Total Inability

It is a commonly held belief among most Christians today that all people have the capacity to believe the Gospel and consequently be saved as a result of exercising personal saving faith. This popular view of man's spiritual condition, more formally stated, reads like this: Although human nature was seriously affected by the fall, man has not been left in a state of total spiritual helplessness. God graciously enables every sinner to repent and believe, but he does not interfere with man's freedom. Each sinner possesses a free will, and his eternal destiny depends upon how he uses it. Man's freedom consists of his ability to choose good over evil in spiritual matters; his will is not enslaved to his sinful nature. The sinner has the power to either cooperate with God's spirit and be regenerated or resist God's grace and perish. The lost sinner needs the Spirit's assistance, but he does not need to be regenerated by the Spirit before he can believe, for faith is man's act and precedes the new birth. Faith is the sinner's gift to God; it is man's contribution to salvation.

This statement stands in opposition to the biblical doctrine of total depravity. A better name for it is Total Inability. The doctrine of total inability reads like this from the Baptist Confession of 1689 (Ch. 9, Par. 3): Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able by his own strength to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereto." Aside from the testimony of Scripture, one of the greatest testimonies to the truth of the total depravity (or total inability) of mankind is the near annihilation of the Jewish people. If all people throughout the world without exception have the ability to know the true God, the God of Israel, either through natural revelation or special revelation, and if all people are capable of believing on Him for their salvation, why did the nation of Israel almost vanish from the face of the earth? Why were there not millions and millions of people throughout the history of the Old Testament coming to Jehovah in response to the public manifestation of the power of God on behalf of the Jews?

We do see examples of proselytes throughout the Scriptures: Rahab, Ruth, King Nebuchadnezzar, individual Gentile men and women throughout the Gospels during Jesus' earthly ministry, and multitudes of people assembled at Jerusalem during Passover in Acts 2. But this was the exception rather than th e rule. Why didn't the Egyptians ever get it? Why didn't they ever figure out that the God of Moses was the true God? Why wasn't there some kind of massive revival as a result of all the signs and wonders Moses performed? It is true that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, but did that effect everyone in that country for 3000 years? Why did the entire army of Pharaoh drown? Why did the Egyptians beg the Jews to leave, instead of leaving with them?

I think part of it had to do with the fact that the Egyptians had great faith in their gods. Although the gods of Egypt had suffered a humiliating defeat, this defeat did not prove the non-existence of Egypt's gods. They still believed in the reality and existence of their gods. They just weren't as powerful as the God of Israel. Pay close attention to Is 37:36-38. Then the angel of the LORD went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses--all dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Then Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. (Isaiah 37:36-38, NKJV).

It seems strange to me that if all people have the ability and the capacity to reason and discern spiritual truths, then why was this king this stupid? He just had his entire army (185,000 men) destroyed in a single night by the hand of Jehovah, without the Israelites even showing up for the kill!! So Sennacherib goes home and worships his idol god that had miserably failed to protect him and grant him the victory over these completely surrounded. starving, powerless Jews. Why wasn't there a great revival? Why didn't any of the Assyrians defect? Not only is this the case, but the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been annihilated by the Assyrians. Of course, by that time, the Kingdom of Israel was completely apostate. They no longer worshipped Jehovah anyway. So even "God's own people" did not follow Him. This seems to be an impossibility if all men have the innate capacity to reason and understand who God is well enough to exercise saving faith in Him. At least the Gentile nations had far less revelation than the Jews, so that could be used as some type of excuse, although it is no legitimate excuse for their unbelief. But what excuse did the Jews have for turning from the God who led them out of Egypt and destroyed all their enemies in Canaan, giving them the Promised Land that He swore to Abraham? The Southern Kingdom of Judah was not much better than the northern kingdom of Israel, and eventually fell into the hands of the Chaldeans. The Holy City was destroyed, the glory of the Lord departed from the temple, and Solomon's Temple was burned to the ground. This happened to God's chosen people. Why? If all men have this innate ability to see spiritual truth and turn themselves from their sin to God, then why do the people whom God has supernaturally set aside for Himself regularly and consistently reject God in favor of idolatry and lawlessness throughout the entire Old Testament? In the Old Testament, we find in Israel a nation that has been blessed with supernatural privilege far beyond any other people on the face of the Earth. See Rom 3:1-2.

But notice what happens one generation after the conquering of the land by Joshua (Joshua 2:8-11): Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; (Judges 2:8-11, NKJV). One generation was all the time it took for the privileged people of God to turn their backs almost entirely upon Him in order to serve the gods of the people they had defeated. This doesn't make sense.

