General Articles

Why Calvin’s Total Depravity is Wrong :: By Gary Ritter

Published on: by RR7

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines Calvin’s total depravity as follows:

Definition of total depravity: a state of corruption due to original sin held in Calvinism to infect every part of man’s nature and to make the natural man unable to know or obey God.

In one sense this definition is correct. Total depravity comes from original sin. However, in the Garden, man became sinful; our DNA was effectively infected with sin, but we did not become depraved. Sin is what we are and what we do. Depravity is something one moves into or becomes. It is a state beyond sin. Yes, Calvin is correct: total depravity is the result of corruption. But we are not naturally depraved, or the Bible would have told us so.

What Scripture tells us is that certain actions or practices are depraved. Here are several examples:

Leviticus 18:17 – “You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity.”

Leviticus 19:29 – “Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, lest the land fall into prostitution and the land become full of depravity.”

Leviticus 20:14 – “If a man takes a woman and her mother also, it is depravity; he and they shall be burned with fire, that there may be no depravity among you.”

1 Timothy 6:5 – “and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”

Note that depravity arises from things people do or believe. It might be specifically prohibited fornication, or prostitution, or sex beyond marriage with one person. Depravity comes from people deprived of the truth.

The original source of depravity came from the fallen sons of God, divine spiritual beings who rebelled against Him. We see this first in Genesis 6:1-4:

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”

Look at what Jude 6-7 says about this:

“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

Prohibited sexual activity by God’s disobedient spiritual sons led mankind into this depraved condition.  To eliminate the depravity, God brought the flood after seeing the result of this wickedness. Genesis 6:5 shows us:

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Depravity has been with us since those days. Because of the fallen spiritual entities succeeding those that God punished, depravity continued its spread among mankind. Paul wrote to describe what happens to those who give into sin: it evolves. For those who like evolution, this is a good example.  Creatures of one kind don’t evolve into another kind, but sin evolves into depravity with the right spiritual darkness behind it. Here is what Paul says in Romans 1:18-32:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

So, a depraved mind comes through a two-part process. Effectively, it’s an if-then proposition. If people turn from God and embrace the worst of their sinful inclinations, they become filled with futile anti-God thinking; then, as a result, God allows, or gives them over, to the condition of a debased, reprobate, or depraved mind. This opens them to every evil manner of behavior imaginable.  Although Paul doesn’t state this, I think it’s unavoidable that this willingness to live in rebellion against God also enables every kind of demonic intrusion that’s out there. After all, as we know, one is either a child of God or a child of their father, the devil. Being God’s children—in Christ—we mirror the heart of God. In this deprived condition, people are simply mirroring the heart of Satan.

The other thing that’s apparent in the evolving fall into depravity is that sexual sin is prominent.  Presumably, there may be instances where someone becomes depraved in their thinking without having engaged in various sexual activities noted in Genesis, by Jude, or by Paul; but one who lusts after strange flesh—whatever the manner—is a likely candidate for this condition.

Whether it’s God’s rebellious sons from His heavenly family or those disobedient sons and daughters in His earthly family, fornication can have deadly consequences. To satisfy that inordinate, forbidden lust, people do more and worse unnatural acts.  It results in a lifestyle wholly devoted to destruction of self and everyone around the person. In this state, it’s highly unlikely that someone can be redeemed. Certainly, there was no chance of that for the fallen angels. They earned everlasting chains in perpetual darkness. Odds are that humans following this path will join them for eternity.

The bottom line is that sin has consequences. If sin is left unchecked, a person turns from God. In that anti-God condition, the person’s heart becomes darkened. A depraved mind results. The person embraces evil, and that’s his final state. He takes that black heart and the consequences of all his wickedness into eternal damnation.

Calvin was wrong. We’re not totally depraved in our initial sinful condition. We have the opportunity to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and choose life in Him. We’re not completely helpless, because God gave us free will. Through His grace and how He made us in His image, everyone has the possibility of an eternity in His presence until they reach the point of totally rejecting God.

Thank you, Lord, that You have such mercy for all whom You love.

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Gary W. Ritter is a lay pastor, Bible teacher, and serves as Missions Director at his church.  He is also a prolific author.  His Whirlwind Series is comprised of three books: Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind, and There Is A Time.  These books are contained in the collected volume of the Whirlwind Omnibus.  Gary has been given the Christian Redemptive Fiction award for two novels: The Tattooed Cat and Alien Revelation.  He has recently released Looking Up – Volume 3, a non-fiction work that contains essays and devotions on end-times and prophetic events.  Gary’s intent in all his writings is to bring a strong Christian witness to what people read.  You can reach him at his website: www.GaryRitter.com or his Facebook Author page:  https://www.facebook.com/gritter3390.  You can also see his video Bible teachings on his Gary Ritter YouTube channel – look for the fish symbol.

