“THE DEPRAVITY OF MAN”
Left on his own will and merit, man will never come to Christ on his own free will! God has to take the initial initiative, and make the first move before anyone will come. The natural man, left on his own merit, without the intervention of God, is never able to do any good that is fundamentally pleasing to God, and, in fact, does evil all of the time!
In Genesis 6:5 it states, “That the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was ONLY evil continually.” In Genesis 8:21, God said, “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” In Jeremiah 17:9, Jeremiah said, “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” In Psalms 51:5, we are taught this depravity even applies to babies. “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
And again, Paul quoted from Psalms 14 and 53 when he said, “There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who seeks after God” There is no one who does good, no, not even one. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” So, in other words, not only do men not do what is pleasing to God, but without His intervention, they are unable to even do so!
Jesus, in Matthew 7:17-18 asked, “Can we pick grapes from thorn bushes to figs from thistles?” He answered His own question. “No, every good tree bears good fruit, and the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” In other words, the unsaved man cannot do what is truly good.
Along with the same line, Paul, in Romans 8:7-8 says, “The mind of the flesh ( the unregenerate ) is hostile to God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be; and those who are in the flesh ( unregenerate ) cannot please God.”
Jesus, in John 15:4-5 explained, “Just as the branch is not able by itself to bear fruit, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can YOU unless you abide in me. Apart from me, you can do nothing.” That certainly sounds like total inability to me! If a man is not regenerated, or in other terms, “born again,” “converted,” “saved,” “elected,” etc., he cannot even understand the truth!
Jesus, even after doing all the miracles He did, could not get certain Jews to believe He was God. In John 8:43, He asked “why don’t you understand what I say?” Then, He answered the question, “Because you are not able to hear my word.” Even though they physically heard with their outer ears, they did not hear with their inner “Spiritual” ears, because they were not spiritually alive or regenerated.
This explains why some people can read and study the Bible all of their lives, and yet still reject Jesus as Lord, God, and Savior! Paul hit the nail on the head when he stated in 1 Corinthians 1:2 that the word of the cross is foolishness to those who go to hell. ( I Cor.1:18). In verse 21, he said by their own “wisdom”, they did not come to know God. He further stated in 1 Cor. 2:14, “the natural man ( unregenerate ) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto them: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
In plain language, without the aid of the Holy Spirit, no one is able to understand the things of God, or is able to come to Him alone! Jesus plainly taught this truth in John’s gospel. John 6:44 “NO MAN CAN come to Me, EXCEPT the Father which has sent Me DRAW him.”
He again states the same thing in John 6:65. That is TOTAL depravity; man CANNOT choose Christ. He cannot even take the first step unless the Father draws him! Since “No one” can come, Jesus said, that makes it universal! Jesus compares the analogy as a birth; “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ( John 3:3 ).
Just as a baby NEVER decides on his own to be born “physically”, no man can decide on his own to be born “spiritually.” Neither do they contribute the necessary ingredient to their births! Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW creation.” No creation can produce itself! Therefore, so one saves himself.
Paul said in Ephesians 2:1, “And he made you alive when you were dead through your trespasses and sins.” In Colossians 2:13, he further stated we were dead in our sin. He did not say we were just weak, or sick, but DEAD! So, if we were DEAD, did we ever posses the ability to even ask God for help? Anyone dead cannot even open his mouth or even desire to call a doctor to make him alive. HE IS DEAD!!
When Christ called Lazarus out of the grave, He took the initiative! Lazarus could not even think of WANTING to live, he was dead! Therefore, is it Biblical to say that the unsaved are able to? Wouldn’t this be putting the wagon ahead of the horse? The truth is, if he is dead in his sins and trespasses, ( Ephesians ), he is unable to ask for help unless God changes his heart of stone into a heart of flesh and makes him alive spiritually. ( Ephesians 2:15 ).
Then, after being born again, spiritually, for the first time, he can for the first time turn to Christ and ask to be saved and be forgiven of his sins! The Bible teaches that not only is God the Author of redemption, but the Author of FAITH: and THAT ( The Faith ) is not of yourselves: it is a gift from God.” ( Ephesians 2:8 ). The truth of this whole matter IS THAT SALVATION IS OF THE lord ( John 2:9) and depends TOTALLY on Him!
Man left on his own merit cannot come to God. Jeremiah knew this truth when he said, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or can the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, that are accustomed to do evil?”
CONT.>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Blessings!
Marked Elect
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