What is total depravity or hereditary depravity?
“Total”
means “constituting or comprising the whole; entire; whole”
“Hereditary” means
“passing, or capable of passing, naturally from parent to offspring”
“Depravity” means “the
state of being depraved (which is, morally bad or evil)”
Negatively:
Total hereditary depravity does not mean every
person is as wicked and sinful as he could be.[i]
There are problems of opportunity, means, and time, as well as outward
restraints that prevent achieving all the wickedness that is in the heart –
law, fear of punishment, the desire for the approval of others, for example.
Positively:
Total hereditary depravity refers specifically to
the nature of the person, rather than to their deeds. Every aspect of a person –
the total person – is affected by the depravity that has been inherited. Every
part of man is wicked, depraved, or corrupted by sin – his body, mind, will,
and spirit – therefore, all that he is.
As a consequence of Adam’s disobedience to God’s
command (Genesis
2:16-17) and his subsequent separation from God (Genesis
3), the whole number of his descendants have the characteristic from
birth of being one that sins. Depravity is inherited, universal, and
comprehensive, for 1) it derives from our first father, Adam; 2) all are depraved, and 3) the depravity
of all is total. This doctrine is related to but not the same as “total
inability.” Total inability emphasizes man’s innate incapacity to do good,
specifically unable to “come to God.”
Depraved man has both the inability to do good and the propensity to do evil.
There are many
verses in the Bible that present the concept of total
depravity. On the other hand, many advocates of innate goodness will
rise to contradict them.[ii] Malcolm
Muggeridge wrote, “The depravity of the human heart is at once the
most empirically verifiable fact and at the same time the most intellectually
resisted.” Rather than discuss today the multitude of verses that support total
depravity,[iii]
I rather consider four clear and indisputable biblical principles that support
inherited depravity.
The universality of sin and death. It is clear
throughout scripture, as well as empirically observable, that sin and death are
universal and connected. “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that
the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Galatians
3:22). “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth
not” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). When Jesus, “He that is without sin among you, let him
first cast a stone at her” he had no worries that some innately sinless person
might be present to throw a stone! (See John
8:7.) All have sinned. The wages of sin is death. (Cf. Romans
3:23, Romans
6:23.)[iv]
The helplessness of man. “There is a way which
seemeth right unto a man,” but the end of man’s way concludes in death (Proverbs
14:12). He is helpless, “without strength” (Romans 5:6). “No man can come to
me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at
the last day” (John 6:44). Whatever one thinks about the statement in John
6:44, it remains at the least that man is helpless, without ability, unless God
does something for him – “draw him.”
The uniqueness of Jesus Christ. The sinlessness of
Jesus stands in contradistinction to the whole of mankind. He “was in all
points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). “In him is no
sin” (1 John 3:5) Jesus alone is without sin. See also 1
Peter 1:18-19. His life is unique. His death is distinct. His
resurrection is unparalleled.
The way of salvation by God alone. Whosoever
commits sin is in bondage to sin. Jesus came to set free those enslaved in sin
(John
8:34-36). “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6). In Jesus Christ is salvation, and “Neither is
there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The necessity and
universality of salvation is sourced in God! This salvation with glory in the
grace God, not in the goodness of man: “that no flesh should glory in his
presence” (1 Corinthians 1:29-31).[v]
Depravity is displayed in the universality of sin and
death. There is no discharge in this war! Depravity is displayed in man’s
hopelessness. Depravity is displayed in man’s helplessness. His condition is
hopeless; he is without strength. Depravity is displayed in man’s inability to
seek God to do good, seek God. Depravity is displayed in Jesus’s life, death,
and resurrection all definitely determined for the salvation.
This hymn stanza captures the wonder of the gulf
between God and man:
And from my smitten heart with tears
Two wonders I confess –
The wonder of redeeming love
And my unworthiness.[vi]
On this subject hangs the very nature of man, the
nature of his need, and the nature of his remedy. If we cannot determine the
sickness, how can we determine the cure? The proper biblical understanding of
the total depravity of the human heart is a potent corrective. God’s straight
arrow of total hereditary depravity shot into the heart drives man away from
self and to a despair whose only relief is found in a merciful God.
A Debate on Depravity (four links)
- Debate On Inherited Sin, First Affirmative
- Debate On Inherited Sin, First Negative
- Debate On Inherited Sin, Second Affirmative
- Debate On Inherited Sin, Second Negative
[i] I like the terms “relative
good” or “comparative good.” Although an individual may be unregenerate and all
of his or her righteousnesses are filthy rags in God's sight, humanly speaking there are degrees up
and down the scale – “relative good,” so that we wouldn’t say our sister should
as soon marry a mass murderer as a generally kindly man who sometimes loses his
temper.
[ii] The
inherited depravity/innate goodness debate is often framed in favor of innate
goodness – as either/or, as if free agency necessarily negates depravity: “Does
the Bible teach that babies are born guilty of original sin and total
hereditary (inherited) depravity? Or does the Bible teach free moral agency and
individual responsibility and accountability?”
[iii] Genesis
6:5, Genesis
8:21, Job
14:4, Job
15:14-16, Psalm
14:1-3, Psalm
51:5, Psalm
58:3, Isaiah
64:6, Jeremiah
4:22, Jeremiah
13:23, Jeremiah
17:9-10, Ezekiel
36:25-27, Matthew
15:19, Matthew
19:17 , Mark
7:20-23, John
3:3-5, Romans
1:28-32, Romans
3:9-19, Romans
3:23, Romans
5:12, Romans
6:18-20, Romans
6:23, Romans
8:7-8, 1
Corinthians 2:14, 1
Corinthians 15:22, 1
Corinthians 15:49, Galatians
5:17, Ephesians
2:3, Ephesians
2:5, Colossians
1:21-22, Colossians
2:13, Titus
3:3, Hebrews
2:14-15, James
1:14-15, 1
John 1:8
[iv] Genesis
2:17: death is physical (separation of body and soul) and spiritual
(separation of man from God). Man has animate physical life -- until the
separation of body and soul (James
2:26), but there is no spiritual life in him whatsoever (Ephesians
2:1).
[v]
Nearly sinless is not good enough: James
2:10.
