1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 1:1-3, ESV).
Without any moxie in regards to the truths that define our faith, Christianity is no different than any other man-made religion.
The truth of God offends carnal man.
Despite my affection for Martin Luther, he is not the founder of our faith. However, Luther shared that truth which wasn’t accommodating in an era drenched in untruth and theological muck. He took his stand—”Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen!” Luther merely rediscovered the wonderful and foundational truths upon which our faith is built—when truth was a pretty lonely topic. He wasn’t willing to be quiet about it. When I survey today’s theological landscape, it seems Luther’s day may have met its match. We could use another Luther or two. The cornerstone of our evangelical tradition is a line drawn in the sand concerning justification by faith alone. That is to say, we neither add one ounce to—nor subtract one ounce from—the saving work of Christ. Our personal redemption owes its entire existence to the handiwork of Christ. Start to finish.
Risking the danger of oversimplification, one may say that evangelicals and Roman Catholics together teach that God by his grace is the only Savior of sinners, that self-salvation is impossible, and that the death of Jesus Christ as a propitiatory sacrifice is the ultimate ground of justification. But precisely what justification is, how it relates to other aspects of salvation and how it takes place—these are areas of continuing and anxious debate (John Stott, The Cross of Christ, page 184).
Another grand doctrine within our evangelical tradition is a firm held position concerning man’s fallenness. Man is completely lost. He is rotten at his core and therefore it has spread to his every fiber. He has no chance at being redeemed outside the realm of a saving faith rooted and anchored in the finished work of Christ. The reformers would refer to man’s age old dilemma as ‘total depravity’. It’s as old as the first Adam. There is no negotiating here with our more compassionate fellows who wish to argue that man has some good traits, some redeeming qualities of his own—or anything to bring to the table when speaking of justification.
Stott continues, Evangelicals feel the need to press Roman Catholics about sin, grace, faith and works. Roman Catholics are uncomfortable when we talk about ‘total depravity’ (that every part of our humanness has been twisted by the Fall), which lies behind our insistence on the need both for a radical salvation and for noncontributory grace. They find this a pessimistic view of the human condition, involving an inadequate doctrine of creation. They add that human beings have not lost their free will and are therefore able to cooperate with grace and contribute to salvation. We, however, see the need to underline the New Testament antitheses regarding salvation. ‘It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast’ (Eph 2:8-9). ‘We… know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ’ (Gal 2:16). again, ‘he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy’ (Tit 3:5).
That’s about as good as it gets when explaining the link between total depravity and justification.
And Stott again, We cannot avoid the stark alternative that such texts put before us. Not works, but grace. Not law, but faith. Not our righteous deeds, but his mercy. There is no cooperation here between God and us, only a choice between two mutually exclusive ways, his and ours. Moreover the faith that justifies is emphatically not another work. No, to say ‘justification by faith’ is merely another way of saying ‘justification by Christ.’
In conclusion, salvation is only ‘given’ to an undeserving man, it is never ‘payment’ to a deserving man. Man offers absolutely nothing in the salvation equation but his sure and deserved damnation. Christ on the other hand richly provides paradise and life to the hilt.
Our total depravity makes justification the one life or death transaction we can’t afford to miss.
“Man is completely lost. He is rotten at his core and therefore it has spread to his every fiber……There is no negotiating here with our more compassionate fellows who wish to argue that man has some good traits, some redeeming qualities of his own”
Guess I will have to argue this point a bit, Ken….I believe mankind does have many redeeming qualities…witnessed first-hand the incredible compassionate qualities man demonstrated during WW2 during battle when many risked their lives to attend to the wounds suffered by their comrades…I see it daily in the reaching out to the poor during these difficult economic days by so many, volunteering their time and money to ease others sufferings…I see it in the laughter of babies and children as parents play with their young ones…I see it in the care provided by our health professionals as they fight to save a life in ERs around the world…I see it in watching an elderly couple help each other, holding hands, as they cross a busy intersection together…I see it watching my wife carefully fill the bird feeder daily to assure these little creatures they have food to keep them fed during freezing weather…I see it in every act of love and compassion daily by so many.
The list is endless…but yes, there is also evil in the world..we see it all about us…Guess I am offended by evangelicals constantly preaching how “rotten” we all are..we are not all rotten, not by a long shot…we may never reach Christ’s standards for our lives..we may never make the sacrifice He did for us…we will never reach the perfection God has set for our lives..but by the example of Christs life, we are closer than we were before He came to us…
I think often, when a parent constantly criticizes his children, how more likely than not that child will “rise” to the level his parents describe him or her…
I understand the theology behind your words, Ken but…please, please, why can’t evangelicals stop to consider the impact how such negativity hinders so many struggling people…yes, we will never be perfect but to say we are so “rotten” at the core, many folks may well say to themselves, why even try to alter our lives.. tell a person often enough he is “rotten” to the core, he may come to believe it…
Let’s begin to understand the power of “words” and start to appeal to the better side of human nature by using more uplifting and more positive words…
You all will argue this but I make no apologies…I still love you all..
I will beg to differ as you figured I would Steve—respectfully.
