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NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH CERTAINTIES
By Wayne Camp
TEXT: Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Let me again remind the reader that, in this series of studies that I have called New Testament Church Certainties, my reference to New Testament Churches has to do with churches existing during New Testament times. These churches of New Testament times held to some very specific things. We saw last time that it is abundantly evident that the first NT church on this earth was established during the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. We also saw that the church of the NT was a local and visible church; the universal invisible concept of the church is foreign to the Greek word used and to the contextual teaching where the word ekklesia is used. The overwhelming evidence is that these churches were taught of local, visible churches and knew nothing of the "church universal," visible or invisible. These concepts must await the origin of the Roman Catholic church and the Protestant Reformation to be read into the New Testament.
In this study and some to follow, I am going to show that these churches held to what is commonly known as the doctrines of grace and erroneously called the five points of Calvinism. These doctrines were taught and believed long before Calvin was ever born. And, they were taught and believed long before Augustine ever set them forth. These are New Testament doctrines taught and believed by New Testament churches.
THE CHURCHES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT TIMES HELD TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY AND INABILITY OF THE NATURAL MAN
Perhaps we should discuss the matter briefly before setting forth the evidence. Many will claim they hold to the doctrine of total hereditary depravity while denying the doctrine of total inability. One reason for this is a misunderstanding of what is meant by total inability. The other reason is that some claim to believe the doctrine of total depravity, when, in fact, they do not.
By total inability we do not mean that a person is not able to think a religious thought. He may even have a zeal for God but not know God and Jesus Christ. The religious Jews had a zeal for God but it was not according to knowledge. They were lost, in spite of their zeal for God. Total inability means that one who is unregenerate has no ability to come to Christ, to believe on Christ, or to know God and Christ.
In this message I will show that these churches of the New Testament were taught the doctrine of total inability and total depravity. They believed the doctrine for many of them walked in truth. Other doctrines they believed also support the proposition that they held to this basic, fundamental doctrine of total depravity and inability.
THEY WERE THOROGHLY TAUGHT THE DOCTRINE OF TOTAL HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY BY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
Jesus taught them that no one could see nor enter the kingdom of God except God regenerate him. John 3:3-5 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. This necessity, this absolute necessity of the new birth obviously indicates that men are born in a state of sinfulness in their original birth, their fleshly birth. The word cannot in this passage has reference to ability. The Greek word is dunatai (dunatai) with a negative prefixed to it. Without the negative it means "to be able, to have power to do." The word is a form of the Greek word dunamai (dunamai). Without the negative it is used of God's ability to raise up children to Abraham from stones (Luke 3:8). With the negative Jesus used the word when he said, "If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35). A thorough study of this word shows clearly that Jesus referred to man’s inability to enter or even see (comprehend) the kingdom of God without regeneration. The inability of Nicodemus to see the kingdom of God is evidence by his question, "Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?" (John 3:4).
Jesus further taught them that no one had the ability to come to Christ but must be drawn to Christ by the Father. John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. There is more in this verse than a man merely being unwilling to come to Christ. Man is incapable of willing to come to Christ unless drawn to Christ by the Holy Spirit. The Greek word we just discussed in used here to denote the lack of ability. No one has the ability to come to Christ unless drawn by the Father. And (v-65) no man is able to come to Christ unless God gives him the ability to do so.
Jesus also spoke of man’s natural inability to hear his word. John 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. This reminds me of what is recorded of Lydia in the book of Acts. Acts 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. God had to open the heart of Lydia so that she was able to attend to the things spoken by Paul. Jesus says to these folks that they could not hear his word. Their hearts had not been opened. And, contrary to what is erroneously taught on Revelation 3:21, he is not knocking at the door of the heart of the unregenerate begging them to open their heart. If one is ever able to hear the word and believe God must open his heart for him.
Jesus also set forth the inability of men to believe, establishing the fact that God must give faith if any are to believe. All men do not have faith. 2 Thessalonians 3:2 And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith. Faith is a gift of God. Philippians 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. Having established that men do not naturally have faith, and that faith is a gift of God, let us notice that Jesus extends this inability of unregenerate men to faith. John 12:39-40 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, 40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. Man is, by nature, spiritually blind. This gives him the inability to discern spiritual truth, truth which must be understood if he is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The seeing eye, the hearing ear, and the understanding heart are gifts of God given in regeneration. No man has them naturally. And, no man can believe on Christ or understand spiritual matters essential to salvation, unless God regenerates him. Again, it is evident that Jesus taught the first church of the New Testament the doctrine of total inability and total depravity.
