3rd. Augustinian.-Which was adopted by all the original Protestant Churches, Lutheran and Reformed. (a.) Man is by nature so entirely depraved in his moral nature as to be totally unable to do any thing spiritually good, or in any degree to begin or dispose himself thereto. (b.) That even under the exciting and suasory influences of divine grace the will of man is totally unable to act aright in co-operation with grace, until after the will itself is by the energy of grace radically and permanently renewed. (c.) Even after the renewal of the will it ever continues dependent upon divine grace, to prompt, direct, and enable it in the performance of every good work.
We began to look at the Augustinian section (a) from above in the last blog. If this is scriptural it is a devastating article to all human pride and sufficiency and along with those things, it is equally devastating to Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism. If man is so entirely depraved in his moral nature as to be unable to do any thing spiritually good and cannot even begin or dispose himself to anything spiritual, both the Pelagian and Semi-Pelagian systems of thought come crashing to the ground. Not only that, but both systems of thought would then be seen as very dangerous to the Gospel and sanctification which are by grace alone. If those two systems are at odds with grace alone, then they are at odds with the true Gospel and biblical sanctification.
It would be hard to exaggerate the differences between the Augustinian position and the other two. A theology that is by grace alone is a theology that is built upon the infinite nature of God. A theology with the free-will and goodness of man is an infinite distance away from the theology of the infinite God. If justification is by faith alone in order to be by grace alone, then the teaching of Scripture on the depravity of man will be consistent with that. The teaching on the depravity of humanity as set out in the Bible, by Augustine, and then the Reformers was one that held to the total depravity of man and was consistent with the biblical teaching of grace.
It is so hard for a human heart that is built upon self-love, pride, and self-sufficiency to hear that it is totally unable to do any thing spiritually good. Even more, it cannot even move itself to be disposed to do so. This is the application of Ephesians 2:1-3 that tells us that all human beings are dead in sins and trespasses and are by nature children of wrath. This takes Romans 8:7-8 seriously: “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” The natural man has no ability to be subject to the law of God and no ability to please God at all. All the natural man does is from a nature that is dead in sins and trespasses. All that comes from that heart is opposed to spiritual things. All that comes from that heart is at enmity with God and opposed to the true love of God.
Romans 3:10-12 gives another devastating statement upon the human condition as it quotes from the Old Testament: “as it is written, “THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” This description of Jew and Gentile describes the aftermath of the fall and of the present state of all who are not in Christ. There is not one individual who is righteous. There is not one single person who understands. There is not one single person who seeks for God. All humanity has turned from God and has become useless. Not one single person does good. Surely these texts of Scripture begin to show us that the Augustinian position is not without scriptural evidence. When the Augustinian position posits its position at this point, it is simply a statement that takes into account what Scripture states on this issue. It is not pleasing to the proud human heart, but that does not negate its truthfulness. The opposition of the human heart to it simply shows the truth of it.
The teaching of the entire depravity of the human race is certainly in the minority in our day. But again, that should not surprise us as it should be expected that sinful hearts will deny the extent of sin in the heart. Those who are proud will not want to think that they are nothing before God. Those who are self-sufficient will hate the idea that they can do nothing to save themselves and that they have to totally rely on the good pleasure of God. One thing we have to be careful of in our day is those who claim to be Reformed but sneak human ability in the back door in disguise. Salvation by grace is glorious in its beauty, but the sinful heart does not want to rely only on God. It is easier to accept an intellectual system of thought that teaches the depravity of man than it is to recognize one’s own deep depravity and utter inability. It is also easier to teach the intellectual part than it is to tell people how wicked and depraved they really are. People still call names and ridicule those who really believe such things.
God Loves... Himself 
March 8, 2008 at 11:50 pm |
Depravity is one thing but entire depravity is another.
If you were entirely depraved you’d have no interest in following the will of God to the best of your ability, limited as it may be.
March 9, 2008 at 8:57 am |
Greetings Sir:
Perhaps the meaning of “entirely depraved” is not
entirely clear. I take the meaning to be that each and
every aspect of the human faculties are depraved. That
is different than saying that each person is as bad as
he or she can possibly be. However, it is saying that
because each faculty or aspect of the human being
(mind, affections, choices) is depraved that person
can do nothing that is not tainted with sin and in
fact for sin. A person can be very religious (as
indeed the Pharisees were) with at least some desire
to outwardly please God though in fact they hated Him.
They served Him in their own minds and they watered
down the laws of God so they could keep them. They did
what they did out of self-intererst.
An entirely depraved person is simply a person with no
love for God and is one that is born dead in sins and
trespasses (Eph 2:1-3). This person is one that can be
nice, good and perhaps very religious but is in fact
in the service of self and self-interest. It is always
in the interest of self to follow the will of God
though many do not see that at all. However, that is a
different thing than having the love of God in a
person and doing all out of love for God. Even though
people hate God they should understand that He is more
powerful than they are and is completely sovereign
over them whether they like it or not or regardless to
the degree they hate Him. He alone can give them true
love for Him. Out of nothing but self-interest a
person can be very religious or follow the ways of sin
with seeming no reserve. That is why Jesus instructs
us to deny ourselves (not deny things from self, but
deny our very self) and follow Him. Until self is
denied, there is no following God though self will
make many claims and efforts to do so.