The Doctrine of Total Depravity 11-27-22

Overview: Martin Luther, a monk and professor, discovered that the church was preaching and teaching incorrectly. He believed in Scripture alone as the authority and justification by faith alone. He protested against the selling of indulgences, which claimed to save loved ones from hell for a price. Luther's actions led to the Reformation and the development of Protestant groups. Southern Baptists, for example, believe in total depravity and perseverance of the saints. Total depravity means that humans are sinful and have no desire for God. Luther's teachings were inspired by passages in Romans and Galatians. Transcription: (Pastor Williams) Right is right, even if everyone is against it. And wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. (Announcer) It's time for the broadcast of King's Grove Baptist Church. Our pastor is James Williams. (Pastor Williams) Romans chapter 3. And I want to do, as a way of introduction, a little bit of church history. Martin Luther was a monk. He became that later in life and was sent to study at the University of Wittenberg, or Wittenberg in Germany, became a professor there. And as he was teaching the Scriptures, began to read for himself. The common folk were not allowed to read Scripture. That was only for the priests to do. And the priests were in charge of translating and preaching what they found in Scripture. And you just had to trust what the preacher said. Now you have heard from this pulpit time and time again, don't take what I say as truth. Take what I say and compare it to God's Word. And if they line up, then what I say is truth. Not because I said it, but because God's Word said it. And so Martin Luther began to study this Scripture. And what he saw in Scripture really kind of boiled down to two things in his mind. And it was this, that Scripture alone is authoritative, sola Scriptura, and justification by faith alone, sola fide. And these two thoughts, these two theologies really began to root in Martin Luther's heart. And as he began to really dive into Scripture and see these truths being taught over and over again, he began to look at the church and say, now something's not right. The way that the church is preaching and teaching and living is not the same way that I read in Scripture. And so he finally had enough when someone came to town and started selling, I think they were called indulgences, the word has left my mind. And essentially what that was, was you can pay a certain amount of money to get a lost loved one out of purgatory. It equated to about half a year's wages for the common working man. So if you think about taking six months of what you make to pay for that lost loved one to get out of hell, would you do it? The reality is if we understand what Scripture says about hell and how much torment and punishment it is, and if we really cared about that loved one that had gone on before us, then the answer is yes, we'd pay it. We would pay it. If I thought for a second that my dad had died and was in hell and he was going to spend eternity in hell and torment and suffering, and I had a way to get him out by simply sacrificing a little bit of money, then it would be anything that I could do to raise that money to get him out. And so Martin Luther saw all these people who were not well off, working hard, saving up their hard earned money only for the church to come in and say, you know what? If you really care about your mom and daddy, you'll give me half of what you made all year so you can get them out of hell. And Martin Luther said, that's not right. That's not what I see. Because what I see in Scripture is that they're saved by faith, not by you paying some money. And so that led Martin Luther to come up with 95 theses against indulgences and he nailed them to the church door and that opened up the debate for the church. Now, of course, he was later excommunicated. The church didn't want to hear it. He was kicked out. But his thought process, his actions led to the Reformation. Now, that Reformation led to Protestant groups such as the Anabaptists who were the foundation for who we are as Southern Baptists. Now, we have come to understand when we hear Reformed theology, we kind of narrow it down to five main teachings. We put them under this headline, TULIP. Each letter stands for a teaching. Total depravity. The T. U. Unconditional election. The L. Limited atonement. The I. Irresistible grace. And the P. Perseverance of the saints. Now, I'm not attempting this morning to dissect Reformed theology. I do want us to understand this, though, as Southern Baptists, we do not need to say, for all Reformed theology, we're not Reformed. Because the reality is, we're at least a two-point Reformed theologist. And what do I mean by that? The first, total depravity. We believe in total depravity. We believe that we are simple and there is nothing that we on our own can do about it. That no amount of good works will earn our way into salvation. No amount of good works. If I wear a Christian t-shirt for a month straight, that doesn't earn me