That the first New Testament church believed this is evident from the teaching of the Apostles on this matter and related doctrines. It is incontrovertible. It is irrefutable. They were taught and believed man’s total inability in the first church ever established on this earth, the church organized by Christ himself and taught by Christ himself in person.
PAUL TAUGHT THE CHURCHES OF NEW TESTAMENT TIMES THE DOCTRINE OF TOTAL DEPRAVITY AND TOTAL INABILITY
Paul, who wrote epistles to a number of New Testament churches and preachers, and who established other churches and grounded them in the faith, certainly taught them the doctrine of total depravity. He also taught young preachers such as Timothy and Titus. He taught them these doctrines and admonished them in his epistles to give attendance to and teach these doctrines.
He taught that the carnal mind is enmity against God and does not have the ability to subject itself to the law of God. Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. The Greek word we have previously studied (dunamai) comes into play again. Paul sets forth three things in this verse that establish the doctrine of total depravity and total inability. First, he tells the church at Rome that the carnal mind, the mind of the unregenerate, is enmity against God. Note that he does not merely say it is at enmity with God. He declares that it is the very embodiment of enmity; it is enmity against God. Its very essence and nature is enmity against God. Scripture says, "God is love." Scripture also says, "The carnal mind is enmity."
Second, Paul tells them that the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God. Man, in his unregenerate state will never subject himself to the law of God. The carnal mind has a natural hatred of the law of God. Even those who try to submit themselves to that law and go about to establish their own righteousness by the law show their enmity. They miss the whole message of the law which points them to Christ. But, Paul does not stop there. He tells us third that the carnal mind does not have the ability to be subject to God's holy law. Note his words, "neither indeed can be." There is our word again, the word can, which has reference to ability. In the negative, as it is used here, it speaks of inability. The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither, indeed, does it have the ability to be subject to the law of God. The totally depraved man is totally incapable of subjecting himself to the law of God because of his carnal mind which is enmity against God. He is incapacitated. He is disabled. He has no ability to be subject to the law of God unless God renews his mind and gives him a new heart, a heart to know God. Jeremiah 24:7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD.
In the same chapter, next verse, Paul taught that an unregenerate man is incapable of doing that which pleases God. Romans 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. A sinner coming to Christ pleases God but the natural man cannot do that. Believing on Christ is pleasing to God but the natural man cannot do that. Repenting toward God is pleasing to God but the natural man cannot do that. Keeping the law of God pleases God but the natural man cannot do that. Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6). They that are in the flesh; they who have not experienced the new birth are in the flesh; and they cannot please God. They do not have the ability to please God. That is a New Testament Church certainty. The New Testament church in Rome was taught that by an inspired apostle by the name of Paul.
Paul also taught that the unregenerate person is spiritually dead. Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. We have seen that Jesus indicated that the unregenerate are spiritually blind and deaf and void of spiritual understanding. Now we see that the cause of this is that they are spiritually dead, dead in trespasses and sins. They are dead as for as spiritual matters are concerned.
When a man experiences physical death, he loses all of his ability. He cannot breath, he cannot see, he cannot hear, he cannot do anything. I was reading just recently about the death of Vincent Foster. The temperature was pretty high and flies were prevalent. Though his blood was still warm, the agent said the flies were crawling all over his face. I thought, "He could not even brush the flies away because he was dead." He had lost all ability to do anything physical because he was dead physically.
Men are by nature spiritually dead. They are dead to the spiritual things of God; the spiritual truth of God. They may respond to deceitful spirits; under the influence of these false and lying spirits, they may even make a profession of faith in Christ. They may express certain spiritual desires and make declarations that make it appear they are saved, as did Judas. But, unless God regenerates them, they are still spiritually dead, regardless of how spiritually alive them may seem to be. They have not the ability nor will to come to Christ. They have not the ability nor will to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. They have not the ability nor will to repent toward God. They are dead. And, it is a certainty that the church at Ephesus knew this for Paul wrote to them and affirmed it.
