THE UTTER DEPRAVITY OF FALLEN MAN

08-06-06

John Calvin, 1509-64, a religious reformer and theologian, born in France: leader of the Protestant Reformation in Geneva, Switzerland. Calvinism = Dict: 1. Theol. a. the doctrines and church practices taught by John Calvin who emphasized the sovereignty of God, predestination; the authority of Scriptures, Presbyterian polity, and strict church discipline. b. the doctrines of later theologians who accepted Calvin’s teachings with various modifications.

“Man’s depravity, as a result of the fall, is total. He does not possess free will because he is bound to Satan who takes man captive at his will. All people are born into this world spiritually dead in trespasses and sins so that their dead human spirits are irresistibly drawn to the god of the dead. Man is depraved in the sense that he is dead, blind, deaf, unteachable in the things of God and ruled by Satan through his perverse heart and corrupt soul.” (Quoted from TULIP: The Five Points of Calvinism in the Light of Scripture by Duane Edward Spenser.)

“When Calvinists speak of man as totally depraved, they mean that man's nature is corrupt, perverse, and sinful throughout. The adjective "total" does not mean that each sinner is as totally or completely corrupt in his actions and thoughts as it is possible for him to be. Instead, the word "total" is used to indicate that the "whole" of man's being has been affected by sin. The corruption extends to every part of man, his body and soul; sin has affected all (the totality) of man's faculties - his mind, his will, etc. As a result of this inborn corruption, the natural man is totally unable to do anything spiritually good; thus Calvinists speak of man's "total inability." The inability intended by this terminology is spiritual inability; it means that the sinner is so spiritually bankrupt that he can do nothing pertaining to his salvation. It is quite evident that many unsaved people, when judged by man's standards, do possess admirable qualities and do perform virtuous acts. But in the spiritual realm, when judged by God's standards, the unsaved sinner is incapable of good. The natural man is enslaved to sin; he is a child of Satan, rebellious toward God, blind to the truth, corrupt, and unable to save himself or to prepare himself for salvation. In short, the unsaved man is dead in sin, and his will is enslaved to his evil nature." (Quoted from Five Points of Calvinism by David N. Steele and Curtis C. Thomas. Louisville: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1989, page 25.)

“Man is spiritually dead in his sin, not just wounded. Man does not possess “free will”. Man is bound to Satan who has taken man’s will captive. Man is hostile to God. Man cannot please God. Man cannot understand the things of God. Man is in bondage to sin and Satan. As a result of the fall, sin has totally affected all the faculties of man, making man unable to contribute anything towards his own salvation. As the following Scriptures state, man does not seek after God, but rather man is dead in sin.” (Quoted from by William J. Hornbeck II.)

THERE IS NONE THAT SEEKETH AFTER GOD

(Psa 14:3) They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy[to muddle, i.e. to turn (morally) corrupt]: there is none that doeth good,no, not one. [Psa 53:3]

(Isa 64:6) But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

(Rom 3:10-12) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable [rendered useless]; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

(Rom 5:12) Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

(Eph 2:1,2) 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:

UNSAVED MEN ARE BEASTS, AND AS SUCH, BESTIAL

(Eccl 3:18) I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them[Heb: barar], and that they might see [discern]that they themselves are beasts.

  1. manifest = Heb: barar; to clarify (i.e. brighten), examine, select:--make bright, choice, chosen, cleanse (be clean), clearly, polished, (shew self) pure (-ify), purge (out).
  2. Commentary = the Hebrew word barar is used eighteen times in the OT and always in a good sense. Within the context of Eccl 3:18, this word might best be amplified to mean “to make apparent to the chosen of them through their cleansing and purification.”
  3. beasts = Heb: (prob. mean. to be mute); prop. a dumb beast; espec. any large quadruped or animal (often collectively).
  4. beast = Dict: 1. any animal except man, but esp. a large four-footed one. 2. the animal nature common to man and nonhumans. 3. a coarse, filthy, or otherwise beastlike human.
  5. beastly = Dict: 1. of or like a beast; bestial. 2. Brit. Colloq. nasty; disagreeable. 3. Brit. Colloq. exceedingly.
  6. bestial = Dict: 1. of or belonging to a beast. 2. brutal; inhuman; irrational. 3. depraved, sensual; carnal.
  7. depraved = Dict: corrupt or perverted, esp. morally; wicked.

MAN IS AN AMALGAMATION OF HEAVEN (good) AND EARTH (evil)

(Gen 2:7,8) And the LORD God formedman of the dust of the ground[soil (earth, wilderness)], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul [an amalgamation of heaven and earth]. And the LORD God planted a garden[(fenced), i.e. to keep in, or to keep out, or both? separation] eastward in Eden[delight]; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

  1. amalgamate = Dict: 1. to mix so as to make a combination; blend; unite; combine: to amalgamate two companies.
  2. amalgamation = Dict: 1. a consolidation of two or more corporations. 2. the biological fusion of diverse racial stocks. [Like Jesus seed of God and Mary daughter of man; like the message of prophecy delivered on 03-26-06 entitled “Preaching From the Corners” and subtitled “The Amalgamation of God and Man in the Mercy Seat”]
  3. Commentary: God placed something (the Garden) in the midst of the wilderness of the earth. A parallel would be sort of like us setting up a tent in the woods. Did God add another creation (the Garden) to His creation of the heaven and the earth, or did God form something that is the Garden out of the heaven and the earth? The evidence overwhelmingly leans toward “form,” as witnessed by the presence in the Garden of the tree of life (Christ-Jesus) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Lucifer-Satan), both of which are an amalgamation (combination) of heaven and earth. Isn’t man also an amalgamation (combination) of heaven and earth? (Gen 2:7) “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground [soil (where did the soil come from? The earth)], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [where did the breath of life come from? The heaven]; and man became a living soul.” Man was formed out of an amalgamation (combination) of heaven and earth, just like Christ (heavenly aspect) Jesus (earthly aspect), and Lucifer (heavenly aspect) Satan (earthly aspect), whereas the beasts of the earth are always only beasts, earthly with no heavenly aspect.
  4. Commentary: God has set some men destined to be beasts from the foundation of the world, and some men destined to be saints from the foundation of the world. This setting or planting is exemplified in the parable of the tares of the field wherein “the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;” (Mat 13:38). The wheat are planted wheat and remain wheat eternally, and the tares are planted tares and remain tares eternally. Wheat never become tares, and tares never become wheat. Beasts (tares) never know that they are not saints (wheat) in this life.

Amen