The Nature of Fallen Man
We are going to finish this series on the nature of the fallen man. Total depravity of man. The word depravity means, wicked, corrupt and sinful. When we see that the fallen man is totally corrupt, it means that he is totally wicked, corrupt and sinful. Although the fallen man is alive physically but morally he is dead toward God, he is spiritually dead. As a result, he has no will to reach out for God, he is dead toward God and his will his opposite to Gods will. However, the majority of the unbelievers and the majority of the churches do not believe this position.
Semi-Pelagainism believes when man sinned, he was affected by sin and as a result, he is morally sick, but not dead toward God. As a result, man still have the will to choose good and evil. God and man both have to cooperate in salvation. Roman Catholicism and the majority of the Protestant Churches believe this view, although all the early church and the Reformers deny this view in the light of scripture.
But let us get a quick review, what we have been studying so far. We saw that the man was made holy, righteous without sin and he had a free will. Adam broke the commandment of God and sinned entered the human race. (Romans 5:12) All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, we saw that none is righteous and all have gone astray. We saw that the fallen man became an enemy of God.
We saw the natural man is
dead in his spirit. He is dead toward the true living God. (Gen 2:16-17 ;Eph
2:1-3
The heart to the natural man is exceedingly evil.
Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
The natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Pr 20:9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
Jer
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.
1Co
Ro 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Ps
We have seen very clearly and precisely that the natural men are enemies of God. The reason is the natural man is totally depraved. He is a born sinner, only God can bring salvation. Total depravity is crucial for presenting the gospel. All the other doctrines are linked to total depravity. If someone is wrong in this doctrine, then he is wrong in the others, then it is not the right gospel. Let me show it to you.
Lu
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The difference of these two men is very vast. The Pharisee is very confident in approaching God. Let us see their motives. The Pharisee went to the temple, to show God how good he is, he sees his glory and not Gods glory. He is thanking God because he is righteous in his eye, really he is thanking himself. He does not see total depravity in him, he sees himself as religiously good. The publican on the other hand, he went to the temple in fear of the judgment of God that is going to come upon him. He realized that he is unworthy, but God is infinitely lovely and holy, that he will not even look up to heaven, he smote his breast, because he saw how deeply he had hurt God the almighty, all powerful God in his sins, we see true humility and true repentance because he was a true Calvinist who believe in total depravity.
My friends now we have in the Christian church the gospel of Arminianism and ofcourse many other gospel of the cults, then the gospel of grace, which is the gospel of Calvinism. All cannot be true, only one is the true gospel. Let me show you again the difference between the Arminian gospel and the gospel of grace.
In the Arminian gospel the wrath of God is not presented to the sinner. This is the usual formula in presenting the gospel, God loves you, and has a wonderful plan for you, accept Christ and you will have eternal life. First of all we see this is not theologically correct as the Bible does not say anywhere God loves the sinner. Then we see that sinner is not convicted of his sinfulness towards God, he is not awakened by the wrath of God and how to flee from the wrath of God, from the very beginning the sinner is comforted by flesh pleasing entertaining so called Christian music which is not centered on doctrinal worship to God, then the message is also a comforting message to the sinner, as the sinner has to make the decision of his own free will physically raising his hand, going forward to the pulpit, standing up and repeating a prayer to accept Christ. It is not God awakening the sinner but man making the decision to Christ. Now the sinner makes a decision to Christ repeats the prayer of the pastor and he is saved. The sinner is encouraged to read the Bible and to have fellowship with other Christians and to pray. The sinner is excited he has eternal life goes home but the change is only in outward but inwardly he is still behaving like and unbeliever. The Arminian is tolerably moral and decent in conduct, but from motives of carnal and worldly policy He is still worldly like anyone else. But outwardly he is a Christian. There was no true repentance like the tax collector, as the Arminian Gospel is for the flesh, it is of the mans decision that you are saved.
The Calvinist gospel is the gospel of grace. You do not have
to make a show, no entertainment, as we know salvation is of the Lord. The
Calvinist in his gospel preach to the sinner how evil, wicked he is, the
hypocrisy as the Calvinist believes in total depravity of man. The Calvinist
show that God does not love them but hates them as the scripture says, they are
enemies of God. The Calvinist will preach on the holiness of God, how the
sinner has violated the laws of God, and as a result the wrath of God is
coming. The sinner is awakened by the law of God. The sinner will realize own unworthiness and
insufficiency, helplessness and the unwothiness. The Arminian gospel cannot
make peace with the sinner as they say God loves them, the sinner is not an
enemy of God. They preach the gospel to comfort the sinner. The way of peace
have they not known;" for not one friend came nigh, to warn them to
"flee from the wrath to come."
Ro
5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Ro
5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him.
10
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of
his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
The
Arminian gospel does not reconcile the sinner to God, as it does not need
reconciliation, God loves the sinner anyway, he is saved from his own decision,
no need of a mediator as the sinner have peace already as God loves them. It is
the decision of man, mans will. The Calvinist will touch on the righteousness
of Christ, and the sinner will see in the presence of Christ righteousness his
guilt. The sinner is brought to his nakedness in the presence of God by the
gospel of grace and the sinner will realize what a pity, poor miserable
unworthy creature he is, and he deserve the wrath of God. He will repent deeply
like the tax collector and will realize it is not his decision that saved him,
but all of Gods mercy to the sinner and all of Gods grace to an unworthy
sinner.
Joh
1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of God.
The
sinner is saved not by emotional music or by the pressure of the pastor telling
them to come forward, but totally by the grace of God. He realize how wonderful
is the love of God that he gave his only begotten son to die on the cross, as
Christ took the place of the sinner. While we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son. How wonderful was the love of God
the Father in giving his Son to an enemy of God. How wonderful was the love of
Christ, in exercising dying love towards his enemies. How wonderful are the
mercies of God and the grace of God towards the enemies of God. How wonderful
for God to justify the sinner, pardoning the sinner, removing the guilt of the
sinner by the precious blood of Christ and making the sinner righteous. Oh my
friend the there cannot be two gospels, only one gospel can save, the Arminian
gospel is man made, human centered but it blends with the word of God, it is
not all of mercy, grace and love. It is a false gospel.