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How Dead Is Dead?
A Look At The Bible Doctrine "Total Depravity"
Let's start out at the beginning, in the book of Genesis:
Genesis 2:16 - "And the LORD God
commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die."
OK. So we know from the rest of the story of Adam and Eve that they ate the
"forbidden fruit" and yet did not physically die. So does that mean that God
lied to Adam in Genesis 2:17? Not quite, because what happened was that
Adam and Even spiritually died... fellowship with God was broken and their minds
were darkened along with the minds of all their offspring:
Romans
8:5 - "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh;
but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be
carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7
Because the carnal mind is enmity [at war] against God: for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh
cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so
be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his."
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We see in John
Gill's Commentary Of The Bible a description of this passage in Romans
chapter 8 that examines the depth and scope of the depravity of man and
the degree of his rebellion against his Creator:
Romans 8, verse
7:
"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God":
These words contain a reason why the issue of carnal mindedness
is death; because the carnal mind, the wisdom of the flesh, is not only
an enemy, but enmity itself against God: against his being; it reasons
against it; it wishes he
was not; it forms unworthy notions of him; thinks him such an one as
itself; and endeavours to
bury him in forgetfulness, and erase out of its mind all memorials of
him: it is at enmity against his perfections; either denying his
omniscience; or arraigning his justice and faithfulness; or despising
his goodness, and abusing his grace and mercy: it finds fault with, and
abhors his decrees and purposes; quarrels with his providences; it is
implacable against his word and Gospel;
especially the particular doctrines of grace, the
Father’s grace in election, the Son’s in redemption, and the Spirit’s in
regeneration; and has in the utmost contempt the ordinances and people
of Christ. This enmity is universal, it is in all men in unregeneracy,
either direct or indirect, hidden or more open; it is undeserved; it is
natural and deeply rooted in the mind, and irreconcilable without the
power and grace of God. It shows itself in an estrangedness [separation] from God; in
holding friendship with the world, in harbouring the professed enemies
of God, in living under the government of sin and Satan;
in hating what
God loves, and in loving what God hates;
in omitting what God commands,
and committing what he forbids;
it manifests itself in their
language, and throughout the whole of their conversations.
"For it is not subject to the law of God":
The carnal mind is so far from an obedient subjection to
the law, that ... it
hates and despises it, thwarts and contradicts it in every instance
... which fully proves the enmity
of the carnal mind against God; for hereby his [God's] being is tacitly denied,
his sovereignty disputed, his image defaced, his government withdrawn
from, and these persons are declared, and declare themselves enemies to
him.
"neither indeed can be":
without regenerating grace, without the power and Spirit of God, unless
it is written upon the heart by the finger of God;
for carnal men are dead
in sin, and so without
strength to obey the law; and besides, the carnal mind, and the law of
God, are directly contrary one to another.
Where is man’s power and
free will? no wonder the
carnal mind does not stoop to the Gospel of Christ, when it is not, and
cannot be subject to the law of God. Hence we see the necessity of
almighty power, and efficacious grace in conversion. It is Christ’s work
to subject men to the law, and which is done when he justifies by his
righteousness.
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Romans 5:6 - "For when we
were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
John 3:19 - "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil."
The Arminian (free-will) preacher would have you believe that somehow, these
people who love darkness rather than light, who are at war with God - in that
state, in that spiritual condition - can and will turn to Christ for salvation.
Isn't that amazing! Won't God be so proud of them! How much better they
must be than all others who continue to reject Christ! Surely they have a
great deal to boast about in themselves, do they not?
Next, in Ephesians chapter 2 we see clear statements about the spiritual
deadness of the unregenerated soul:
Ephesians 2:1 - "And you hath
he quickened [made alive], who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even
as others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,
(by grace ye are saved;)"
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OK, so what exactly does it mean to
be spiritually dead? Well let's take a look. John
Gill's Commentary on Ephesians 2 verse
1 sheds quite a bit of light on this subject:
"who were dead in trespasses and sins": not only
dead in Adam, in whom they sinned, being their federal head and
representative; and in a legal sense, the sentence of condemnation and
death having passed upon them; but in a moral sense, through original
sin,
and their own actual transgressions:
which death lies in a separation from God, Father, Son, and Spirit,
such are dead as to their understandings, wills, and affections,
with respect to spiritual things, and as to their capacity to do any
thing that is spiritually good;
and in a loss of original righteousness; ,,, and in a servitude to sin,
Satan, and the world: hence it appears, that man must be in himself
unacceptable to God, infectious and hurtful to his fellow creatures, and
incapable of helping himself.
Ephesians 2 verse 5:
"Hath quickened us together with Christ": which may be understood
either of regeneration, when a soul that is dead in a moral or spiritual
sense, is quickened and made alive; ... they can feel the load and weight of sin; see their lost
state and condition, the odiousness [extreme offensiveness] of sin, and the beauty of a Saviour,
the insufficiency of their own righteousness, and the fulness and
suitableness of Christ’s;
... for previous to it [this new
birth] they are dead, and in this quickening work are entirely passive; nor can
regenerate persons quicken themselves, when in dead and lifeless frames,
and much less unregenerate sinners; but this is God’s act,
the act of God the Father; though not exclusive of the Son, who quickens
whom he will; nor of the Spirit, who is the Spirit of life from Christ;
... men are dead in a legal sense, and on account of sin, are under the
sentence of death; though they naturally think themselves alive, and in
a good state; but when the Spirit of God comes, he strikes dead all
their hopes of life by a covenant of works; ... by showing the ... exceeding sinfulness of sin; and how incapable they are
of satisfying the law; ... and then he works faith in them, whereby they
revive and live; they see pardon and righteousness in Christ,
How do we know whether or not John Gill
was too harsh in his descriptions of the condition of those that are
spiritually dead? Well, we have God's word to confirm Gill's
assessment:
Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know
it?"
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Romans 9:33 - "As it is written,
Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and
whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
The offense of the Gospel, even to
many people who consider themselves "Born-Again" and "Bible Believers", is that unsaved man does not have a free-will to accept Christ.
He is spiritually dead, not just wounded. He is not drowning and just
needs to reach out and grab the life-preserver. He is dead at the bottom
of the sea, needing God to reach down and pull him out of the depths and restore
life unto his lifeless corpse.
Driver-seat salvation Ever since
the Garden Of Eden, man has wanted to "be like God" and to have control over his
own destiny. And so along came the free-will gospel, allowing the sinner to
get himself saved anytime he pleased, ignoring the many biblical declarations
that man is at God's mercy, completely and totally...
Romans 9:18 - "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he
will he hardeneth."
Ray Kane
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