Total Depravity:Only Evil Continually

Published in

The Flower Falls

9 min readMay 21, 2019

Few people today know the names of their ancestors of 1,000 years ago. Some of us may have had the privilege of knowing our great grandparents, but many are thankful just to know our grandparents. This experience is far different than the people whose names are recorded in the first six chapters of Genesis. It’s likely that many of them not only knew their great grandparents, they knew ancestors going back several hundred years.

The Genesis 5 genealogical record reveals that just over one thousand years after Adam was banished from the garden, God told his seventh-generation great-grandson Noah to build the ark. It might be hard to imagine, but because Adam and his ancestors lived for hundreds of years, it’s quite possible that Noah’s father, Lamech, knew Adam. It’s even more likely that Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah, spent time with Adam during the more two hundred years that he lived before Adam died.

It’s not often noted, but the genealogical record reveals that Adam died just over a hundred years before Noah was born. Sadly though, while Adam had first-hand knowledge of his creator’s goodness and justice, his testimony about God seemed to have little impact on the people of Noah’s day. The truths Adam and Eve passed down to generation after generation of their descendants had become so distorted that, by Noah’s time, most people had no regard for God. Instead, they seemed to think and live only in accordance with their fleshly minds. Genesis 6:5 says it this way: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Calvinists see these words and claim them as proof for the total depravity of humankind, but, in doing so, they ignore the greater context of the passage. While it’s true that God said that every intent of the hearts of men was only evil continually, but four verses later we read, “…Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). These few words provide important clarification when considering Calvinism’s idea of Total Depravity. I don’t point them out as evidence that people can be good enough to earn their salvation. Noah’s salvation had nothing to do with his sinless. It had everything to do with him being “righteous.” Solomon had it right when he wrote in Ecclesiastes 7:20 that there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. When, and how, Noah sinned is inconsequential because righteousness has been credited to individuals by faith — apart from works.

The devastating flood recorded in Genesis 6–8 is a picture of God’s wrath poured out on the sin of those who had turned their back on him. But the flood, and God’s promises that followed it, are also a picture of his amazing grace. It was in accordance with his grace that God made a covenant with Noah and his descendants, saying he would never flood the world again (Genesis 9:11). This covenant was preceded by God’s thoughts as recorded in Genesis 8:21; “…I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.” This verse undeniably says that the intent of man’s heart is evil. However, unlike in Genesis 6, God did not use the words every and continually here. This is a significant distinction.

The whole of Scripture supports the truth that the intent of human hearts is bent toward evil from youth. Based on our own experiences, few of us will deny that evil manifests itself in our lives as selfishness, laziness, pride, greed, or several other ways. But please consider, is your every thought only evil continually? We could spend days discussing this question philosophically, but since truth is not based on our experiences or opinions, let’s see what the Scriptures have to say about the thoughts and heart of people.

Genesis 8:21 speaks of the intent of men’s heart being evil from his youth, but it does not support the idea that people are so depraved that they are incapable of good thoughts, motives, or actions. In fact, there are at least two Scriptures that indicate the opposite.

Paul wrote in Romans 2:14, “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.” Paul did not say that people can keep the law perfectly and be saved. In fact, just a little while later, in Romans 3:20, he said that no person would be justified by the works of the Law. What Paul did say in Romans 2:14 is that people “instinctively” do things of the Law; a law which he later called “holy,” “righteous,” and “good” (Romans 7:12). Regardless of our personal experience or philosophical ideas, it defies the law of non-contradiction to say on the one hand that people are so totally depraved that they are incapable of choosing good, and on the other to say that they are capable of doing good instinctively. Both cannot be true.

A more obscure passage also disproves the idea of Total Depravity. Speaking of Jeroboam’s son, 1 Kings 14:13 says, “All Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him, something good was found toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.” In presenting this verse, I am not claiming that Jeroboam’s son was without sin and deserved or could earn salvation. I am merely pointing out that something “good” was found in him. I’m inclined to believe that the good found in Jeroboam’s son is that which reflects the image of God that all people carry. Either way, while it’s true that the thoughts and intentions of humankind are bent toward evil, this passage, Romans 2:14, and others support the truth that we can make decisions contrary to our bents.

