Total Hereditary Depravity “Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).

Total Hereditary Depravity Doctrine’s Beginning Logical Consequences Doctrinal Concerns Practical Effect

Total Hereditary Depravity Violates the Nature of Man Violates Nature of Gospel No Access Violates the Nature of God Violates Nature of Satan

Total Hereditary Depravity Old Testament Proof Text

Old Testament Proof Text 1) Genesis 6:5 “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). “And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done” (Genesis 8:21).

Old Testament Proof Text 2) Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” “But the Bible, both in this and other places, clearly asserts that we are born in sin, and that it exists within us as a disease fixed in our nature” (John Calvin, Commentary on Psalms). “Blot our my transgressions…Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only have I sinned…” (Psalm 51:1-4).

Old Testament Proof Text 2) Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” “But the Bible, both in this and other places, clearly asserts that we are born in sin, and that it exists within us as a disease fixed in our nature” (John Calvin, Commentary on Psalms). “Blot our my transgressions…Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only have I sinned…” (Psalm 51:1-4).

Old Testament Proof Text 3) Psalm 58:3 “The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.” If one takes this verse literally: (a) They go astray – not that they were born astray. (b) Are people able to speak lies when they are born?

Old Testament Proof Text 4) Isaiah 1:5,6 “Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment.” “Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward” (Isaiah 1:4).

Old Testament Proof Text 5) Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?” (1 Corinthians 2:11). “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me” (Romans 7:11).

Old Testament Proof Text 6) Exodus 20:5 “you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.” Is he not saying that the children of those who serve other gods will suffer the consequence of their parents’ sin? Consequences not the guilt of those sins. If Total Hereditary Depravity was true, would it only be till the third or fourth generation?

Total Hereditary Depravity Old Testament Proof Text New Testament Proof Text

New Testament Proof Text 1) Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” Did Paul say he had will? What did he have the will to do? Was it not good? Why did he not do this good? Was it not because of the weakness of the flesh? “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27).

New Testament Proof Text 2) Romans 8:5-7 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” “It does not mean that a person who lives a worldly life cannot turn from it and himself become subject to the law of God; but it does mean that a person cannot live for the things of this life and at the same time be subject to God” (R. L. Whiteside, Commentary on Romans, p. 172).

New Testament Proof Text 3) 1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” The “nor can he know them” is an inability born simply because of his present mindset. He is not guided by revelation. Could that mindset be changed? Sure. How? “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4,5).

Total Hereditary Depravity Old Testament Proof Text New Testament Proof Text