It is not logical, reasonable, or profitable. Why would these people turn so quickly and completely to worship wood and rocks rather than the God who: - parted the Red Sea, - fed them in the wilderness with food from Heaven for 40 years - parted the Jordan, - caused hailstones to fall upon their enemies and kill them, - reduced the fortified city of Jericho to a pile of rubble before their eyes, - caused the sun to stand still while they finished killing their enemies - kept every promise He had made and gave them the land (Not one word failed which the Lord had spoken. Josh 21:45) It only took one generation in Israel for the entire nation to be branded as apostate. Undoubtedly the same is true today. If man were left unto himself without any intervention from God upon their hearts, it would only take one generation, if that long, for our world today to return to the condition it found itself in just prior to the flood of Noah: Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." (Genesis 6:5-7, NKJV). Contrary to popular evangelical thought, this is the stuff man is made of. Left to himself, he always gravitates toward sin and away from God. Since that is the case, then what hope does mankind have for salvation? What chance is there that he will figure out that he has offended God with every sin he has ever committed? What chance is there that a man, by the power of his own will, will turn his heart away from the sin that he loves, toward the righteous God that he hates?

The consistent testimony of Scripture is that man is utterly, completely, totally, helplessly, incurably, terminally lost! In himself, he has absolutely no desire, no inclination, no motivation, no capacity, and no will to leave sin for righteousness. His heart is deceitful, wicked, vile, perverted, blinded, bound, and dead toward the things of God. Here is the same truth stated another way: Because of the fall, man is unable of himself to savingly believe the gospel. The sinner is dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage to his evil nature, therefore, he will not - indeed he cannot - choose good over evil in the spiritual realm. Consequently, it takes much more than the Spirit's assistance to bring a sinner to Christ - it takes regeneration by which the Spirit makes the sinner alive and gives him a new nature. Faith is not something man contributes to salvation but is itself a part of God's gift of salvation - it is God's gift to the sinner, not the sinner's gift to God. That being the case, how can anyone ever believe a Gospel that demands that he repent of his sin and embrace the Savior? They cannot, they will not, and they do not, IF it is left solely to the individual and his own willpower to turn to God. Never in the history of the world has a man ever changed his own mind and heart in order to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil. (Jeremiah 13:23, NKJV). If God does not desire to save men, then there is no salvation to be had, because there is no desire on the part of man to be saved on God's terms. In other words, man does not have free will in the spiritual realm. Man is not at liberty to choose to repent of his sin and believe the gospel at his leisure. History testifies against it, Scripture testifies against it, and our own experience testifies against it. Be careful to note what I did not say. I did not say, "Man does not have a will." Certainly man has will. All of you came here today because you chose to. If I asked you, "Why did you come to church today?" I might get several different answers: - Because Mom and Dad made me. - Because it's the right thing to do. - Because it is expected of me. But someone, hopefully most of you, will say, "I came to church today because I wanted to."

It was an exercise of your will to get out of bed, get dressed, jump into the car and come to join this ragtag bunch for worship. So you came because you wanted to. You willed to come to church. But the more important question is, why did you want to come to church? Is there anything else, other than the reasons I mentioned above that motivated you to join us for fellowship today? Was there any other influence upon your will that moved you to do what you have done today? Hopefully, the answer is yes!

Hopefully, some of you could honestly say, "I'm here because of what the Lord Jesus has done in me. He has given me the desire of my heart. God has performed a work in me that has caused me to live and act, to some degree, according to His good pleasure rather than my own." So we don't have entirely free wills. And I would submit to you that the unsaved have no free will at all. The will they have is to follow the lusts and desires of their fallen flesh. The sinful nature reigns supreme in the heart of every unbeliever. "There is none that doeth good. No, not one." As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips"; "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:10-18, NKJV).

This is the natural state of the heart of man. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6, NKJV). Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (Romans 8:7, NKJV). And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, (Ephesians 2:1, NKJV). even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (Ephesians 2:5, NKJV). For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:3-5, NKJV). "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44, NKJV). So the conclusion of the matter is that our salvation is solely and completely the result of the grace of God toward us, and not the result of our self-generated faith, or our self-motivated efforts toward Him. A theologian by the name of A. A. Hodge once said this:

Since all men alike deserved only God's wrath and curse, the gift of His only begotten Son to die in the stead of malefactors,, as the only possible method of expiating their guilt, is the most stupendous exhibition of undeserved favor and personal love that the universe has ever witnessed." Your salvation is not based upon a decision you made. It is based upon a decision God made. If you are a Christian, it is solely because He chose you, and gave His Son for you, according to the good pleasure of HIS will, not yours. Acts 17:30 says that God commands all men everywhere to repent. Jesus said to His disciples to preach the Gospel to every creature. Paul said, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (Romans 1:16, NKJV). We are not responsible for saving people. That is God's job, and His sovereign prerogative. God is not obligated to save anyone, but has chosen to save many because He is gracious and merciful. Our task is to preach the grace of God to every person, without distinction and without exception. But their salvation is totally dependent upon the grace of God toward them. Salvation is of the Lord. ~ Copied