The Doctrines of Grace (Part Four)

The Doctrines of Grace

(Part Four)

Dr. Jay Worth Allen

One of the saddest verses in all of scriptures is, Ephesians 2:12: “. . . . having no hope, and without God in the world,” is followed by one of the most joyful. “But now in Christ Jesus you who were once far off are made near by the blood of Christ.”

Every man, woman, and child, save the Lord Jesus Himself, is born in Total Depravity, “having no hope and without God in the world.” We are born corrupt and fallen; dead in trespasses and sins; justly deserving of the wrath and punishment of a Righteous and Holy God.

It is not my place to say who is the Lord’s and who isn’t - “Known unto the Lord are those that are His.” But in this day of inclusiveness, my desire is to know truth. The Total Depravity of man is one of the most basic Bible truths, and one which is very misunderstood. So before I set out to explain what Total Depravity is, let me first explain what it is not.

Total Depravity is not absolute depravity. The adjective, total, tends to presume that man is as corrupt and as evil as he can possibly be. But that’s not the purpose of the adjective. The adjective doesn’t establish the intensity of our Depravity, but rather it specifies its extent. Neither does it imply that we couldn’t sin to any greater degree than we already do. If you could plumb the depths of Evil in the human heart, you would find it a bottomless pit. There is no end to the evil man can and will do.

Total Depravity is not the absolute absence of Relative Good. Even in man’s fallen condition there are works which men call Good: bravery and sacrifice during wartime; paladins, who discover cures for catastrophic diseases, devote their life to feed the world’s hungry, etc. These works can, and are called Good in a relative sense, but not necessarily Good in a God sense.

Imagine, if you would, a run-of-the-mill neighborhood. One day a well dressed older gentleman moves into this quiet, family-oriented locale, sets up house and begins to blend in with his new surroundings. After a couple of months the neighborhood embraces the old guy. He seems virtuous and respectable. He’s extremely helpful to all his new neighbors. He’s nice to the neighborhood kids. He keeps a clean, well mowed lawn. He’s a really sweet, likable guy. So, everyone in the neighborhood speaks well of the old fellow. He’s well liked.

Late one summer evening, fifty commando type guys bust down the older gentleman’s front door. Guns cocked ready to fire. Blue lights flash on every corner of the neighborhood. Screeching bull-horns blast out commands. The neighbors see the older gentleman coming out of his house, head down, handcuffed, escorted by a group of well-armed Federal authorities. The old man is gingerly seated in a unmarked car and they drive away.

The neighbors are mystified. They all agree that no one had ever seen him do anything wrong. “That old man wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Later on that week the neighborhood folk see the old man’s face, full-framed, on the National News. They hear the newscaster describe the old man’s arrest and how, as an SS guard in one of Hitler’s death camps, he was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jewish and Christian men, women and children. The neighborhood is stunned. But why?

They’re stunned because of the old man’s Relative Goodness. But his relative goodness in the neighborhood won’t carry a lot of weight in the Israeli justice system. The Jewish courts won’t take into consideration the old man’s nice clean yard and how sweet he was to the children in the neighborhood. When the old man is judged, he will be judged against the backdrop of his heinous crimes committed against humanity during World War II, not the Relative Good he did in that quite suburban neighborhood.

The same is true in God’s justice system. The Relative Good we do in this life, when put against the back-drop of our sin and rebellion against a Holy and Righteous God, won’t carry a lot of weight in the justice system of Heaven’s Court. There is nothing Good enough in us that can satisfy God’s justice. There is nothing we can do, which will remove the stain of sin we were born into this world with. Our Relative Goodness may bring a moment of praise from our neighbors, but it will not satisfy a Holy and Righteous God. We are all born in Total Depravity, “having no hope and without God in the world” - which why we need another’s Righteousness. We need a Savior.

Total Depravity is only and always being at Enmity with God. We, in our natural state, are in the state of being actively opposed and hostile to God, and to all that He is. The entire race of Adam is fallen, and in our natural state we are dead in our trespasses and sins. Every part of our nature is corrupted, twisted and deformed because of Adam’s original sin - that is the total aspect of Total Depravity. We, as sinful mankind, of the race of Adam, are justly deserving of the wrath, punishment and judgment of the One, Righteous, Holy God. If not for the righteousness of Another, we’d all be condemned to eternal fire! But Christ has come!

The Righteousness of God is all that God demands. That righteousness is found in Christ Jesus alone, who fully met every requirement in our stead.

Next week we’ll look at, Unconditional Election.

(See chapter 7, “The Counsel Of His Own Will” in: A Brief History of Redemption by Dr. Jay Worth Allen.)

The Doctrines of Grace (Part Four)
Published: 9 January 2011 on Freed In Christ! blogsite.
Published: 20 January 2011 FAITH Column of The County Journal.

Link goes to A Brief History of Redemption

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