Dismantling Total Depravity

“I was born that way.” “We have a sinful nature.” You have likely heard these expressions or something like them from someone who teaches the concept of original sin. They practice their presentations and will put out so many verses to present a false doctrine that has been the cornerstone of many religious bodies (i.e. Reformed Theology and the like). I do not want to paint with such a broad brush because many people who are Calvinists do not know they hold to an error that was organized in the 15th century and its very basic origins in Augustine in the fourth and fifth centuries. Over the next few weeks, I will aim to write on the five points of Calvinism, sometimes called by the acronym T.U.L.I.P. We shall begin with T for Total Hereditary Depravity.

This erroneous doctrine teaches that man is born with the inherited sin of Adam. Thus, every human born of the seed of Adam is born totally depraved, he is sinful from his first cry, and there is nothing that he can do about it. He has no choice in the matter according to those who believe this doctrine. What does the Bible say about this? First of all, not that. The Word of God rather says that man is created good (Gen 1:27, 31). Ecclesiastes 7:29 reads, “Behold, this only have I found: that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” If God makes man upright, how can he be born totally depraved? One might make reference to Romans 5:12-21. That entire passage hinges on verse 12 and it states, “Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned:” Did you catch that last part. For that all sinned. Sin entered the world through the sin of Adam (and Eve) in the garden. They committed the sin, which as God had said before, would bring death into the world (2:17). Paul also said all have sinned and that the wages of that action of sinning is death (Romans 3:23; 6:23) Paul could have said all have inherited Adam’s sin and fallen short of the glory of God, but he did not. What he said was, through Adam’s sin, sin entered the world and death through sin; it was not the sin but the consequence of sin (death) that is passed to man. All men will die as a result of Adam’s sin, but all men are condemned by their own willful sin. This can be no clearer than when we look at Ezekiel 18.

At this time there was a false doctrine in the form of the proverb going around Israel that is stated in Ezekiel 18:2, “What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?” If you read through this passage, Jehovah defends Himself against the idea, that the children should suffer for the sins of the father. That is out of character of God, it is unjust, and it is a direct contradiction of the free will that God has clearly given to all men. God made it plain in Ezekiel 18:20, Eze 18:20 “The soul that sinneth, it shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” The Lord made it plain just as He made it plain in Romans 5:12. The only people that seem to have a problem understanding this are those who are trying to prove God to be a maniacal dictator. They also have trouble with the fact that this view is a contradiction to the Word of God. Not just in these passages, but in a variety of others.

Grace and Peace.

R.D. Beavers

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