Total Depravity and Human Righteousness

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The Flower Falls

13 min readAug 3, 2019

NOTE: The post you are about to read is adapted from Chapter 17 of my book The Flower Falls: A Careful Examination of Calvinism’s TULIP. The entire book is available here in blog format, but you can find it in print form on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or ask for it at your favorite bookstore.

Total Depravity and Human Righteousness

You don’t have to know me long to see that I’m totally depraved. Though I’ve been a follower of Jesus Christ for many years, my mind and flesh show evidence of my depravity with far more frequency and intensity than some people might think. Like the apostle Paul, I still do things I don’t want to. And anyone who knows me knows I don’t always do the things I want to. Every part of me is affected by sin. And I’m not alone. Though many people seem to be successful at crucifying their flesh, every one of us is depraved from head to toe, inside and out.

People outside of Calvinistic circles might not use the word depraved to characterize themselves. They might just admit they aren’t perfect. Others might go further and call their imperfection sin. But no matter which word people use, the reality is that none of us have lived a perfect life. As kind and considerate as some of us might be, we all have a tendency toward selfishness, laziness, pride, or one of the many other sins common to humans.

Paul said it simply in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The context of this passage indicates the “all” is comprehensive; including both Jews and Gentiles. But Calvinism’s doctrine of total depravity goes beyond this to claim people are unable to submit to God and do good unless he has chosen them to do so. This idea is foundational to TULIP and lends itself to erroneous assumptions about people who reject it.

Calvinists I’ve spoken with suggest people who reject their view of total depravity must think they’re good enough to merit or earn their salvation. This bold assumption about those who dare to question TULIP’s claims can be too intimidating for many people to stand against. After all, few who read the Scriptures conclude anyone can earn their salvation. The assumption, combined with Calvinistic interpretations of some key Scripture passages, causes many people to conclude that total depravity must be true. But is it? The answer depends on how one defines the term.

Most people who haven’t been influenced by Calvinism read Joshua 24:15, “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve,” and conclude that people really can choose whom to serve. We read the Lord telling Judah to reason together with him and either consent and obey or refuse and rebel (Isaiah 1:18–20), and we conclude they were able to reason, consent, and obey. Likewise, we read Acts 17:30 where Paul said to the men of the Areopagus, “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,” and we conclude that people can repent. These are reasonable conclusions based on the texts. Yet, people who read the Scriptures through the lens of total depravity conclude that humans are so completely depraved they are unable to choose, reason, consent, obey, or repent unless they were unconditionally elected by God to do so.

I witnessed this belief recently in a women’s Bible study where someone asked whether a particular verse was evidence of the free will of humankind. The question caused a quiet stir and uncomfortable smiles among those familiar with Calvinism before a young woman concisely and confidently summed up the Calvinists’ understanding of our ability to reason, saying, “People are always free to choose wrong.” She was right. People are always free to choose wrong. However, the Scriptures also provide strong evidence that people are capable of choosing to do right.

The Scriptures and life experience reveal that every part of humanity is affected by sin. However, no Scripture supports the Calvinistic idea that people are so totally depraved that they are incapable of choosing to do right — even if imperfectly. Nor do the Scriptures say people are incapable of repentance, belief, or receiving God’s gracious offer of Jesus as the perfect and only atoning sacrifice for our imperfect obedience.

The simplicity of Joshua 24:15, Isaiah 1:18–20, Acts 17:30, and dozens of other verses — in fact, the simplicity of the gospel message that tells people to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, is significantly distorted by the idea that people are called to do something they’re incapable of doing. These verses and others cause a measure of timidity in the hearts of even some committed Calvinists. After all, it can’t be easy to trust, let alone worship a god who asks people to believe in him when he himself predestined them not to believe.

