HEREDITARY TOTAL DEPRAVITY

INTRODUCTION:

1. This morning we will study the "T" in the TULIP of Calvinism.

1. T= Total Hereditary Depravity
2. U= Unconditional election, God has chosen the saved without regard for man’s actions
3. L =Limited atonement, only the predestined have a hope of salvation
4. I= Irresistible grace, those chose will be included in God’s grace despite themselves.
5. P= Perseverance of the saints – once saved, always saved. One can not so sin as to be lost.

I. A DESCRIPTION OF TOTAL HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY.

"VII Of Original or Birth Sin

Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually."

"VIII. Of Free Will

The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and workss, to faith, and calling upon God; wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will."

"Man’s evil is so universal, persistent, and characteristic that the "bent to sinning" (as Charles Wesley phrased it) has almost no plausible explanation except that it is unfailingly inherited. …"

• From The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Christ by Thomas F. Chilcote , pp. 28, 29, Methodist Evangelistc Materials, 1908 Grand Avenue, Nashville 5, Tennessee

II. SOME SCRITURES USED TO SUPPORT TOTAL HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY

A. David’s statement

(Psa 51:5 KJV) "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."

• The world, into which David was born, is a wicked place and in this wicked world his mother conceived him.

B. Death passed upon all men

(Rom 5:12 KJV) "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:"

(1 Cor 15:21-22 KJV) "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. {22} For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

1. Notice (in Rom. 5:12) the reason sin passed upon all men was "for that all have sinned" . In other words they followed in Adam’s footsteps

2. (John 8:38-39 KJV) "I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. {39} They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham."

(John 8:41 KJV) "Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God."

(John 8:44 KJV) "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

2. If 1 Cor. 15 Teaches we all inheirit Adam’s sin then it also teaches we all inheirt Christ’s salvation from sin. "All die" – "all made alive"
3. We do not inherit Adams sin but we do reap the consequences of that sin

(Gen 3:22-24 KJV) "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: {23} Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. {24} So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."

III. PASSAGES TEACHING WE DO NOT INHEIRT OUR FATHER’S SINS.

A. The son does NOT bear the iniquity of the father

(Ezek 18:20 KJV) "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."

1. David’s sin with Bathsheba resulted in his son’s death, but did not affect his eternal destiny (2 Sam. 12:23)

1. God is the Father of Spirit

(Heb 12:9 KJV) "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" --Eccl. 12:7

1. Since God is the Father of our spirit then our spirit’s are given to us pure and clean.

C. Your Iniquities

(Isa 59:1-2 KJV) "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: {2} But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."

1. Our iniquities not our parents, or Adam’s.
2. Def. Of Sin

(1 John 3:4 KJV) "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

1. Not only does man inheirit Adam’s sin (according to this doctrine) but as a result can do no good or righteousness

1. " and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually."

a. This is what the Calvinest is speaking of when he speaks of man’s "sinful nature"

b. One scripture used to support this error is (Eph 2:3 KJV) "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."

(1). Eph 2:3: A. By nature the children of wrath.

Does this mean man is born with a sinful nature? Of course not. verses 1&2 tell how they became children of wrath. They practiced sin until it became natural (their custom) for them.

This is the same word translated "nature" in 1 Cor. 11:14. Here the term means custom for if left to nature the hair will grow long.

see also Ezek 18:20, Zech 12:1, and Studies in Ephesians, Denton Lectures, p. 466. For more on Eph. 2:3.

1. Man can choose to do good.

(Josh 24:15 KJV) "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

(Rev 22:17 KJV) "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

CONCLSION:

1. NOW THIS DOCTRINE OF TOTAL HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY IS THE FOUNDATION FOR EVERY OTHER PETEL OF THE TULIP.
2. 1^ST PART IS THAT MAN INHERITS ADAM’S SIN.
3. 2^ND IS THAT BECAUSE OF THIS INHERITED SIN HE IS TOTALLY DEPRAVED.

1. THIS MEANS HE IS TOTALLY BENT TO DO EVIL AND CAN NOT EVEN DESIRE TO DO ANY GOOD WHATSOEVER.

1. THIS DENIES:

1. GOD’S GIFT OF MAN’S SPIRIT.
2. GOD GIVING MAN FREE MORAL CHOICE. (If Adam wasn’t depraved why did he sin?)
3. Denies the command to "preach the gospel."

E. Is it any wonder Jesus said: (Mat 18:3 KJV) "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

1. The fact is:

1. (Rom 3:23 KJV) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

2. Therefore: