What the bible states
What the bible states
What the bible states
The Bible states that man is dead in sin (Eph. 2:1-3; Col. 2:13), represses the knowledge of God and creates idols (Rom. 1:18-25), does not do good according to God’s law, and does not seek for God apart from the work of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 3:9-12).
Man's Sinful Nature
What the bible states
What the bible states
Due to the nature of man’s sin, for a person to come to Jesus for salvation, God must take the initiative. God’s divine initiative is the first step in anyone’s salvation. The Bible’s strong statements about the degree of man’s corruption in sin and God’s initiative in our salvation magnify the grace of God in salvation.
God's Initiative
What the bible states
God's Initiative
In John 6:44-45, Jesus proclaimed man’s inability to come to him apart from God’s initiative: “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day." Jesus saw this drawing of the Father as not only a necessary condition for someone to come to salvation, but also as a sufficient condition. "Everyone that is drawn by the Father will come." It was not merely an enticement or encouragement to come.
drawn to god
Westminister confession
God's Initiative
This action of being drawn to Christ is coupled closely with the Holy Spirit’s work of making a person alive in Christ or regenerating him. Once a person is made alive in Christ, he has the desire for Christ, and he comes to Jesus. That moral ability to come to Christ, again, is the result of the Spirit giving life.
Westminister confession
Westminister confession
Westminister confession
“When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, He freeth him from his natural bondage under sin; and, by His grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good; yet so, that by reason of his remaining corruption, he doth not perfectly, nor only, will that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil. The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to do good alone in the state of glory only".
Chapter 9, art. 4 and 5
God's Grace & Mercy
Westminister confession
Westminister confession
Understanding this strips all boasting and claims of self-righteousness from man. If you are in Christ, it is because God has shown you mercy and initiated your salvation.
If you are in Christ now, it is because God has taken the first step in your salvation and drawn you to Jesus. This eliminates all claims of self-righteousness, boasting, or spiritual pride. Understanding these truths should move our hearts to giving God all glory and honor for the work he has performed in our lives and the mercy we have received.
the doctrine of total depravity
While often misunderstood, the doctrine of total depravity is an acknowledgement that the Bible teaches that as a result of the fall of man (Genesis 3:6) every part of man—his mind, will, emotions and flesh—have been corrupted by sin. In other words, sin affects all areas of our being, including who we are and what we do. It penetrates to the very core of our being so that everything is tainted by sin and “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6). It acknowledges that the Bible teaches that we sin because we are sinners by nature. Or, as Jesus says, “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17-18).
The total depravity of man is seen throughout the Bible. Man’s heart is “deceitful and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). The Bible also teaches us that man is born dead in transgression and sin (Psalm 51:5, Psalm 58:3, Ephesians 2:1-5). The Bible teaches that because unregenerate man is “dead in transgressions” (Ephesians 2:5), he is held captive by a love for sin (John 3:19; John 8:34) so that he will not seek God (Romans 3:10-11) because he loves the darkness (John 3:19) and does not understand the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:14). Therefore, men suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18) and continue to willfully live in sin. Because they are totally depraved, this sinful lifestyle seems right to men (Proverbs 14:12) so they reject the gospel of Christ as foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18) and their mind is “hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is unable to do so” (Romans 8:7).