Peter wrote of daring and self-willed people who are like unreasoning animals born as creatures of instinct, but he did not say that they are unreasoning animals (2 Peter 2:12). Human beings have reasoning capabilities which have been given to us by God; the same God who calls us to use them to respond to his grace. Job spoke in Job 23:7 of the upright reasoning with God. The Pharisees reasoned in Luke 5:21. Paul reasoned from the Scriptures with the Thessalonians in Acts 17:2. And, in saying that the prodigal son “came to his senses,” and decided to return to his father, confess his unworthiness, and offer himself as a hired servant, Jesus suggested that the son had the ability to reason. Even Paul, who acknowledged in Romans 7:14–24 that no good thing dwelt in is flesh, went on to speak in the next breath of serving God with his mind. Romans 7:25 says: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand, I myself with my mind am serving the Law of God, but on the other hand, with my flesh the law of sin.” Each of these passages demonstrates the ability of humans to reason, come to their senses, return, and cry out to God. Yet, seasoned Calvinists point to Romans 8:6–8 as evidence that people are not able to subject themselves to God. There Paul wrote:

For the mind set on the flesh is death; but the mind
set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind
of the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not
subject itself to the law of God, or it is
not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Indeed, those whose minds are set on the flesh cannot submit to (and therefore cannot please) God. However, there’s nothing in this passage to suggest that people cannot choose where to set their mind. In fact, other passages indicate not only our ability but our responsibility to set our minds rightly. Paul wrote to the Colossians, “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” The word translated mind here is phroneo; this the same word used in the Romans 8 passage we just looked at. Phroneo is a verb that speaks of the thoughts of man. In other words, Romans 8:6 can be translated “the thoughts of men set on the flesh is death.” Phroneo comes from the noun phren which is only used 2 times in the Scriptures — both in the 1 Corinthians 14:20 where Paul wrote: “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.” This word is different than the word he used in Romans 7 to say he served God with his mind. There he used nous, which refers to the intelligence and reasoning capabilities of humans.

Historical usage of phren suggests it is more involved with the emotions, and, as such, it has been described as a dynamic force. This may explain why the ancient Greek writer Sophocles suggested nous is superior to phren. I won’t make a judgment on that, but those who have dwelled on a particular thought or emotion that is in opposition to their reason and intellect likely understand the difference between nous (intelligence and reasoning) and phren or phroneo (thought/emotions).

People who know the song I Have Decided to Follow Jesus will likely recognize that, though in response to God’s grace, they may have decided to follow Jesus with their reasoning mind (nous), their thoughts (phren) can wander. In fact, not only are our thoughts often in opposition to our reasoned and intellectual mind (causing internal conflict), the battle between the two can cause conflict in the greater body of Christ. Perhaps this is why Paul exhorted believers to “be of one mind” (Romans 12:16, 15:5; 2 Corinthians 13:11, Philippians 2:2); to not think of themselves more highly than they ought (Romans 12:3); and to “adopt no other view” (Galatians 5:10).

Despite the battles that wage between our reasoning minds and the thoughts that sometimes fill them, the Scriptures indicate that humans have the God-given ability and responsibility to reason and to choose where to set their mind. When entrenched in the battle between our mind and thoughts, like Paul, we can cry out “Wretched man that I am, who will set me free from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) Also, like Paul, we can give thanks and acknowledge that only “God, through Jesus Christ our Lord” is able to rescue us (Romans 7:25). These words of Paul seem to reflect those of Jeremiah who recognized his inability to save himself and cried out to God for salvation. Jeremiah bemoaned the deceitful human heart in chapter 17, but he didn’t stop there. Like Paul, he went on to reveal the remedy; cry out to God.

We’ll complete our examination of TULIP’s Total Depravity by looking at Jeremiah’s words about the heart and Paul’s words about being dead in trespasses and sins. But before moving on, please take a moment to consider whether God’s words in Genesis 6:5 say what they must to support Calvinism’s Total Depravity. Then, if you’d like, join me here to see what Jeremiah and Paul had to say.

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

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

Preface

Reformation Truth and Error

The Illusionary Truth of Calvinism

Context and the Simple Truths of Scripture

The Sovereignty and Will of God

Chosen and Predestined Ephesians 1

Pronouns and the Plain Sense

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

Romans 8- Foreknown and Predestined

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