Calvinists’ timidity is lessened, however, when they remember passages they believe support their view of total depravity. After all, Romans 3:10–18 says there is none righteous. Genesis 6:5 says every intent of the thoughts of mankind’s heart was only evil continually. Ephesians 2 talks about people being dead in their sins. Isaiah 64:6 says all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. And, some versions of Jeremiah 17:9 say the heart is desperately wicked.

Words like these might quiet even the most ardent objectors to Calvinism — but not when they’re interpreted in context. We’ll take a closer look at Romans 3 here, then go on to examine other “proof texts” for Calvinism’s Total Depravity here and here.

Righteous and Unrighteous People

Calvinists believe Romans 3:10–18 provides strong support for their view of total depravity, but the context provides no room for such confidence. Instead, Paul used the passage to support his statement in verse 9 that “all are under sin.”

“There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving,” “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 paths, and the path of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:10–18).

This passage, drawn from the Old Testament, is often summarized as simply, “There is no one righteous, not even one,” then used by Calvinists to conclude that people are so totally depraved they are incapable of believing the gospel unless God chose and predestined them to do so. The greater context of Paul’s words, however, reveals the Calvinist’s summary and conclusion to be wholly inaccurate.

This statement may sound shocking to those of us who have been conditioned to believe no one is righteous, but many passages throughout the Old and New Testaments speak of people being righteous. Genesis 6:9 says, “These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” Moreover, David wrote in Psalm 34, “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry (v. 15). He wrote, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all” (v 19). And he wrote of righteous people in Psalm 55:22: “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you: He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” Beyond this, Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runs in to it and is safe.”

The word translated “righteous” in each of these passages is the same word God used to speak of himself in the song he told Moses to teach the Israelites before they entered the promised land: “The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4).

These are only a few of the Old Testament passages that speak of righteous people. The New Testament also has many. Mary’s husband Joseph is called a righteous man in Matthew 1:19. Peter wrote of “righteous Lot” who “felt his righteous soul tormented” by the lawless deeds of those he lived among (2 Peter 2:7–8). Luke called Joseph of Arimathea “a good and righteous man” (Luke 23:50). And Jesus spoke of righteous men in Matthew 13:17, “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

The Scriptures not only speak of righteous people, they speak of people who fear God. Acts 10:1–2 describes the Italian centurion Cornelius as “a devout man and one who feared God with all his household.” And, though Paul wrote in Romans 3:18, “There is no fear of God before their eyes,” Acts 13:16 records him addressing people in Antioch as “men of Israel and you who fear God.”

Considering that righteous people and people who feared God were spoken of throughout biblical history, how should we interpret Romans 3? Was Paul inconsistent in saying no one fears God, then addressing “You who fear God” in Acts 13:16? Absolutely not! As always, the answer lies in the context.

Paul spent the first two chapters of Romans contrasting two groups of people. The first, described in 1:18–32, was people who, though surrounded by evidence of God, suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. The second was the Jews who relied on their position as God’s chosen people and their keeping of the Law for their salvation (2:1–29).

After making distinctions between the two groups and saying in 2:1–2 that those who practice such things would be judged, Paul began asking a series of questions designed to instruct his readers. Chapter 3 begins with him asking, “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?” Paul answered the question in verse 2 by saying one of the advantages was that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. Then he asked in verse 3, “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?” Again, he answered in the next sentence, “May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar.”

Paul continued asking and answering questions for the next several verses before finally asking in verse 9, “What then? Are we better than they?” Here again, he answered in the same verse, “Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.” Then, after saying all are under sin, Paul launched into his famous “There is none” statements: none righteous, none who understands, none who seek God, and more (vv. 10–18). Calvinists often interpret his words as a condemnation of all men, but the context reveals they were a condemnation of the two groups of people he addressed in chapters 1 and 2: those who deny God and those who rely on their keeping of the Law as a means of attaining their own righteousness.

No One Who Does Good

Romans 3:10–18 is a compilation of several Old Testament passages: Psalm 14:1–3; Psalm 5:9; Psalm 10:5–11; Isaiah 59:7–8; and Psalm 36:1. Each refers to people who deny God in either word or deed. The full text of Psalm 14:1–3 reads:

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.”

