atpollard
Member
- Nov 30, 2016
- 1,920
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First we need to accurately define some terms:
ORIGINAL SIN: It is not, as some think, talking about the very first sin that Adam and Eve committed. The Church has historically talked about “the doctrine of Original Sin” and meant the consequences to the human race because of that first sin. In short, something happened at that first sin that has impacted the entire human race … we “fell” and our nature is now influenced by the power of evil. The issue of Original Sin is that we are not sinners because we sin, but rather, we sin because we are by nature sinners!
So now let’s discuss the “T” of TULIP: TOTAL DEPRAVITY
WHAT TOTAL DEPRAVITY IS NOT:
Total Depravity is not UTTER DEPRAVITY. Every human being is not as bad as they could possibly be. (Even Adolph Hitler probably loved his mother, so there is room for everyone to be more evil than they are.)
WHAT TOTAL DEPRAVITY IS:
Total Depravity means that the fall affects the whole man. The fallenness that corrupts our nature, affects our BODIES - so we become sick and we die. The fallenness that corrupts our nature, affects our MINDS - so our thoughts become what the Bible calls “darkened” and “weakened”. The fallenness that corrupts our nature, affects our WILL - according to Paul we are now in bondage and enslaved to the evil desires of our hearts. The fallenness that corrupts our nature, affects our SPIRIT - we are no longer born with that innate spiritual connection to God that Adam once had and which only Christ can restore. So the fall has corrupted our bodies, our minds, our will and our spirit … the WHOLE MAN is corrupted by the power of sin.
R.C. Sproul likes to call it “Radical Corruption” because the Latin origin for “radical” is the word “root”. It designates that the problem with man and sin is not something applied to the surface of us, but rather it is something that comes from the very core of us. The REFORMED view of fallen man is that our “sin problem” is something that originates in the very “core” or “heart” or “innermost” part of us. It is not shallow or superficial. It is not easily removed.
Thus no small adjustments from the outside can change a man. Salvation requires radical transformation beginning at the core of who we are. God must transform our heart before anything else is possible.
That is the essence of the Reformed doctrine of TOTAL DEPRAVITY.
(After I get some sleep, we can discuss whether or not Scripture actually teaches any of this … or if people just made it up out of whole cloth. For now, we at least have an understanding of what the term actually means.)
ORIGINAL SIN: It is not, as some think, talking about the very first sin that Adam and Eve committed. The Church has historically talked about “the doctrine of Original Sin” and meant the consequences to the human race because of that first sin. In short, something happened at that first sin that has impacted the entire human race … we “fell” and our nature is now influenced by the power of evil. The issue of Original Sin is that we are not sinners because we sin, but rather, we sin because we are by nature sinners!
So now let’s discuss the “T” of TULIP: TOTAL DEPRAVITY
WHAT TOTAL DEPRAVITY IS NOT:
Total Depravity is not UTTER DEPRAVITY. Every human being is not as bad as they could possibly be. (Even Adolph Hitler probably loved his mother, so there is room for everyone to be more evil than they are.)
WHAT TOTAL DEPRAVITY IS:
Total Depravity means that the fall affects the whole man. The fallenness that corrupts our nature, affects our BODIES - so we become sick and we die. The fallenness that corrupts our nature, affects our MINDS - so our thoughts become what the Bible calls “darkened” and “weakened”. The fallenness that corrupts our nature, affects our WILL - according to Paul we are now in bondage and enslaved to the evil desires of our hearts. The fallenness that corrupts our nature, affects our SPIRIT - we are no longer born with that innate spiritual connection to God that Adam once had and which only Christ can restore. So the fall has corrupted our bodies, our minds, our will and our spirit … the WHOLE MAN is corrupted by the power of sin.
R.C. Sproul likes to call it “Radical Corruption” because the Latin origin for “radical” is the word “root”. It designates that the problem with man and sin is not something applied to the surface of us, but rather it is something that comes from the very core of us. The REFORMED view of fallen man is that our “sin problem” is something that originates in the very “core” or “heart” or “innermost” part of us. It is not shallow or superficial. It is not easily removed.
Thus no small adjustments from the outside can change a man. Salvation requires radical transformation beginning at the core of who we are. God must transform our heart before anything else is possible.
That is the essence of the Reformed doctrine of TOTAL DEPRAVITY.
(After I get some sleep, we can discuss whether or not Scripture actually teaches any of this … or if people just made it up out of whole cloth. For now, we at least have an understanding of what the term actually means.)