Paul taught that the unregenerate walk according to the course of this world under the power of Satan and are, by nature, children of wrath. Ephesians 2:2-3 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Notice that the regenerate, saved members of the church at Ephesus were, before their regeneration, in the same state as the reprobate. We who are saved walked according to the course of this world. We who are saved walked in subjection to Satan, the prince and the power of the air. We who are saved were by nature children of wrath, even as others. It sounds very certain that Paul was teaching this New Testament church in Ephesus the doctrine of man’s total depravity.
Now, let us travel to another New Testament church. It is located in the city of Colosse. This was a great church, an exemplary church. Paul taught this church that before regeneration and conversion, all, including the elect, are in the kingdom of darkness. Colossians 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. The first thing that is obvious from this passage is that all men, by nature, are in the kingdom of darkness. They are not born in the kingdom of God's dear Son, then, when they first reject Christ, cast into the kingdom of darkness where they remain until translated out. Men are by nature children of wrath in the kingdom of darkness because they are naturally blind and dead to true spiritual things.
The second thing is that God must translate one out of this kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his Son if he is to leave that awful kingdom for the blessed kingdom of the Son. He cannot translate himself. Enoch was translated that he should not see death, but God had to do the translating. Try translating yourself as Enoch was translated and see if it happens. No! Man does not have the ability to do it. Nor, with his carnal mind that is enmity against God, does he have the inclination to translate himself into the kingdom of God's dear Son. The very fact that Paul taught that God is the one who translated us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son is the positive way of teaching a negative truth to this church. We cannot translate ourselves; God must translate us.
JOHN TAUGHT THE DOCTRINE OF THE TOTAL DEPRAVITY AND THE TOTAL INABILITY OF UNREGENERATE MEN
John is sometimes called "the disciple of love" because of his apparent mellowness of spirit and all that he wrote about love in the Scriptures. But, John also taught the doctrine of total depravity. He taught that there is nothing that runs in the blood that causes one to be regenerated, contrary to the Jews notion that they did not need to be regenerated because they were blood descendants of Abraham. John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
He taught that men are not born of the will of the flesh, indicating that the natural, unregenerate man neither could, nor would ever will his own regeneration. John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. May I remind you again that the first birth is a birth that is of the flesh (Jn. 3:6). There is nothing good in the flesh (Rom. 7:18). It is therefore all bad, no good! Since there is no good in the flesh, and since the will to come to Christ in faith is something good, one wonders why so many who are otherwise pretty sound in the faith, believe that man has it within himself to will the new birth for himself. The new birth is not of the will of the flesh. Nothing in the flesh will cause one to will to come to Christ.
John also taught that there is no man capable of willing the new birth for a person, neither the person, nor a friend or loved one. John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. I know parents who, if they could, would will the new birth for their children. I know grandparents, who, if they could, would will the new birth for their grandchildren. I would will the new birth for many if it were my prerogative to do so. But, I have no license to regenerate. Neither do any men. It is not a product of the will of man. Man cannot and does not will the new birth for himself. That is the prerogative of God. It is totally out of the limits of any man’s ability or will. It is of God, as John asserts. It is he who wills the new birth for any and all who are regenerated. In short, John wrote that the only one who can will and accomplish the new birth is God. John 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
CONCLUSION
Other scribes of the Word of God could be cited and additional references from these already cited could be given. But, these will suffice to show that the churches of the New Testament period were definitely taught the doctrine of total depravity. They were taught it by the Lord Jesus Christ and by those whom he taught. This seems to be one doctrine to which they firmly held for none are ever rebuked for denying it. Errors on other matters were corrected but this doctrine was only affirmed and affirmed and affirmed. It is basic. It is fundamental. It is the real battle ground. If you truly believe this doctrine, the doctrines of unconditional election, perseverance and preservation, particular redemption, and effectual call will pose no problem for you. The real battle ground is total hereditary depravity. Do you believe it? Does your church believe it? Does your preacher preach it? Do you preach it if you are a preacher?
New Testament preachers preached it. And, you can be certain of this New Testament church certainty, the churches of the New Testament believed and taught this doctrine of total inability and total depravity. That is for certain a New Testament Church Certainty!
