A concise study on the state of man
While often misunderstood, the doctrine of Total Depravity is an acknowledgement that the Bible teaches that as a result of the fall of man (Genesis 3:6) every part of man—his mind, will, emotions and flesh—have been corrupted by sin. In other words, sin affects all areas of our being including who we are and what we do. It penetrates to the very core of our being so that everything is tainted by sin and “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (a woman’s menstrual cloth) before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6). It acknowledges that the Bible teaches that we sin because we are sinners by nature. Or as Jesus says “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17-18).
1. The fall has resulted in spiritual death to all men.
Gen.2:16 - Gen.2:17 (NKJ)
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Romans.5:12 - Romans.5:12 (NKJ)
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned
Eph.2:1 - Eph.2:3 (NKJ)
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Col.2:13 - Col.2:13 (NKJ)
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
2. Fallen man is now blind and deaf to spiritual truth.
Gen.6:5 - Gen.6:5 (NKJ)
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen.8:21 - Gen.8:21 (NKJ)
21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
Ecc.9:3 - Ecc.9:3 (NKJ)
3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
Jer.17:9 - Jer.17:9 (NKJ)
9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
Mark.7:21 - Mark.7:23 (NKJ)
21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,22 "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.23 "All these evil things come from within and defile a man."
3. Fallen man is now under the control of Satan and in bondage to sin.
John.8:44 - John.8:44 (NKJ)
44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Eph.2:1 - Eph.2:2 (NKJ)
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
2Tim.2:25 - 2Tim.2:26 (NKJ)
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
1John.3:10 - 1John.3:10 (NKJ)
10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
1John.5:19 - 1John.5:19 (NKJ)
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
Rom.6:20 - Rom.6:20 (NKJ)
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Titus.3:3 - Titus.3:3 (NKJ)
3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
4. Fallen man, left in his dead state, is totally unable to repent, to believe the gospel, or to come to Christ.
John.6:44 - John.6:44 (NKJ)
44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. [Note: The word here translated draws is translated as drags in other passages, such as John 21:11, Acts 21:30, and Acts 16:19.]
John.6:65 - John.6:65 (NKJ)
65 And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."
Rom.3:9 - Rom.3:12 (NKJ)
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."
Then in the rest of this passage Paul quotes extensively from the Old Testament in explaining how sinful man really is. For example we see that:
1—no one is without sin,
2—no one seeks after God,
3—there is no one who is good,
4—their speech is corrupted by sin,
5—their actions are corrupted by sin,
6—and above all they have no fear of God. So when one considers even these few verses mentioned above it becomes abundantly clear the Bible does indeed teach that fallen man is “totally depraved” because sin affects all of him including his mind, will and emotions so that “There is none who does good, no not one” (Romans 3:12).
Rom.8:7 - Rom.8:8 (NKJ)
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
1Cor.2:14 - 1Cor.2:14 (NKJ)
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Key Quotations
1. Westminster Confession of Faith IX,3
Man by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.
Partts of this are taken from The Canons of Dort
While often misunderstood, the doctrine of Total Depravity is an acknowledgement that the Bible teaches that as a result of the fall of man (Genesis 3:6) every part of man—his mind, will, emotions and flesh—have been corrupted by sin. In other words, sin affects all areas of our being including who we are and what we do. It penetrates to the very core of our being so that everything is tainted by sin and “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (a woman’s menstrual cloth) before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6). It acknowledges that the Bible teaches that we sin because we are sinners by nature. Or as Jesus says “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17-18).
1. The fall has resulted in spiritual death to all men.
Gen.2:16 - Gen.2:17 (NKJ)
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;17 "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Romans.5:12 - Romans.5:12 (NKJ)
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned
Eph.2:1 - Eph.2:3 (NKJ)
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Col.2:13 - Col.2:13 (NKJ)
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
2. Fallen man is now blind and deaf to spiritual truth.
Gen.6:5 - Gen.6:5 (NKJ)
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen.8:21 - Gen.8:21 (NKJ)
21 And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.
Ecc.9:3 - Ecc.9:3 (NKJ)
3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
Jer.17:9 - Jer.17:9 (NKJ)
9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
Mark.7:21 - Mark.7:23 (NKJ)
21 "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,22 "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.23 "All these evil things come from within and defile a man."
3. Fallen man is now under the control of Satan and in bondage to sin.
John.8:44 - John.8:44 (NKJ)
44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Eph.2:1 - Eph.2:2 (NKJ)
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
2Tim.2:25 - 2Tim.2:26 (NKJ)
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
1John.3:10 - 1John.3:10 (NKJ)
10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
1John.5:19 - 1John.5:19 (NKJ)
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
Rom.6:20 - Rom.6:20 (NKJ)
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
Titus.3:3 - Titus.3:3 (NKJ)
3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
4. Fallen man, left in his dead state, is totally unable to repent, to believe the gospel, or to come to Christ.
John.6:44 - John.6:44 (NKJ)
44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. [Note: The word here translated draws is translated as drags in other passages, such as John 21:11, Acts 21:30, and Acts 16:19.]
John.6:65 - John.6:65 (NKJ)
65 And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."
Rom.3:9 - Rom.3:12 (NKJ)
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."
Then in the rest of this passage Paul quotes extensively from the Old Testament in explaining how sinful man really is. For example we see that:
1—no one is without sin,
2—no one seeks after God,
3—there is no one who is good,
4—their speech is corrupted by sin,
5—their actions are corrupted by sin,
6—and above all they have no fear of God. So when one considers even these few verses mentioned above it becomes abundantly clear the Bible does indeed teach that fallen man is “totally depraved” because sin affects all of him including his mind, will and emotions so that “There is none who does good, no not one” (Romans 3:12).
Rom.8:7 - Rom.8:8 (NKJ)
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
1Cor.2:14 - 1Cor.2:14 (NKJ)
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Key Quotations
1. Westminster Confession of Faith IX,3
Man by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.
Partts of this are taken from The Canons of Dort