This isn’t about “negative” or “positive” here and I am not beating myself down here—let alone anyone else—we have our ways of doing that in sick and self-righteous kinds of ways. As you know, I am not elevating man either (at least I am not attempting to, we do that quiet well as it is). I could be the most inspirational person alive (I am certain I am not). I can be less, or more evil than the next guy (if others only knew the depths I can sink to). Either way—unless I address my own capacity for evil I am only deceiving myself. Do we believe that if it weren’t for the grace of God (realized or ignored) we’ wouldn’t be as evil as evil gets? Jeffrey Dahmer came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ by his own admission (and i don’t doubt it). The issue I take up here is that Jesus didn’t come to make people feel better about themselves—or bad about themselves for that matter. Jesus didn’t come for our self-image. He came to rescue us from ourselves if the gospel says anything. We should have enough sense to know that we are depraved and damned, but we don’t. We are incredibly clueless without God’s help. Without the light God gives, we go on living like death will never knock on our door, that the prospect of eternity is a figment of our imagination, and that we are fine. The gospel doesn’t ignore these facts—or our lostness.
The Son of God came to make the salvation of our lost souls possible for his own purposes and the good pleasure of his Father. We reap the reward. I will also point out that God’s righteous wrath against mankind could only be satisfied by God himself. Hence, the life of Christ was desperatly necessary. The writer of Hebrews writes, “…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” I’d say the joy set before Christ included our salvation and very much so. If we had our own redeeming qualities what joy would there be in dying for a bunch of deserving good old boys? He came to make all things new; including our dark hearts to say the least. He came to announce his reign and his Kingdom. And he came to serve Satan his walking papers. He severed Satan’s death grip on those he himself came to redeem and to nullify Satan’s rights to us (via our own surrender in sinning). He came to suffer and die and rise from the dead victorious. But not for naught, or for an add on. We, and those before us, were hell-bound without his doing so. His mission was to save us. He has succeeded. That’s obvious, where we would be or where we would be headed without his influence in our lives?
My point is this—without a keen awareness of our position, we have no need for Jesus and we don’t very well turn to a savior we sort of need or might make our life more meaningful. Our Savior died for those who couldn’t help their situation. Our epidemic isn’t that we aren’t positive enough. It’s that the gospel we so often believe in has been watered down to the point of being another self-help or positive thinking message (of which it is neither). The gospel is God’s declaration that Jesus Christ is the “only way” and that there is no hope whatsoever for man outside of Christ (he is exclusive). This is the message that isn’t proclaimed near enough. It’s guys like me that need to speak God’s truth more and our own ideas less. Any “other gospel” that gets a minute of air time gets too much. The gospel (not me) explicitly lays out the case of our guilt. It never stops there of course, because God’s point in sending and offering his Son wasn’t to condemn us (John 3:16-18). We already were doomed with no help of his or anyone else’s’ for that matter (i.e., parents may have abused, neglected, or abandoned us—but we have violated God’s entire law ourselves). The Scriptures include the ugly parts because without its saying so many of us would forever remain unconvicted of our own pile of individual sins that we are responsible for and must give an account for. “I’m not so bad” doesn’t need Jesus the Savior or have the capacity for a meaningful faith. A faith that merely makes us feel good isn’t the faith that saves. The bad news in the gospel overshadowed by God’s response is what makes the gospel so glorious. It is the gospel’s words about our judgement that makes us uncomfortable—but comfort isn’t what we need most when what we need more is rescue.
If we believe God has created us (you and I do), than we must assume that any good we do comes from him (including any kindness Mother Theresa demonstrated towards the destitute or any brotherly love the guy serving life in Jackson State demonstrates towards another felon). Why I write that we have no redeeming qualities of our own is simple: We sinned, and blew it all by our own doing. We have shown what we do with the choice to choose. As Stott argues “There is no cooperation here between God and us, only a choice between two mutually exclusive ways, his and ours.”
Sin isn’t curbed unless there is something restraining it. Sin comes in all shapes and sizes. It doesn’t have to be seen. God’s “common grace” can be credited for the “good deeds” of the pagans—or the nice old lady who bakes cookies for all of the patients laying in a bed at the local hospital. If we are sort of good we really don’t need much saving Steve. Any good we have has been a result of God’s giving it to us. James writes, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…” Corruption spreads. Goodness is a gift. We get worse before we get better. I can be as upstanding as I try or wish to be (shoveling everyones driveway and feeding the poor with every last dime I have), but greed and lust can be ruling my soul all the while. The only reason evil hasn’t completely dominated and conquered us is that God’s hand has remained active in pushing it back when it has surfaced—only allowing it to proceed so far.
We must proclaim man’s guilt. God doesn’t gloss over it. Good news means bad news first. If we aren’t hopeless without Jesus whats the point? Why his suffering and death? Because we needed a “little” help? A Savior for good people is no savior for me. I think people feeling as if they aren’t rotten without Jesus is what makes the gospel so small, so insignificant, and even so foolish to so many. Paul said it was foolishness to those who are perishing after all, and why wouldn’t it be if we are okay. To people who know they are rotten I say, good—the gospel is for you. Jesus will forgive you and redeem you, and you don’t have to do a thing to earn it (what makes anyone think they could?).
That is emphatically the gospel—the greatest news in the world for sinners of all varieties.
I’m really bad.
But thank God—Jesus is my goodness.
And as always, I love you too!
[...] Over at the blog my younger brother and I are conversing at I have recently posted a piece in conjuction with a series of posts I intend to write tackling the bedrock doctrine of atonement—The Link Between Total Depravity and Justification. [...]
Ken,
I agree with you and unfortunately today our society doesn’t want to face the truth about ourselves or the gospel. thanks be to god that I am forgiven! I don’t think that being aware of our shortcomings is a terrible truth. I believe it is a necassary mirror that we need to look into daily. I find strength in my walk knowing that I am a sinner at the core. I am glad i found your post. God Bless you.