any more favor with God than me wearing a plaid shirt. Nothing that we can do. Come into church. Well, I've had perfect attendance in church since I was three years old. That's great, and I would encourage you to have perfect attendance in church. But that does not earn us any favor with God, because that would be works. And so total depravity says your works is not what saves you. It's faith alone. Sola Fide. So we're at least one point Reformed theology in there. Second point Reformed theology, and you and I would agree on this, is perseverance of the saints. We word it this way. Once saved, always saved. That once you put your faith and trust in Christ, and He forgives you of your sins, cleanses you from all unrighteousness, then there is nothing that you can do that will lose that salvation. And all of God's people should say amen at that. Because here's the reality. Once I've got saved, that didn't mean my sin ended. And so if I could lose my salvation, I would have lost it a thousandfold by now. But because my salvation is not dependent on me, then I cannot lose it. That is perseverance of the saints. And so we would say that we're at least two point Reformed theology as Southern Baptists. And this is what's interesting. This is how this ties into the Scripture today. The Holy Spirit of God began to stir in Martin Luther's heart these two principles on Paul's writings. In fact, Sola Fide came from Romans 1 when it says that the just or the righteous shall live by faith. Romans 1:17. The same principle is repeated in Galatians 3:11. And both of these are quoted from Habakkuk 2:4. Martin Luther began to read this in the original language and he began to hear that the church was preaching it wrongly. He said, no, wait a minute, something ain't right. And all of that led to where we are today. And in Romans 3, beginning in verse 9, is where Paul begins to teach on, begins to preach the doctrine of total depravity. The doctrine of total depravity. So let's read together. Romans 3, beginning in verse 9, and we'll read down to verse 26. Paul says, what then? Are we better than they? Well, not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin, 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. In the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed. Being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe, for there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Now Paul says a lot in those verses. And he teaches a great deal on this doctrine of total depravity. So what is the doctrine of total depravity? What does it mean? Simply put, it means this, that we are sinners that have no desire for God or the things of God. Verses 10 and all the way down to 18, if you read that, there's none righteous, so not one. There's none who understand. There's none who seeks Him. Over and over, it gives you this idea that there is nothing in us that desires the things of God. There's nothing in us that chases after God. There's nothing in us that wants God. There's nothing in us that when we are born that just cries out, I want God in my life. There is nothing in us, even on our best days, we do not desire God. And you say, now wait a minute. Now wait a minute. I know this morning that I got up and I was ready to come to church and I was excited about coming to church and I longed to hear the Word of God. Well, hold on. I'm getting to you in just a second. What I'm talking about is before our salvation, before we come to know Christ, there is nothing in us that wants the things of God. R.C. Sproul puts it this way. It means that the fall was so serious that it affects the whole person. The fallenness that captures and grips our human nature affects our bodies. That's why we become ill and die. It affects our minds and our thinking. We still have the capacity to think, but the Bible says that the mind has become darkened and weakened. The will of man is no longer in its pristine state of moral power. The will, according to the New Testament, is now in bondage. We are enslaved to the evil impulses and desires of our hearts. The body, the mind, the will, the spirit, indeed, the whole person have been infected by the power of sin. That's what it means for us to be a fallen people. Now again, understand that this is not the Christian. This is before we become saved. Before we put our faith and trust in Christ. This is the effects of what the original sin has on us. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and that sin has passed down through the generations to where David cries out, in sin my mother conceived me and in sin I was born. He's saying that our sin nature runs so deep in us that there is nothing good there. Because if there was something good in us apart from Christ, then we could latch on to that thing and we could work it enough and we could manipulate it enough and we could hang on to it enough and duplicate it enough that we might become a good person and earn our way into heaven. But the reality is, the fall has so damaged us that there is nothing in us worthy of the holiness of God. And we have to get to that point before we can ever begin to understand how deep our need for a Savior becomes. Because if we think there's something good in us, what we'll cling to is this. But I do this. But I go to church. But I pray. But I read my Bible. But I witness. But I go on mission trips. But I give money. But I do this. But I do that. And all of those things are good things. But apart from Christ, they are done out of a wickedness of heart. Because the minute that we start boasting in those good things we do, that's the minute it becomes about us. So what does it mean? It means that we are so fallen that nothing in us wants God. What it does not mean, and this is where we get confused, is that we are as bad as we possibly could be. That's not what total depravity means. That we are as bad as we possibly could be. That you do nothing right. That you do nothing good. And this is where that argument really takes root. If I'm so bad, then how come I do this? We need to understand this concept. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. We are not sinners because we sin, but rather we sin because we are sinners. We do not have a choice. Scripture says we are a slave to sin. That's the doctrine of total depravity. But the good thing is, Paul doesn't stop there because then in verses 19 and 20, he reveals the knowledge of total depravity. If we are so depraved, if we are so separated from God, if nothing in us desires God, then how can we realize that we need Him? Well, he tells us in 19 and 20. He says, Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in His sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. So how can we realize that we're depraved? How can we realize that we're sinners? How can we realize that something is wrong, that we are fallen, that our relationship with God is broken? By the law. When we read the law, we realize that something's wrong. When we read the law, and we don't have to go to Old Testament, we can go to New Testament law. We can go to two laws found in the New Testament. Our current church motto. We are to be the church that is fulfilling the great commandments and the great commission. What are the great commandments? Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Those two laws, those two commandments, do you keep them? Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength? Everything that is in you loves God more than anything on this planet. At moments in your life, maybe. But at other moments in your life, absolutely not. Do I keep those two commandments? No. Do you always, always love your neighbor as yourself? Listen, you know the hardest thing about dealing with people? Dealing with people. People irritate you, right? And nobody irritates you more than your own family. They don't listen. If they would just do what you said all the time, this world would be a better place. The problem is that that other person, whether it be your spouse or your kids or your parents or aunts and uncles or cousins, they think the same thing about you. If you would just do what they said, then this world would be a better place. And you're driving down the road and that person that cuts you off, man, if they would just drive like you drive, this world would be a better place. That person in that car, man, you're going too slow. If you drive like I drive, this world would be... And so we deal with all this. And then all of a sudden, what we find is this anger and this dislike and this hatred against those people who don't do what we want or think they should do. And all of a sudden, we find ourselves not loving our neighbor like ourselves. And so we can't even keep those two commandments. And so what's wrong with me that I can't keep two rules? Because I'm depraved. Because I'm a sinner. And so how can we fix that? He says the knowledge of this Torah, it's revealed by the law. You see, law reveals sin by giving us God's standard. By showing where we fall short. That's what verse 23 is all about. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And we know that because the law reveals it to us. Here's God's standard. And there we are way down there somewhere. Now, we also have to understand this. That the law doesn't make sin. Because here's the thought of some. If the law reveals sin in us, if we get rid of the law, we won't realize we have sin and then it's not there. That's not how this works. You hunters and fishermen, you know this. Because if you're walking through the woods and you just walk and you hunt and you're looking for that lake or something, you're going fishing or whatever, and then all of a sudden, somebody shows up and says, what are you doing here? Well, I'm hunting. Do you know whose land you're on? I thought I was on the public land. I didn't see any signs. I didn't see... No, sir, you're on private land. You're trespassing. Now, me not realizing I was trespassing didn't mean I wasn't trespassing. I didn't know I was trespassing until the law showed it to me. But the truth is, whether the law showed it to me or not, I was still trespassing. The law didn't make me trespass. The law just revealed to me