On Total Depravity - Part 3
The simple believes every word,
But the prudent considers well his steps.
—Proverbs 14:15
It’s crucial that we take things step by step because “there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12). People in general despise Reformed Soteriology (RS) not because the Bible doesn’t teach it, but because it does not seem right, and it contradicts the wisdom of man (cf. Isaiah 55:8-9; 1 Corinthians 1:23). Is it any wonder we’re told to lean not on our own understanding, but instead we are to trust in the LORD with all our heart and not to be wise in our own eyes (Proverbs 3:-5-8)? See for yourself by paying attention to how opponents of Calvinism talk about God. Much of their arguments against RS are emotionally charged.
“There is nothing that so alarms and frightens me as I listen to people discussing these matters, as the glib way in which they talk about God. God, they say, ought to do this or that and they express their opinions…” —Martyn Lloyd Jones
Better yet, we have a biblical example to turn to. John MacArthur’s analysis of Luke 4 is very helpful here. Excerpt taken from his sermon on “Who Choose Whom?”
In Luke chapter 4 verse 17, an interesting little incident occurred with tremendous impact. Jesus is speaking in the synagogue in Nazareth. He was handed the book to the place where it was to be regularly read from Isaiah, and in verse 18 of Luke 4 it says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” In other words He said, I have come to preach the gospel. “And He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” In other words, the One the prophets said would come to preach has come. “And all” – listen to this – “were speaking well of Him and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips. And they were saying, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’” They knew Joseph. They didn’t know anything about Joseph that could cause his son to be so special, as they were noting this man to be.
And then He did this, He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself. Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your home town as well.’” Now that you have identified me as a very special person and you are all speaking well, you’re going to want me to do some miracles here. You’re going to want me to demonstrate my supernatural power. And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in His own home town.” And then He says this, “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land. And yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
What kind of an answer is that? What’s He saying to them? God hasn’t determined for Me to heal everybody. God will decide what widow gets healed, and God will decide what leper gets healed. It’s not up to you. It’s up to Him. You may expect me to do in your town what was done in Capernaum. God doesn’t work that way. God picks and chooses what He wants to do. And then, verse 28 says, and here is the first New Testament reaction to the doctrine of election, “And all in the synagogue were filled with” – what? – “rage.”
Well, little has changed in some places. I suppose the so-far-so-good down through verse 19, the real question was, would they tolerate sovereign grace? Would they tolerate God’s selectivity? Respectable worshipers of the synagogue even hated this truth. —John MacArthur
Here we see the Old Testament teaches God’s right to choose. It’s all there in the Scripture, so the problem isn’t with the Bible but the flesh. The flesh is the problem, and it’s an obstacle. The flesh has an exceedingly high view of itself. It despises any teaching that exalts God and debase man as seen in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14). People will speak well of you until you start teaching or preaching Reformed Soteriology, or allow God to be on His throne.
“Men will allow God to be everywhere but on His throne.” —Spurgeon
“If anything is hated bitterly, it is the out-and-out gospel of the grace of God, especially if that hateful word, sovereignty is mentioned with it. Dare to say, He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and He will have compassion on whom He will have compassion, and furious critics will revile you without stint. The modern religionist not only hates the doctrine of sovereign grace, but he raves and rages at the mention of it. He would sooner hear you blaspheme than preach election by the Father, atonement by the Son, or regeneration by the Spirit. If you want to see a man worked up till the Satanic is clearly uppermost, let some of the new divines hear you preach a free-grace sermon. A gospel which is after men will be welcomed by men; but it needs a divine operation upon the heart and mind to make a man willing to receive into his utmost soul this distasteful gospel of the grace of God.” —Spurgeon
People think that Calvinists and or Calvinism are the problem. The truth is: The heart is the problem. I touched briefly on John 8:37 in the previous post. The people in Luke 4 couldn’t receive Christ’s teaching because of their heart. His word finds no place in them. See my post on Acts 7:51 to understand WHY people reject God’s call.
I find the NLT, NIV and ESV translation of John 8:37 very helpful here for they make clear the reason for their rejection (see Acts 7:51 to confirm this).
“My word has no place in you.” (KJV, NKJV, MEV, LSB etc…)
“you don’t welcome my teaching.” (CEB)
“My word has no place within you.” (BSB)
“there’s no room in your hearts for my message.” (NLT)
“you have no room for my word.” (NIV)
“my word finds no place in you.” (ESV)
The problem isn’t God’s words. The problem is that their hearts have no room. There is no place, and His word finds none. The ESV gives an imagery of the word actively searching within the person to see if there’s a place for it, but it finds none.
The Spirit has to work in the person first, preparing the heart for the word. Hardness of heart is no place for God’s word. This is the truth Non-Calvinists deny. It’s a fatal mistake to deny this truth.
They believed themselves to be Abraham’s descendants, like how most people today believe they’re God’s children. Yet they fail to see the true condition of the heart. The denial of this one simple truth can lead to many theological errors and inconsistencies. For this reason it’s wise to take things step by step.