The Total Depravity of Men and the Sovereignty of God
These teachings are seriously lacking in the church today. There is no other teaching that puts God on His throne like this one does! God is Almighty, and you are not, oh man!
Genesis 2:16-17, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” What is this spiritual death? Let’s look at it for a moment. Adam and Eve were formed perfect. They had free-will to do whatever: Please God or rebel against God. They chose to rebel and it brought death to them, and to all their descendents after them. Romans 5:12: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” You may have never heard this before, but spiritual death means that a person is in bondage to sin and CANNOT DO GOOD, CANNOT CHOOSE GOOD, AND CANNOT CHOOSE GOD. Romans 3:10-11: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.” So, here is the doctrine of total depravity: Man cannot be saved unless God sovereignly elects that man to be saved. Here is a question….. Why did Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, and also the little girl? WHY WOULD HE DO THAT? Jesus healed people so that it would be a shadow of what eternal healing provides. And Jesus raised the dead to be a shadow of “the new birth.” Let’s look at the story of Lazarus. Read John 11:38-44. Now let me ask you this question…. Could Lazarus raise himself from the dead? What did Jesus say was the purpose for raising Lazarus? “did I not tell you (the people) that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” What is the glory of God? That God is the God of the living! God raises the dead…. What would be important about restoring earthly life that will die again???? NOTHING…. The glory of God to be seen is that God raises us from the dead spiritually…. So, what does this all mean???? It means that when Adam died, every faculty of his being died. Adam could not sew fig leaves together to save himself. Adam could not choose God or come to God…. God had to come to him. Adam’s free-will was dead and bent to only evil and not to God. And so we too are bent to evil and not to God. Our free-will chooses only evil, unless God regenerates our hearts to be born again. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />....
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Let’s read John 3:1-8. Jesus was approached by Nicodemus because he was amazed at the miracles performed by Him. Jesus responds to him and says “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Why would someone need to be born again? Because they are dead! And how can someone be dead, and yet still have any faculties in his being that can reach out to God? A man without the Spirit of God, cannot accept the things of God. Nicodemus didn’t understand it either, because Nicodemus was dead in trespasses. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless He is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to the Spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, You must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” ....
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WOW WHAT AN AMAZING PASSAGE!!! Do you understand what Jesus is saying? Flesh gives birth to flesh…. When your parents decided to have you, they chose to have you and gave birth to flesh (you had no ability to choose your fleshly birth). Flesh (free-will or religious practice) cannot give birth to Spirit. Just as the Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, so does the Spirit raise us from the dead. Jesus said that we must be born of water and the Spirit. If you don’t know, “water” is the Word of God. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Rom. 10:17), and by the Spirit. And then Jesus likens the born again person to wind. We do not know who will be saved, but God does. Just as the wind blows and we can’t see it or know where it comes from, so it is with future Christians—we do not know who will be saved. We are to proclaim God’s Word to all people because we do not know which ones God has elected to be saved. Do you want to see an Old Testament example of what Jesus is talking about here??? Read Ezekiel 37:1-14. Do you see it????? God commanded Ezekiel to “prophesy” which means proclaim God’s Word. And the Spirit of God, through the proclaiming of God’s Word breathed life into dead bones. God even asked Ezekiel…. “Can these live?” And Ezekiel said, “Oh Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” (v. 3). SOVEREIGN LORD! It is God who chose to raise them from the dead! Sovereign because He is in control over all creation from its beginning to its end! He is the only Savior. Ezekiel could not raise them from the dead and the dead cannot raise themselves from the dead. It is a sovereign work of God alone. Ezekiel was the messenger of God’s Word. The Spirit is what will win a soul, because it is only by the Spirit of God that man’s Spirit can be born again to “choose God.” This is the doctrine of Regeneration. God opens the eyes of a dead sinner by the use of His Word (“Repent!”) and then when that man is convicted of his sin (“and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ”), he is saved. John 6:44 – “No one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…” Now let’s read Romans 8:28-31. If God has predestined you to be saved, who can be against you? Now read Romans 9:9-23. ....
