Total Depravity is probably the most misunderstood tenet of Christianity. When Christians speak of humans as "totally depraved," they are making an extensive, rather than an intensive statement. The effect of the fall upon man is that sin has extended to every part of his personality -- his thinking, his emotions, and his will. Not necessarily that he is intensely sinful, but that sin has extended to his entire being. The unregenerate (unsaved) man is dead in his sins.
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Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:… (KJV)
Without the power of the Holy Spirit, the natural man is blind and deaf to the message of the gospel. This is why Total Depravity has also been called "Total Inability." The man without a knowledge of God will never come to this knowledge without God's making him alive through Christ.
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Eph 2:1-7 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 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: 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. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (KJV)
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Joh 1:6-11 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (KJV)
Joh 1:6-14 - John the Baptist came to bear witness concerning Jesus. Nothing more fully shows the darkness of men's minds, than that when the Light had appeared, there needed a witness to call attention to it. Christ was the true Light; that great Light which deserves to be called so. By his Spirit and grace he enlightens all that are enlightened to salvation; and those that are not enlightened by him, perish in darkness. Christ was in the world when he took our nature upon him, and dwelt among us. Many say that they are Christ's own, yet do not receive him, because they will not part with their sins, nor have him to reign over them. All the children of God are born again. This new birth is through the word of God as the means, and by the Spirit of God as the Author. By his Divine presence Christ always was in the world. But now that the fullness of time was come, he was, after another manner, God manifested in the flesh. (Matthew Henry)
Why did they reject him? Because they did not know him. Sin is a two edged sword; It both renders the flesh dead AS WELL AS the spirit. It creates death in all who commit it, which is all of mankind.
We read in John Calvin's Institutes,
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“The recesses in which concupiscence lies hid are so deep and tortuous that they easily elude our view; and hence the Apostle had good reason for saying, "I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." For, if it be not brought forth from its lurking places, it miserably destroys in secret before its fatal sting is discerned. Thus the Law is a kind of mirror. As in a mirror we discover any stains upon our face, so in the Law we behold, first, our impotence; then, in consequence of it, our iniquity; and, finally, the curse, as the consequence of both.” (II.vii.5-7a).
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Gen 3:8-13 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. (KJV)
What is fallen man's solution to the approach of the Judge? He retains his pride and self-reliance and runs from God. He looks away from judgment and instead would use his fig leaf religion to try to deny the fact of judgment. The irony here is that man's self-salvation is his self-damnation. What he does to save himself - to run from God, is the essence of the very wrath he is trying to avoid! Hell is "away from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thes. 1:9). To save himself, he separates from God, but separation from God is the essence of death, the substance of hell. He shows that he actually wants and deserves death! He complains about his circumstances and his emotional discomfort. His solution? Remove God. Suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Exclude God from his thoughts. Discard His law. Ignore sin. He is not a pitiable victim, but a criminal who hates God!
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Joh 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day." (New American Standard Bible)
Joh 6:44 - Except the Father draw him (ean mh elkush auton). Negative condition of third class with ean mh and first aorist active subjunctive of elkuw, older form elkw, to drag like a net (Joh_21:6), or sword (Joh_18:10), or men (Act_16:19), to draw by moral power (Joh_12:32), as in Jer_31:3. Surw, the other word to drag (Act_8:3; Act_14:19) is not used of Christ's drawing power. The same point is repeated in verse Joh_6:65. The approach of the soul to God is initiated by God, the other side of verse Joh_6:37. See Rom_8:7 for the same doctrine and use of oude dunatai like oudeiv dunatai here. (Robertson’s Word Pictures)
A man is in a box. The box is completely enclosed. The box has no light in it. The box is sound proof. The box has no windows or doors. This man lives in “his” box. The man lives in total darkness. Nothing from the outside gets in and nothing inside gets out. Now in this box this man makes all his own decisions based on the knowledge of the things in “his” box, or from his “nature”.
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1Cor 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (KJV)
The man above is one who is dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1). The man is blind to the things in the outside world (2 Cor 4:4). Unredeemed man loves darkness rather than light (John 1:4-9) for this is all he really knows, for this is all that is in his box. Though light appears all around his sin nature he will not comprehend it (John 1:5). As Christ demonstrated by His many healing miracles, man, because of his sin nature, is blind, deaf, crippled, speechless, diseased, and is even dead. Until God alone heals this inability of the soul of man he will remain in this condition. Man needs the Great Physician. God cannot in this be judged that He is unjust because He does not save them, for the man is free and is making his own decisions in his own box and he chooses not Christ: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). The natural man is in “his” box. Nothing comes in or goes out. His own sin has enclosed him. He is dead to all God has and makes his decision freely, based upon his own darkness, but will never freely choose Christ, for Christ is not in his box (Rom 3:11).
We believe that all are sinners (Romans 3:23) and unable by human performance to earn, deserve, or merit salvation (Titus 3:5). We believe that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and that apart from God's grace, no one can be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). We believe that none are righteous, or capable of doing good (Romans 3:10-12), and that apart from the conviction and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, none can be saved (John 1:12-13; 16:8-11; I Peter 1:23-25). Mankind is clearly fallen and lost in sin.