Last updated on Sunday, September 10, 2006
THE IMPOTENCY OF THE HUMAN
WILL
Arthur W. Pink
Does it lie within the province of man s will to accept or reject the Lord Jesus as Saviour? Granted that the
Gospel is preached to the sinner, that the Holy Spirit convicts him of his lost condition, does it, in the final
analysis, lie within the power of his own will to resist or yield himself up to God? The answer to this
question defines our conception of human depravity. That man is a fallen creature all professing Christians
will allow, but what many of them mean by "fallen" is often difficult to determine. The general impression
seems to be that man is now mortal, that he is no longer in the condition in which he left the hands of his
Creator, that he is liable to disease, that he inherits evil tendencies; but, that if he employs his powers to the
best of his ability, somehow he will be happy at last. O, how far short of the sad truth! Infirmities, sickness,
even corporeal death, are but trifles in comparison with the moral and spiritual effects of the Fall! It is only
by consulting the Holy Scriptures that we are able to obtain some conception of the extent of that terrible
calamity. When we say that man is totally depraved, we mean that the entrance of sin into the human
constitution has affected every part and faculty of man s being. Total depravity means that man is, in spirit
and soul and body, the slave of sin and the captive of the Devil walking "according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph. 2:2). This statement
ought not to need arguing: it is a common fact of human experience. Man is unable to realize his own
aspirations and materialize his own ideals. He cannot do the things that he would. There is moral inability
which paralyzes him. This is proof positive that he is no free man, but instead, the slave of sin and Satan.
"Ye are of your father the Devil, and the lusts (desires) of your father ye will do." (John 8:44). Sin is more
than an act or a series of acts; it is a man s make-up. It has blinded the understanding, corrupted the heart,
and alienated the mind from God. And the will has not escaped. The will is under the dominion of sin and
Satan. Therefore, the will is not free. In short, the affections love as they do and the will chooses as it does
because of the state of the heart, and because the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked
"There is none that seeketh after God" (Rom. 3:11).
HUMAN DEPRAVITY
By Job Hupton
That which divines very properly call the moral law is the immutable and eternal standard of righteousness. In exact conformity to this law, existing in the divine mind, the first man was created as the head and representative of his numerous posterity; holy, just, and good. Upon his perfect performance of all that it required, depended his life and happiness, and the life and happiness of all his sons; and with his disobedience were inseparable connected his own and their condemnation, misery, and death.
Of all the trees in Eden he might freely eat, the tree of' the knowledge of good and evil excepted: the fruit of that tree he was forbidden, on pain of death to touch. "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat," was the grant of his munificent, Creator; " but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it," was the prohibition of his rightful sovereign in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die,' Was the tremendous threatening of his awful judge. Thus the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was, by a sovereign act of the divine legislator, made the test of his obedience; and had he performed the easy duty, so justly and kindly imposed upon him, he would, by that means, have preserved entire all that innocence, dignity and happiness with which he was invested in the day of his creation, both for himself and all his posterity.
But alas! he fell! He took, he ate, and in one fatal moment threw off his allegiance to his beneficent sovereign, fell, with all his unborn seed in his loins, from the most elevated state of' parity, honor, and felicity that could possibly be filled and enjoyed upon earth; and sunk into the deepest guilt, disgrace, and misery that could possibly be felt out of hell.
Behold now the forlorn apostate! Once the glory of this lower creation and the intimate associate of Deity; now, to the last degree execrable, only fit for the society and fellowship of devils. Stripped of the divine image, deprived of his Maker's presence, forbidden to approach his offended Lord, justly condemned by the law which he has broken, exposed in the hand of Omnipotence, stung with conscious guilt, and smitten with keen despair, he flees, flees with confusion and precipitance, roll, that God in whom he once delighted, as the centre and source of all his joy, and essays, but in vain, to conceal, at once, himself and his guilt from the scrutinizing eye of divine omniscience. Look now on which side so ever he will, nothing presents itself, for him or his posterity, but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation.
