Systematic Theology - Sin

Total Depravity

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Systematic Theology

Lesson: Government

Genre: Speech

Track: 03

Dictation Name: 03 Total Depravity

Year: 1960’s – 1970’s

Almighty God our heavenly Father, we thank Thee as we face the wrath of the enemy, that we have the sure and certain knowledge that thou art on the throne, and that the government is upon Thy shoulders. Do thou in Thy grace and mercy oh Lord, give wisdom unto thy people, courage, and a willingness to work; so that we may prevail against the enemy, and be more than conquerors through Jesus Christ our Lord. In His name we pray, amen.

We began last month out studies in the Biblical doctrine of sin. It is important for us to understand this, because sin is a problem that none of us can escape. We started by analyzing, and we will continue to study the implications of Genesis 3:1-5. We have there the temptation which is at the heart of original sin: Ye shall be as God, every man his own God; knowing, that is, determining for yourself what constitutes good and evil.

Now, one of the basic aspects of the doctrine of sin is the assertion of the total depravity of man; and few doctrines are more misunderstood than this particular doctrine. What does total depravity mean? Does it mean that there is no good thing in any unregenerate man, that no unregenerate man is ever capable of doing a good thing? Well, Calvin is commonly said to have taught such a doctrine, but not even Calvin held that opinion, because he writes, and I will quote what Calvin says:

“In the first place, I do not deny that whatever excellence appears in unbelievers, that they are the gifts of God. I am not so at variance with common opinion of mankind as to contend that there is no difference between the justice, moderation, and equity of Titus or Trajan, and the rage, intemperance, and cruelty of Caligula, or Nero, or Domitian; between the obscenities of Tiberius and the continence of Vespasian; and not to dwell on particular virtues or vices between the observance or contempt of moral obligation and positive laws. For so great is the difference between just and unjust, that it is visible even in the lifeless image of it. For what order would be left in the world if these opposites be confounded together?

Such a distinction as this therefore between virtuous and vicious actions has not only been engraven by the Lord in the heart of every man, but it has also been frequently confirmed by His providential dispensations. We see how he confers many blessings of the present life on those who practice virtue among men; not that this external resemblance of virtue merits the least favor from Him, but He is pleased to discover His great esteem of true righteousness, by not permitting that which is external and hypocritical to remain without a temporal reward.

Whence it follows, as we have just acknowledged, that these virtues, whatever they may be; or rather, images of virtues; are the gifts of God, since there is nothing in any respect laudable which does not proceed from Him.”

Now, to put that in very simple terms, what Calvin said is, first, that there is virtue present in many unbelievers in this life; so that it would be wrong to deny that there is development and decay in this world. Second, he says that the good that the ungodly do is because they have the image of God in them; or it is because God in His grace and mercy has chosen to use even the ungodly at times to do His will. Third, Calvin said, while no man’s virtues or good works have any claim on God, all the same He does reward the believer and the unbeliever for their virtues, even when sometime those virtues in the ungodly are hypocritical. And Fourth, he says, to deny these things would be to deny order in the world.

Now, what the doctrine of total depravity means, not that man the sinner, the unregenerate is totally incapable of doing any good, but that every aspect of his being is polluted, it is tainted by sin. So that, his mind, his emotions, his body, his soul, his feelings, everything is infected by the fall.

As a result, what we must say is that man in all his being is infected by the fall, and therefore manifests in one way or another the fact of sin.

Thomism and Arminianism hold that man is fallen, except for his reason; and that his reason is still exactly as it was under Adam. Now, if this doctrine that reason is not fallen, not affected by the fall were true, it would mean that men would be saved through philosophy, through reasoning, rather than through the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives. But we cannot believe that. It is a miracle of grace that man listens; his reason is as effected by the fall, by sin, as anything else in his being. The Bible says emphatically that both the heart and the understanding of fallen man are darkened.

Romans 1:21 says: “Because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened.” Ephesians 4:17-18 “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:”

Now, we have to face a practical question. How does total depravity operate in our heart? How does sin operate? One of the easiest things for us to do is to see sin in other people. Ask any husband or wife. We can recognize sin in our wife or our husband with such ease, and in our neighbor and our relatives, and in our friends; the trouble is to see it in our own lives. Our salvation requires that we understand the full meaning of sin, and what salvation means.

Now, if we are walking out in the dark, and somebody catches us just as we are falling down into a six-foot pit, with sandy sides that are hard to get out of, we are going to be grateful. But we will be twice as grateful if we know that pit is full of deadly rattlers or man-eating crocodiles, you see. It makes all the difference if we know what we are being saved from.

So, if our view of sin is not a serious one, we are not going to appreciate fully what our salvation means. If we realize what the fullest extent of sin in our lives, then we will also realize the meaning of God’s grace.

Thus we must know what we are saved from, and also what we are saved for.

