Total Inability

Although this post is primarily going to be a presentation of the gospel, I am also going to focus on the doctrine of total depravity. I titled this post Total Inability because I think it conveys more clearly what the Bible teaches concerning our fallen condition than calling it Total Depravity although the term Total Depravity is used more commonly when dealing with the subject. I am speaking concerning that part of scripture which shows us plainly that apart from a sovereign work of God in the life of a sinner, no one can be born again. This is because we are born in sin and naturally incapable of coming to God of our own accord since we don't desire Him apart from His grace. You could think of it this way, imagine a crippled man who cannot walk. This man is trying to get to a doctor on foot but of course this is impossible because he cannot walk. Now a certain doctor sees his predicament and decides to help him because his condition is curable but this physician is the only one who has the cure. Instead of the man coming to the doctor, the doctor comes to him. The man has to give the doctor permission to perform the operation, but of course he wants to be well so he allows him to perform the procedure. This is how we are in regard to salvation. Some people say that they found the Lord, but really it was Him Who found us. Just as a baby cannot make itself be born, we cannot make ourselves be born again. The Bible tells us that faith comes from God and it also says that every man is given a measure of faith. Although everyone has some faith, since we don't desire God, without God's grace we will not place our faith in Christ to save us. It is a sovereign work of the Spirit of God when someone is truly born again. And faith necessarily follows this being born again or this regeneration by the Holy Spirit because if our faith was what initiated regeneration, then we would be able to bring about our own regeneration. This cannot be the case because scripture tells us plainly that regeneration is God's work and not ours. We simply receive the work that is done in us.

This point is illustrated clearly in John chapter 3.

Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
John 3:5-8 NIV

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You can't control the wind, and you don't know where it's going to blow next. This illustrates the sovereingty of God in regard to the process of regeneration.

It is our faith that justifies us. We are made righteous through faith. Through faith we receive the righteousness of God in Christ. It is not through works of our own that we have done but through the finished work of the cross. This faith is the first effect of regeneration.

Now getting back to our total inability:

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way.
Isaiah 53:6a NIV

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Isaiah 64:6 NIV

As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."
"Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."
"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Romans 3:10-18 NIV

These three scriptures show us that everyone who is born into the world is under the same curse; namely that we have all gone astray and there is no one righteous. This is also what the Bible calls the sinful nature. Our nature as people is that we are sinners. We don't just do bad things. We are bad.

Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
John 3:20-21 NIV

Here we can see clearly that when someone lives by the truth, it is because of a work that God has done in them and not because of something that they have done on their own.

Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.
John 6:64-68 NIV

We see two important things in this passage. First of all we see that Jesus says that no one can some to Him unless the Father has enabled them to come to Him. We also see Peter's confession that Jesus is the Holy One of God and that He has the words of eternal life. When Jesus says that no one can come to Him unless the Father has enabled him, He is giving this as the reason that some did not believe. They did not believe because the Father had not enabled them to believe.

If you feel something in your heart telling you that Jesus is the way to God and that you should take Him to be your all in all, that is the Holy Spirit. Just like the wind the Holy Spirit blows on people and He shows them Christ. Receive the Son of God today and turn away from your sins. You can be free from sin and shame.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2 NIV

I don't believe that simply repeating a prayer can save you any more than driving down the freeway in a BMW could save you. But if you say this prayer and you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead along with everything else that I have quoted to you from the Bible, you will be saved.

If you do feel the Holy Spirit dealing with your heart, I would like for you to say the following prayer:

God, I come before Your throne of grace [Hebrews 4:16] to say that Jesus is Lord and I believe that You raised Him from the dead. [Romans 10:9] I want to take up my cross and follow Him in accordance with what He says. [Matthew 16:24] I realize the depth of my sin and my need of a Savior. [Isaiah 64:6, John 3:7] I confess that You are the only God and You are able to keep me from falling. [Jude 1:24] Help me run the race that marked out for me. [Hebrews 12:1] In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Remember that the Christian life is not a club that you join. In other words, it's not just an organization where they write your name down on the roster and that's it. God expects you to start keeping His commandments. But the good news is that He gives us the grace that we need to fulfill all that He commands.

If you have made a decision to follow Christ, contact me. I would like to hear from you so that I can pray for you and offer you some encouragement in starting your new life.