The holy law, in its nature immutable and in its demands inflexible, still requires of all who are under its authority, unsullied innocence in thought, in word, in deed. But alas! Innocence is fled, is gone! Fled from the entire human race, gone for ever, past recovery from the power of it created arm. Not even a shadow of it is to be seen in any part of our apostate nature; all is depravity, defilement, and guilt. The understanding is darkened ; the judgment is perverted; the mind is carnal and replete with enmity against God ; the will is filled with rebellion and enslaved by Satan ; reason has lost her empire and is degraded from her excellency; the affections are vitiated and in alliance with forbidden objects; the conscience is polluted and torpid ; the heart which was chaste is become a harlot; in its pristine state righteousness lodged in it, but now thieves and murderers ; in fine, the inward parts are very wickedness; every faculty and every member is most awfully contaminated, and our whole nature teems with moral evil.
That no injustice is done to human nature in this delineation of its condition is evident from the language of infallibility. "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 ;-their inward part is very wickedness ;-the wicked through the pride of their countenance will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts;-the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked;-for from within, out of the heart of plan proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, all evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." Nor is this humiliating detail of the sins of the human heart referable to a part only of the sons of men, it has respect to the whole species. For by natural generation every father communicates to his offspring his own nature, with every innate principle he possesses. Adam begat Seth in his own likeness, after his own image; not merely in regard to his external natural form, but chiefly with respect to internal moral principle. And thus, age after age from the beginning, the corruption of human nature has passed entire from father to son, and will continue to do so to the end of the world. All, therefore, who lineally descend front Adam, inherit his whole nature with its nefarious infernal principles. ''Were ten thousand stems to arise out of the same root, each would ready possess the very essence of that root; or It streams in numerable were to issue from the same fountain, they would all alike partake of its qualities, whether salutary or pernicious. David knew and confessed that he was shapen in iniquity, and that in sin his mother conceived him. The same is true of' men, and the above humble and pathetic acknowledgement would well become the mouths of all human creatures, in every age, and in every nation of the world ; there is no inequality, no distinction here : the prince and the poor; the civilized and polite European, and the rude and savage Indian ; the inhabitant of Britain, and the inhabitant of Africa; Jews, Pagans, Mahometans, and nominal Christians ; men of every clime, of every color, and of every distinction and rank stand upon the exactest level in regard of natural depravity and distance from God.
It is, indeed, confessed, that, in external appearance and conduct, there is at very material dissimilitude between, not only the inhabitants of different countries, but those of the same nation; nay, in thousands of instances, between the branches of the sauce family. Some spend their days, and mouths, and years, in rioting and drunkenness, in chambering and wantonness, and in multiplying iniquities of the most heinous nature and the greatest magnitude, till they ruin their characters, their constitutions, and their estates; and in the end, conclude an awful series of complicated crimes, by an ignominious exit on a gibbet or block. Others observing the laws of decency and sobriety, of modest and chastity, of justice and kindness, refrain from all atrocity, extend the hand of beneficence to bless the indigent, pay strict regard to all the exteriors of religion, study to make themselves agreeable and useful in every department, pass through life with so much decorum as scarcely to merit human censure, and, at last, leave the world, beloved and applauded, leaving behind them an external moral character worthy to be imitated by all ranks in every succeeding age.
But then, this difference of conduct is not the effect of any intrinsic difference in nature in these opposite characters, but is owing, in some, to what is called good breeding, or the art of politeness, and pride in practicing; that art; in others, to religious education received in early life ; in others, to legal fears of hell and hopes of heaven; and in all, what means so ever are employed, to an all wise, all powerful, all pervading Providence which bounds the raging lusts, restrains the tumultuous passions, and checks or disposes the minds of ungodly men according to the sovereign pleasure of him, whose infinite wisdom and might, perform all his will in every part of his vast empire, making even enmity itself, with till its infernal productions in the natures of men and of devils, entirely subservient to his eternal and immutable, deep and mysterious, vast and wonderful designs : " Surely the wrath of man," yes, and of devils too, " shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." If the unconverted refrain from the commission of' flagitious crimes, it is in consequence of divine restraint; if they perform works truly beneficial to themselves or others, they act under the sovereign influence of the divine government; yet, in both these cases, being totally ignorant of the power which moves them, and insensible of the influence under which they act, and conceiving that they are self-Moved, they attribute to themselves great merit, sacrifice to their own free will, and burn incense to their own self-sufficiency. Psa.lxxvi. 10. See also Gen. xx. 6. xxxi. 24, 29, and Gen. xxvii. 41, compared with xxxiii. 4: Exodus vii. 2, 3, 4, 5, and xii. 31, 32, 33, compared with ix. 17: also Sam. ii. 2.5. The Almighty says to the wild impetuous lusts and passions of men, as to the proud waves of the restless ocean, "Thus far shall ye go but no further, here shall ye be still." But for this, nothing would be heard but obscenity, falsehood, and blasphemy; no thing would be seen but uncleanness, ferocity, cruelty, rapine, devastation, and murder, till the whole world became a perfect Aceldama, or field of blood.