that I was trespassing. That's the way God's law works in our life. Whether I know whether I'm sinning or not, I'm still sinning against God. All the law does is say, hey, big fella, let me show you how. This is how you're sinning against God. And so even if we were to burn all the Bibles, get rid of the law completely, put in the prison all the preachers so that they're not sharing the Word of God and we do away with the Word of God and we get rid of it all, does not mean that we cease to sin. We just have no way to know that we're sinning. And that's why it's important for you and I, as Paul said a couple chapters ago, don't stop preaching. Don't stop teaching. Don't stop being a guide and a light to those who don't know. We need to do that because they need to realize as much as you and I need to realize, that whether we realize it or not, sin still exists. And so we have the knowledge of this depravity through the law of God. Right is right, even if everyone is against it. And wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. It's one of my favorite quotes. That came from William Penn, who was a Quaker preacher, again, product of the Reformation, founder of Pennsylvania. Beloved, know this. Ignorance is not bliss. The law reveals to us sin in our life. And again, I'm thankful that Paul doesn't stop there. Because not only does he give us the doctrine of depravity, then he gives us the knowledge of total depravity. And lastly, he gives us the end of total depravity. Look at verses 21 through 26. So he shares all this. We're broken. We're fallen. There's something wrong. And then he reveals how we can know that something's wrong. Through the law of God, we realize that something's wrong. And then he says in verse 21, but, now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed. Being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness because in His forbearance, God had passed over the sins that were previously committed to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. Man, that's a lot there. But what Paul is giving to us in those verses is the end of total depravity. So why is there something in you, Christian, today that desires the thing of God? That hungers for God? That wants to be in His presence? That desires His Word? That wants to be with His people? That longs to hear the songs of God? It's because of those verses right there. Because once you put your faith and trust in Christ, then He is our righteousness. That's what he says in 21 and 22 that He is our righteousness. You see, Isaiah 64:6 says that our righteousness is filthy rags. No matter how good we think we are, we are filthy rags in the eyes of a holy God. That if I were to come to God at the end of my life, and say, God, did I not prophesy in Your name? Did I not preach in Your name? Did I not teach in Your name? Did I not give? Did I not make disciples in Your name? Did I not try to lead people to You? Did I not do all of this for You? The Scripture says, Jesus will look at me and say, depart from me, you worker of iniquity, for I never knew you. But when I come to Him, I say, God, there's nothing good in me. I'm a sinner that has fallen so far from You that I don't even deserve to look in Your direction. But Your Son took my place on a cross that my sins would be forgiven. That I might be cleansed from all unrighteousness. So the only thing good in me that I can give to You is Jesus. Then He becomes my righteousness. He becomes my forgiveness. Because His righteousness is pure and holy. Not only does He become our righteousness in verse 23 and 24, He is our justification. To be justified is the act of acquittal whereby God gives contrite sinners the status of righteousness. And so when I come to Him and say, Jesus is my righteousness, then we will stand before a holy, perfect, omniscient God, and the verdict will be not guilty. Not guilty. You may be in here this morning and you say, well, preacher, you can't say that because you don't know what I've done. It doesn't matter. Jesus' work on the cross was powerful enough to cover it all. I've lied. I've cheated. I've manipulated. I've led people astray. Jesus forgives you. And His work on the cross covers it all. Well, I've given myself away time and time again. Jesus loves you. And His work on the cross covers it all. Just stop. Just stop fighting. Just stop making excuses. Stop arguing with the Holy Spirit of God and listen. Jesus loves you. And His work on the cross covers it all. And if we will put our faith and trust in Him, we will stand before a holy, perfect, omniscient God, and the verdict is not guilty. He is our righteousness. He is our justification. And lastly, in verses 25-26, He is our propitiation. Now that's a big word. Propitiation means the averting the wrath of God by the offering of a gift. The act of gaining or regaining the favor or goodwill of someone or something. Now this is the glorious thing about Christ being our propitiation. Christ is not the gift that we offer God to earn His favor or forgiveness. Christ is our propitiation because He is the gift that God gave to us so