the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is still there, but you can't look at the Mona Lisa without seeing the black paint. Similarly, in man, the image of God is still there, but you can't see the image of God without seeing the sin that mars it. Man's nature was changed at the fall. At the fall, sin penetrated man's psyche with a desire for independence. This desire for independence became like food coloring - it permeates everything to which it applies. Thus, even when man does "civic good" there is still a motive of independence, or self-glorification.
Theologians speak of the fourfold state of man as follows:
1. The State of Innocence - in the garden before the fall. It was possible for man to sin, and possible for him to not sin.
2. The State of Fallenness - after the fall. It is not possible for man not to sin.
3. The State of Redemption - after regeneration. It is possible for man to sin and possible for man not to sin.
4. The State of Glorification - for the believer, after death. It will not be possible for man to sin.
When we speak of man's radical corruption we are speaking of man in his fallen state. Sin has corrupted every fiber of man's being, both soul and body. Also, in the state of regeneration sin is still present, though it has lost it's hold on us. This by the way is another reason I like Sproul's term "radical corruption" better than "total depravity." It is hard for me to envision a regenerate believer as "totally depraved," based on Romans 6 which speaks of our freedom from sin. God not only gives us the gift of justification, but He also gives us the gift of sanctification by which He, progressively, pushes back the depravity in our lives. On the other hand, the term "radical corruption," still works for the regenerate as a good term to describe the Romans 7 war with sin. But, I digress.
There is a particular emphasis that Calvinists speak of when talking about this subject, and that is man's ability to exercise saving faith. We acknowledge that man has the ability to exercise civic good, and we acknowledge that the law written on the heart restrains some of his sinful tendencies. But, in his fallen state, man will never will to believe savingly on Jesus Christ. This is where the water meets the wheel for the Calvinist. The Calvinist asks the question "apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, is it possible for man to believe savingly on Jesus Christ?" The Calvinist believes the Scripture answers "no" to that question. Here are a few direct Scripture references in that regard.
Genesis 6:5 - The Lord saw how great man?s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time
Psalm 14:1-3 - 1The fool says in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. 2The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. 3All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Ecclesiastes 7:20 - There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.
Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Romans 3:10-12 - 10 As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
There are a few metaphors in the Bible that deal with this:
Jeremiah 13:23 - Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
In this passage, we see that we have the same ability to transform our sinful hearts as a leopard has to change his spots.
Romans 6:16-18 - Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey? Whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. 17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Ephesians 2:1 - As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
Keeping the Romans and Ephesians passages in mind, the Calvinist would say that a slave doesn't obey his own will, he obeys the master's will. The master controls his will. Also, just as a physically dead person can't will himself to physical life, so a spiritually dead person can't will himself to spiritual life.
There are a couple of pushbacks that I have heard prominently mentioned in this regard. There is one that I only heard once, but it was so novel I thought I would share it with you. A friend of mine once said that Psalm 14 and Romans 3:10-12 were speaking hyperbolically. In other words, what was being conveyed here isn't that none seek after God but that most don't seek after God. I don't find that persuasive - there is nothing in the text or anywhere else in the bible that would suggest otherwise.
The second pushback is that sin has affected every part of man except for his will. There still remains within man an ability to choose God. This comes in two forms. One form is simply to say that the fall didn't destroy man's ability to believe savingly on Christ. The other way is to speak of prevenient grace. The prevenient grace view acknowledges that in the fall, man lost the ability to believe savingly, but the death and resurrection of Christ has the universal benefit of restoring to man the ability to believe. Those who hold the prevenient grace view aren't universalists and they don't believe that man will necessarily believe, but he becomes able to believe. My answer to both of those views would be to simply note that Paul is writing post fall and post resurrection. His metaphors of man as dead in sin and in slavery to sin apply to all men outside of Christ. His description of mankind as those for whom none seeks God applies to all men outside of Christ.
I would also point out that the view I am arguing against separates will and action to some degree. It assumes that we are depraved in that we can't do anything pleasing to God, yet we still have the ability to will in favor of belief in God. I submit that these folks don't grasp the biblical link between will and actions, or between heart and deed. Luke 6:43-45 speaks to this:
No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
Bad deeds spring from a bad heart. Or should I say that bad deeds are evident of a bad heart. It is no stretch of logic to equate a bad heart with a bad will. We violate the law of God because our will does not want to obey the law of God. But someone might say, "true, the heart may not will to obey the law of God, but it can will to believe savingly on Christ." Again, I ask you to consider Jesus' view of things. John 6:29 says:
Jesus answered, The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.
The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 . Zondervan: Grand Rapids
If we say that our sinfulness renders us unable to obey God, are we not saying that it renders us unable to do the works of God. And if our sinfulness renders us unable to do the works of God, does it not render us unable to do the one work that God requires - to believe in Jesus. There is another Scripture that helps us in this regard. I John 5:1 says:
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 . Good News Publishers: Wheaton
The English Standard Version is the only version of the Bible I know of that has translated that passage correctly. All of the other translations say something along the lines of "everyone who believes is born of God." The difference is in the words "has been" and "is." Those translations that render I John 5:1 with the word "is" suggest that belief and being born of God are simultaneous because both appear to be in a present tense. The ESV renders "everyone who believes" in a present tense, and "has been born" in a past tense. Just to prove I am not making this up to suit my theology I want to mention that the words here translated "has been" are in the perfect tense. Here are a couple of descriptions of the perfect tense from a Greek Grammar:
1. Intensive. Here the perfect should be translated with the full force of its perfect aspect, that is, emphasizing a state and assuming that a previous action has led to that state.
2. Culminative (Completed Action). While the intensive perfect focuses on the continuing results, the culminative looks at the past action or series of actions the results of which continue to the present.
Chapman, B. 1994. Greek New Testament Insert. (2nd ed., revised.). Stylus Publishing: Quakertown, PA
The important point to note here is that, whether we believe this is an intensive or culminative perfect, in both cases, the present state is a result of a past action. In I John 5:1, the state of belief is the present state, the past action is being born of God. Thus, being born of God precedes believingin Christ. I'll come back to this Scripture when I talk about the "I" in the TULIP - irresistible grace. But the point I am making here is to note, contrary to those who believe that man still has a natural ability to believe, that belief is the result of regeneration, it is not something that man has within him. So, this is where the TULIP begins, although, as I have said, I follow Sproul's terminology in thinking that "radical corruption" is a better term for describing man's sinfulness.
There are those who want to keep using the word "total" here and they speak of "total inability." I like that phrase just fine, as long as we keep in mind that this refers to a total inability to believe savingly in Christ. I still want to praise God for giving us a world where even unregenerate man is able to do civic good and I am quite thankful for many good neighbors that I have had over the years who don't share my evangelical faith, but have still been a great common grace blessing of God to me.
This post doesn't deal with all of the ins and outs of the subject of free will. Before I move on to talk about the second point of the TULIP I plan to do a post on this subject. For those who would like a few of my thoughts on that matter, here is a link to my post titled "Do the Reformed Believe in Free Will."
The rest of the Five Points of Calvinism
Part 1a - Total Depravity and Free Will
Part 2 - U - Unconditional Election
Part 3 - L - Limited Atonement
Part 4 - I - Irresistible Grace
Part 5 - P - Perseverance of the Saints
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