Genesis 3:5 gives us the religion, the faith of fallen man. We shall be as God, every man his own God, knowing, that is, determining for yourself what constitutes good and evil. For the fallen man, for man the sinner, life is good if I have what I want. If I have the money I want, the husband or the wife, the children, the prestige, the position, you name it; what is it we want? If we have that we say that we are happy and life is good. But life for us as sinners is evil, if we are frustrated in our desire to realize any of those things. So we judge life not in terms of what scripture says, but in terms of what our sinful heart wants.

Thus, saddens and grieves or makes unhappy most people is not sin, but failure to realize their sin. This is what makes people unhappy; failure to realize their sin. Sin gives a false center to our lives. To be a Christian means to have a new center to our lives, Jesus Christ; so that we live not for ourselves, but for the Lord. But sin says: “I am the center.” And too often the Christian carries that demand for a false center into his faith. Most of the grief’s and the problems which necessitate pastoral care and pastoral counseling are not caused by sin, but by the failure of people to attain their sin.

Sometimes it is sin that causes problems. But most people who are unhappy and go to a pastor for counseling are people who have not gotten their way with sin. And what they say in so many words is this: “Well, I have been a good Christian for so many years. Why doesn’t God give me what I am asking for? I am not asking for much.” And very often they are not asking for much when it comes to the quantity, but they are asking for everything. Because they are saying: ‘life should be determined by what I want. And God should move to give me what I want because I have become a Christian, and that is the be-all and end-all of what I feel I am entitled to.’ So, what we may be asking of the Lord may be very modest, maybe it is just a little more money in the paycheck, or a husband or a wife, or a son, or a chance to go and visit some loved ones across the country, but the principal is totally immodest and proud; because we say: “It is my will that must be done, and I am going to judge the goodness of God in terms of: does he give me what I am asking for?”

The whole point of regeneration and sanctification is that a new center is created in our lives, and that new center is what we must work to develop. But too often we like that old center, and we say: “Oh Lord, I am a Christian now, Thy will be done, except; give me my will too in the process. Give me what I want, and I will be happy, and I will do what you want me to do.”

But Paul says: “Therefore if any man be with Christ, he is a new creature,” (or a new creation) “Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:7. And again Paul says: “I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20.

You see, Paul makes a difference between the old center and the new center; the old man and the new man, and the new man is Jesus Christ; the old man is Adam. The old man says: “My will be done” and the new man says: “Thy will be done, oh Lord.”

Even when out demands of God may be morally sound, they can be wrong if we go at them the wrong way. There is nothing wrong, and a great deal of good, in praying for example to have a son. But it is a sin when we place our relationship to God on our will, when we say: “Lord if I don’t get what I want, I am going to sulk. Boy, you are going to see the biggest sulk you have ever seen, and every time I come to pray I am going to whine and cry until you are sorry. We are going to act like spoiled children, who when they don’t get what they want they stand around and nag, and sulk, and whine. And a great many people do that as they approach God in prayer.

Now, there is no sin in wanting something better; a better house, a better income, and so on. But there is a sin in discontentment. Paul says in 1st Timothy 6:6 “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Contentment means not asking for anything, no; it is asking, yes, but being content with the will of God. Of resting, trusting, in what He disposes. So that we take to God our every want and wish, all our needs, but we recognize the priority of Gods will. It does not mean a lack of initiative, it does mean we recognize the Lord to be supreme; His government as best for us. And we rest in Him as our Sabbath and our peace.

The alternative to contentment is misery. The alternative to growth is discontent; and discontentment is a poison which kills the joy of life. Moreover, while discontent is bad in believer and unbeliever, it is especially bad in the believer because the Lord through the Spirit gives him a very bad conscience because of it. We are reminded continually by our conscience when we are discontented as to how ungracious and ungrateful we are.

You see, if we fail to recognize total depravity and its consequences, and the fact that it creates in the unregenerate a false center, and the believer has to have a new center in his life, then we do go astray. Failure to recognize total depravity pollutes personal lives, and it pollutes a society. Today, so much of all the high sounding and noble phrases in politics have one purpose, to cultivate in man a false center; to get the average citizen to believe that the whole world should gratify him, and that there is something wrong with this country if everybody doesn’t get what they want.

The result of that type of appeal is social corruption. Moreover, when we have a false center we destroy everything we enter into. All too many people marry for ego-gratification. It pleases them to have someone to love them and to look after them, and to treat them as the center of the universe. But that is not Godly. Husband and wife together are to serve God, and Christ is to be the center of the family. Total depravity, sin, the false center, destroys communication. Have you ever sat in a group of people, and everybody is eager to talk, and what are they eager to talk about? Themselves. So they are just taking turns expressing their own ego, there is no communication. Conversation then becomes autobiography.

But we are told the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. This means that God is the center of our lives. One of the problems we have today is that we have 50-55 million people who profess to be born again, but not very many of them have the new center Jesus Christ, and therefore their lives count for very little or nothing. And therefore they are not the salt which helps preserve the world from corruption.

The subject of sin is a very important one. We need to recognize its power in our lives, and to place our trust in Jesus Christ, the new man, the new center within us.

Are there any questions now, after the questions we will have a brief break and then go on with our second study of the evening.

No questions? Well, we will take a 5-10 minute break at this time.