The wickedness and depravity of people is evident in this passage, but its greater context speaks of righteous people. After writing in verses 1–3 of corrupt fools who did no good, David referenced workers of wickedness in verse 4 but went on to claim “God is with the righteous generation” (v. 5). Similarly, he wrote in Psalm 5:9 about men of bloodshed and deceit: “There is nothing reliable in what they say; their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.” Yet he went on in verses 11–12 to speak of people who take refuge in the Lord and concluded, “For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.”

Likewise, while Psalm 10:5–11 speaks of wicked people who spurn God, verse 17 speaks of God hearing the desire of the humble and strengthening their hearts. And, while Isaiah 59:7–8 speaks of people who do not know the way of peace and whose feet run to evil, verse 20 suggests that people can turn from their transgression: “A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob.”

Furthermore, while it’s true that among the fools who deny God there is none righteous and none who fear God, rather than concluding that there is no hope for them, Psalm 107 reveals that even they had the capacity to cry out to be saved:

“Fools, because of their rebellious way, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their souls abhorred all kinds of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions” (vv. 17–20).

Ponder that passage for a moment. It should not be taken lightly. For in it, God’s amazing grace is powerfully displayed. Fools who were drawing near to the gates of death cried out to God in the midst of their trouble, and he saved, healed, and delivered them! These verses beautifully illustrate God’s desire for people to be saved and his eagerness to forgive.

Following the Flow

Calvinists view Romans 3:10–18 as a condemnation of all humanity, but the greater context of the passage reveals it’s a condemnation of people who knew God and continually denied him. Paul described them this way in Romans 1:22–23: “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

After writing about fools in chapter 1, Paul said, “Everyone of you who passes judgment” has no excuse, “for you who judge practice the same things” (Romans 2:1). He then expounded on that statement throughout chapters 2 and 3 before concluding, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19–20).

These are strong and necessary words for people who consider themselves righteous because of their own good works, but Paul didn’t stop with words of condemnation. He went on in verses 21–26 to say:

“But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

The wonderful truth of this passage is, although people who deny God and rely on their ability to keep the Law will not be declared righteous, righteousness and justification are available to all people who put their faith in Jesus — whether past, present, or future. Paul understood this truth well. Referring to the works of the Law that he formerly believed contributed to his righteousness, he wrote in Philippians 3:8–9:

“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.”

From righteous Noah to righteous Joseph of Arimathea and the many people in between, the Scriptures refer to righteous people. Yet, rather than having a righteousness of their own or a righteousness derived from keeping the Law, they, like Abraham, were declared righteous by faith. Quoting from Genesis 15:6, Paul wrote in Romans 4:3, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

It’s true that no one will be declared righteous apart from faith and that people are unable to earn, merit, or purchase salvation; but neither Romans 3 nor its greater context supports Calvinism’s view of total depravity. Nevertheless, just as Calvinists look to Paul’s statements in Romans 3 and erroneously claim there is no one righteous, so they look to Isaiah 64 and Genesis 6 to claim people can’t believe God unless he predestined them to do so. Is that what those passages say? When you’re ready, I hope you’ll join me here where we’ll consider them in context.

You can connect with me on Twitter X, or email me at patti@theflowerfallsoff.com

To read more, return to the homepage or follow one of the links below.

Calvinism’s Errors: A Brief Introduction

The Protestant Reformation: Truth and Error

Calvinism, Illusory Truth, and the Scriptures

The Sovereignty and Will of God

Chosen and Predestined Ephesians 1

Calvinism and the Plain Sense of Pronouns

Redemption, Adoption, and the Seal of the Spirit- Ephesians

Romans 8- Foreknown and Predestined

Romans 8:33- A Charge Against God’s Elect

Romans 9- Love & Hate, Potter & Clay