Matthew 7:11
Matthew 7:11 (see also Ephesians 2:1)
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
Jesus also states at Luke 18:19: “No one is good
except God alone.”
Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God.”
This is the true meaning of Total Depravity. It is alienation and separation from God, in the sense of our standing before God, as being judicially condemned, which is also evident from John 3:18, in which Jesus states: “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” According to God, despite whatever good things that we may perform in this life, we are deemed “evil” by Him. This is why salvation is not of us. This is why salvation is not based upon our good deeds. This is why salvation is by grace. This is why salvation is by faith. Faith does not speak of your good, but of the good of the One in whom you are placing your trust. If we have a Total Inability, then it is a total inability to please God by our good works, since on balance, we are still judged “evil” in His sight. The problem with Calvinism is that it proposes that our sinful depravity and inability to please God by our good works, extends to not being able to repent, regardless of whatever effort God may make in opening your eyes. Calvinism requires that men must be regenerated against their will, in order to be made willing. That’s why Calvinism is not just about man’s inability to receive God, but also about God’s inability to do anything about it, except by an Irresistible Grace.