The doctrine of equal and total depravity among the sons and daughters of Adam, however incompatible with the proud and lofty notions of carnal minds respecting human purity, power and dignity, mast be maintained as truth, as truth divine most expressively attested in the sacred page, from which there can be no appeal. There we learn that the scrutinizing eve of divine omniscience takes a general survey of the human race ; infinite wisdom forms a just and impartial estimate of every latent quality in each individual of' human kind ; and infinite justice and faithfulness publish to all the world, the equal degeneracy and apostasy of all men. Psa.liii.2,3. "God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God: every one of them is gone back, they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." And what is asserted on the melancholy subject of human depravity by the divinely inspired Paid, in his epistle to the Romans, refers to the whole race of mankind. For having mentioned some particular characters who manifested the most pernicious principles by the most ungodly practices, he asks; "What then, are we better than they'" And replies, ``no, in no wise; for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin."
In the above appellations all the posterity of Adam is included. And the faithful apostle, without making any distinction or exception whatever, declares; "'There is none righteous, no, not one, there is none that under standeth, there is none that seeketh after God, they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no, not one; their throat is an open sepulcher, with their tongues they have used deceit, the poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways, the way of peace they have not known, there is no fear of God before their eves." What an affecting picture of human nature!
0, ye wise men after the flesh! ye proud disputers of this world, who strenuously contend for the fabled purity and dignity of man, speak no more proudly; let not arrogance come out of your lips God hath spoken! The Infinite Eternal, at whose presence the universe is moved, and at whose look even hell trembles and is afraid, hath uttered his voice, and proclaimed to all the nations under heaven, the total depravity, the awful apostasy, and the tremendous guilt of every human tribe and individual on earth. Say not that he errs in judgment, nor think that his testimony is untrue. Remember that he is wise in heart and of infinite knowledge; a God of truth and without iniquity, Just and right in all his thoughts and all his words. He can neither deceive nor be deceived. His judgment is always according to truth, and his testimonies are very sure. Deny the truth of his testimony and you are deists; question the infinity of his knowledge and you are atheists; and in either case you proclaim both your ignorance and impiety; are evidently taken by the Lord in your own craftiness, and while you profess to be supremely wise, you are truly guilty of the most consummate folly; for, in direct opposition to your intentions, You stand forth as indubitable evidence of the truth of those very things which you deny. God, long since, in the sacred Scriptures, foretold your impious denial of his word and your infernal blasphemy conceived and uttered against his wisdom and truth; and with an accuracy which, at once, bespeaks his understanding infinite, and his testimony true, has delineated your principles and depicted Your characters; as long, therefore, as we are blessed with the use of our mental powers and are capable of comparing your principles and conduct with his word, we cannot but read in you the clearest proof of his infinite knowledge and unimpeachable truth written in the Scriptures. And while either you or other, in direct contradiction to the positive language of God in the Scriptures, denies the fall of Adam and its awful consequence, the total depravity of his offspring, we shall never be in want of proof, the most incontestable, of the solemn truth you deny. Denial of the truth of God avouched in the Scriptures is the effect and evidence of enmity against the nature and will of God, and such enmity is the very quintessence of depravity; while, therefore, we have before our eves the baneful effect, how can we doubt the existence of the pernicious cause, or avoid considering the opposers of the doctrine of man's fall and depravity, as it stands revealed in the oracles of God, as undeniable witnesses of its truth, and the denial of it as among the best means of its confirmation.
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