What Are You Scared Of? :: By John Lysaught

Published on: by RR7

“I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

The definition of fear is that it is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

Fear is something we deal with all the time. Because of this, we get anxious and can suffer from anxiety due to fears. My biggest fear, which causes anxiety for me, is the fear of the unknown. It is the unknown that scares me. My fear isn’t rational or based on anything tangible, but I still fear the unknown in my life.

Like Psalm 34:4 above says, the Lord will deliver me from my fears. And when I ask Him to, my fears go away because I put my trust in Him. But sometimes I lose that focus, and fear comes creeping up in my mind again of the unknown, those things of which I have no control over.

Fear, at its root, is propagated by Satan and his minions. They use the things of this world and the unknown to cause us to fear. If we can remember that God is in control of everything and directs everything for the culmination of the end of our time on this earth and the betterment of us, life is not so fearful. We forget this sometimes and slip into the mindset of fearing things.

I’m not talking about fear of venomous snakes, spiders, or things like evil people, etc., but I am talking about those fears that are spiritual in nature. I’m talking about those things that interrupt our close relationship with our Father in Heaven. These things, again, stem from the actions of Satan to cause our trust in God to lead us, out of fear, to be minimized or nonexistent.

There is no doubt that Satan is in control of the ways of this world. We are strangers in a foreign land, pilgrims in our journey to Heaven who are filled with obstacles originating from Satan. He will insert fear into our lives to interrupt our relationship and trust in our Savior and our God. This influence of fear that Satan puts in us can cause us to question the validity of God’s power in our lives and/or the freedom Jesus gave us when He gave His life for us, to be the propagation for our sins.

Having and succumbing to the influence of fear in our hearts is easy, and fighting these seeds of fear takes daily effort to overcome and avoid. Each day we need to renew our minds to the things and promises of God to battle the fear that can easily overcome us. It is the renewing of our mind that refreshes our soul and spirit to be God-focused each and every day.

Do you notice that when you are more in tune with God that fear is not effectuating its influence in your life? Do you notice that you have fear when your relationship with God has taken a backseat in your lives? If we keep the Lord as our focus, we will maintain a strong relationship with Him and will place our trust in Him to help us overcome fear.

Being in tune with God allows God’s power and influence to affect your innermost being in a good way.  When we closely walk with God, fear has no room to affect us. When God is a priority in our day, fear won’t come floating into your mind and then your heart.

We must always be on guard against things that can cause fears we may hold. We need to remember that God is active in our lives and will never introduce fear into our hearts. He is the God of light, and fear is a product of darkness. We need not fear anything spiritual in our lives because God is on our side and wants us to live under His light, not the darkness that Satan introduces to us to try to influence us to have fear.

John 16:33 tells us, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

The opposite of fear is peace. We cannot get peace from the world because the world is designed to cause us fear under the influences of Satan. We find peace in being under the wings of Jesus, under His protection and love that stomps out the fear Satan wants us to have.

When we have the peace of Jesus, our mindsets are on the positive outlook on life and circumstances.  When we trust Jesus and obey what and how he wants us to live, we cannot help but not be affected by fear, because in Him is pure and unending love, and love has no fear attached to it.

When we choose peace over a spirit of fear, we are choosing to live under and for God. Our lives were bought with a price by Jesus so we wouldn’t have to fear anything that Satan may throw at us in this life. We are held in the hands of Jesus because, with Him, there is nothing to fear.

When we come under tribulations, this can cause us to be affected by fear, but, as John 16:33 says, “… be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” You get that? We need not fear because Jesus has overcome the world; and because of this, we can live and know that regardless of what we face from the world, we can have that holistic knowledge that Jesus was victorious over death and opened the way for us to have that peaceful relationship with Him.

When we find ourselves falling into the trap of fear, this is when we should refocus our minds and rejoice in the Lord for who He is – Jesus, the Savior of the world, for those that believe in Him and His atoning sacrifice for our sins.

The world will not remedy fear. Only Jesus can. The world cannot provide us the peace that Christ can. The world is a propagator of fear, and we are not bound by the chains of the world. And because of this, we can trustfully exclude ourselves from the fears the world wants us to have, and instead fall down to the feet of Jesus to give us the peace we need so as not to become a victim of fear.

So, I ask this again: what are you scared of? What causes you to worry and what causes you stress and anxiety? When you know the root of your fears, you can give them to Jesus and let Jesus provide you peace in your heart so troubles are no longer troubles, but a rejoicing heart that knows He has overcome the world.

Johnflysaught@gmail.com