that He could show us favor, goodwill, and avert His wrath. Think about that for a second. Because what we see in the movies, and I go back to these older movies, and I can't name one specific, where they were going to offer this sacrifice to this God in the volcano. And they were going to take up this young woman who was pure, and they were going to throw her into the volcano so that God would be appeased and be happy and show favor to us. And we think somehow that by Christ being our propitiation, that somehow that's a gift that we offer God. God, here it is. Here's my faith. Here's my belief. Here's Christ. Here's this. I just want You to show me favor. I want You to show me love. I want You to show me... No, no, no. That's not how this is worked. Because you can't give away something that you don't have. And so I couldn't give Christ to God as a gift because I didn't have Christ before my salvation. What God did is this. He looked down and He saw a people that were deserving of His wrath. That were deserving of His judgment. Because again, we're depraved, right? We're sinful. But because of His love and His grace and His mercy, He said, but I don't want to do that. But I'm just and so I have to do that. Here's a gift to you so that I don't have to do that. He gave Christ to appease His own wrath and His own judgment. Now what kind of God do you hear about in the movies and all of history that has ever given the gift, the sacrifice that He required of Himself? Nowhere. Every other religion is, you want to make me happy, you give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. Only in Christianity do we have a God that says you deserve wrath, you deserve judgment, you deserve eternity in hell. However, I'm going to make that payment for you. Here's my Son. What kind of love is that? Did you hear that last verse? That He might be just. He's got to punish sin. And the justifier, the one who has faith in Jesus. So how is He just and yet justifies the sinner? Through Christ. The gift that He gave to us. What is this whole season about? The birth of our Savior. The gift that God has given us. The payment for our sins. Beloved, Jesus is not a gift that you give to God. He is a gift that God has given to you. And by doing such, if you put your faith in Him, He has justified you and made you righteous in His sight. Sad reality is that there's somebody in here that hasn't done that. That somebody in here, most likely, is still in that depraved mind that says, I don't need God. I can do this on my own. I'm trusting in my own strength. I'm trusting in my own will. I'm trusting in my own plans. My own righteousness. I'm a pretty good guy. Compared to who? Compared to some of these? Yeah, absolutely. But compared to Christ? Sorry, sir. Sorry, ma'am. We all fall short of that one. So how can we be made right? By putting our faith and trust in the gift that God has given us as a propitiation so that His wrath doesn't have to pour out on us. Will you accept that gift this morning? Beloved, hear me with this. You, on your own, are not a good person. I'm sorry if you've been told different your entire life, but if no one has loved you enough to tell you that until today, then let me be the first to lovingly tell you that you are not a good person. And neither am I. Apart from Christ, we are depraved. I know this based on Scripture, not my own personal opinion of you or of myself. However, I know how you can become a good person. In the sight of God, you can become a good person by putting your faith and trust in Christ and His substitutionary death on the cross. Will you do that today? Some of you this morning, there's someone that you know that has never put their faith and trust in Christ. Maybe they're even hostile against the things of God. And so for the first time this morning, you understand why. Because they are totally depraved. And so your duty as a child of God is to call their name out to a holy God who can do something about it. Say, God, I know so-and-so doesn't know You and they need to know You. Lord, reveal Yourself in such a way that they will acknowledge the gift that is Jesus Christ. I firmly believe that there's many in this community, maybe even some in this church, that will come to faith in Christ through your prayers and through my prayers. So will you come this morning? Will you call out their name on this altar before a holy God? This is the perfect time of year to make that commitment to pray for that person. This altar is open. You come and pray however the Lord's led you to pray. (Announcer) Thank you for joining us today for the broadcast of Kings Grove Baptist Church. Our pastor is James Williams. You can reach us on the phone at area code (864)868-3030. That's area code (864)868-3030. If you'd like to hear this or any of our other messages again, you can visit us on the web at kingsgrove.org. That's kingsgrove.org. If you'd like spiritual help, feel free to reach out to us. That phone number again is 864-868-3030. And be sure to join us again next week at this same time for the broadcast from Kings Grove Baptist Church.