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This is the most powerful statement in the Bible in reference to God’s choosing. One of the hardest things to accept about God’s election is trying to understand why some aren’t saved. And here is the answer that makes God SOVEREIGN OVER ALL CREATION! God is a just God. I used to hate this chapter in the Bible! I never understood how this could be my God. Verse 11 says, “before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works (religious practices or free-will) but by Him who calls.” Jacob was a liar and nowhere near more holy than Esau. God chose Jacob, because “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (v. 15). Verse 16 says, “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” God hardens who he wants to harden…. Now here is the most important thing to remember…. God does all this to show his power; to show that He is God and we are not. God is a just God for letting men who are dead in their trespasses and cannot choose God, to continue in their free-will. Man’s free-will according to Romans 3:11, does not want God. So, God is just for giving men what they want. And He is ALL MARVELOUSLY GRACIOUS AND FULL OF MERCY FOR OPENING THE EYES OF A DEAD SINNER. I fall to my face because….. WHY ME? WHY DID HE CHOOSE ME? THERE IS NOTHING GOOD IN ME!!!! I SHOULD BE A DEAD SINNER, BUT WHY ME???? HE IN ALL HIS MERCY CHOSE TO GIVE ME GRACE. Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not by works, so that no one can boast.” Who can boast of choosing God, when it is God who chose you? Did you ever wonder why some people much smarter than you don’t believe in Jesus??? It’s because they can’t hear—they are dead!!! Matthew 13:13-15: “This is why I speak in parables: Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” Then Jesus said in verse 16: “but blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” Now do you see why Jesus healed the blind and gave hearing to the deaf? It was to show a spiritual truth! Just as Jesus heals your earthly deafness, I REALLY CAME TO HEAL YOUR SPIRITUAL DEAFNESS! I raised Lazarus from the dead, and even raised Myself from the dead, so that you can see I RAISE YOU’RE SPIRIT FROM THE DEAD! And again Jesus tells Peter after Peter is “born-again” to who Jesus is…. “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” ....
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One of the hardest things for me to accept was in Romans 9:19-21 when Paul assumes the critique of men when they would say, “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” Paul doesn’t even answer their question!!! Paul simply goes back and says “But who are you oh man to talk back to God?” And this is the only real answer we need! HE IS GOD AND WE ARE NOT! This very truth reveals the pride in our hearts. There is no other scripture in the Bible that will expose your pride as much as this verse! Who are you oh man to talk back to God??? What happened in the story of Job? Job ranted forever about “woe is me.” But God never told Job why He did what He did…. God just showed Job, that He is God, and Job is not! God is exceedingly merciful for regenerating the hearts of the elect (Rom. 9:23), and He’s all powerful and just for letting some follow their own hearts and free-will to destruction (Rom. 9:22) It’s always good to remember that throughout history, God has always had a remnant! Blessed are you to be in that remnant! If God allowed all of us to our own free-will that was in bondage to sin and death, he would be perfectly just for doing it… But if God reaches down out of that cesspool of death and picks a remnant for Himself, then through that, His Glory is magnified by His great mercy shown to us. ....
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The doctrine of total depravity is this: Man is dead in his trespasses and every faculty of his being is affected. He cannot do good things to save himself. He cannot choose God. Even his free-will is affected. Only Adam had the ability to truly choose God, and he forfeited it and became a slave to sin and death. ....
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The doctrine of the Sovereignty of God is this: That God has known all things from the beginning of creation, even whom He would save. God is not the author of evil, nor enjoys it. God gave free-will, but that free-will chose death and is now forever in death, unless God “re-births” us to be “new creations.” God is in control of all things, and if there is anything not under His control and authority, then He would cease to be God. ....
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These doctrines go a lot deeper than just this, but these are just the basic tidbits of it. So, everything you said about salvation is true, but I just added depth to it!! It is very, very, very important to know what sin and death really are. Sin is missing the mark of holiness, but death makes you a slave to itself. The wages of sin is death. This is why it is important to be holy. Because without holiness no one can see God (Heb. 12:14). Now do you see how marvelous Jesus is for giving us His holiness. We are not holy in practice (yet), but we are holy in declaration. God has called us holy as in a court of law, not by our works, but by His Works. True separation from God is being dead to God and not being able to reach Him because you cannot see or hear. THIS IS WHY HE’S A SAVIOR! Because He comes to someone who is COMPLETELY HELPLESS, and doesn’t even know they need help! And opens their eyes. Understanding these doctrinal truths is just the beginning….
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If you can accept these clear teachings of the Bible, then you will be able to understand many, many errors floating around in Christianity today. You will understand that you cannot “sweet-talk” someone to Jesus. Only the proclaiming of His Word with the power of the Holy Spirit can lead someone to Christ. All we have to do is make sure we are preaching the Gospel and nothing else! What did Paul say in 1 Cor. 2:3-5: “I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” AMEN!
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