September 17, 2018

It is well stated and understood that the great flood in Noah’s day — the flood which man’s depravity called forth, swept away sinners; but it did not and could not eradicate DEPRAVITY:

“When man began to multiply on the face of the earth … the LORD said, ‘My Spirit will not always strive with men’” (Genesis 6:1-3). Genesis 6 continues its narrative: “So the LORD said, I will destroy men, whom I have created, from the face of the earth…” (v. 7). And we know the story — how the LORD sent the Great Flood and destroyed all except those in the ark. So man continued. Thus depravity continued.

Again, despite that GREAT Judgment of God, only the sinners were destroyed in those days, not depravity itself. Genesis 9:20-27 tells the sad event and the role that depravity played wherein sin continued to show itself very ALIVE.

Scripture uniformly traces voluntary transgression to its root cause in the sinful nature. Sinful acts are the fruit of a depraved nature, as Proverbs 4:23 and Mark 7:20-23 point out.

Biblical history records man’s depravity in the antediluvian (pre-Flood) period. The text I quote above in Genesis 6 identifies the “Nephilim,” an ancient people. Verse 11 states, “The earth was corrupt before God and filled with violence.” Then in verse 13 God said, “The end of all flesh is come before Me … Now I will destroy them with the earth.” So He did!

As we see, during the days before the Great Flood it says that the depravity was great, even noting that every imagination of the thoughts of men’s hearts were evil continually. Sounds like today!

Psalm 14:1-4 describes man’s depravity, as does 51:5 and 58:3. The prophet Jeremiah had pointed out the mere outward religious observance of God’s way, which did not come from the love of and for God, but from man’s depravity. In Jeremiah 17:9 he said, “The heart is more deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can understand it?” God can! (See v. 10.)

Jesus made a point to point out to the religious Pharisees the innate perversity of man’s heart. Jesus put forth a nice vice list in Mark 7:20-23.

The great Apostle Paul points out that “For just as through one man’s disobedience [“Adam” includes both the man and the woman], the many were made sinners; so by the obedience of One [Jesus the Christ] the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). Scholars point out that Paul teaches that ALL have depraved natures, for ALL have imputed unto them the SIN of our first parents, which carries with it “involvement” in the perversity. This must be true because if we are completely separate from any sense of “involvement,” Adam’s sin would be meaningless towards us, and its imputation unto us would be an impossible abstraction. Simply stated, it would mean nothing if we were not inherently “involved.” We are “involved” and corrupted thereby. So, with a chain of quotations from the Psalms, the Apostle proves that depravity is a deep-seated, UNIVERSAL moral perversity, as Romans 3:10-18 shows.

Because ALL humans are born with a “sin” nature, every man and woman and child turns aside from God (3:12); hence, they are born in sin and therefore are separated from a life of pleasing God. Apart from God, man’s “good” does not spring from the principle of love toward God, a love which finds expression in obedience to His law as is pointed out in Romans 8:5-7.

“The carnal mind is hostile toward God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor can it be, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (vv. 7-8). Paul contrasts the “flesh” with the “spirit,” explaining that man’s spirit is dead because of sin (see also Ephesains 2:1-10). Sin, inbred sin, killed the spirit. Thru repentance and forgiveness, man’s spirit is made alive by the operation of the Holy Spirit. By and through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, born-again believers have been liberated from the law of sin and (spiritual) death. Jesus says in John 3:3 and 5 that men MUST BE born again of the Spirit.

For sure, not all humans are entirely wicked in their choices, some are more than others, but all have a depraved nature. This is a fact!

Men do have a conscience that is capable of distinguishing between good and evil (see Romans 2:5-16). Therefore, having a “sin nature” does not imply that the human race is incapable of love, compassion, etc. Luke 11:13 shows that fallen humanity can show kindness for other humans. What the Bible does teach is that inherent corruption extends to every aspect of man’s nature. Apart from Christ, we are inherently corrupt, depraved, lost.

Some teach wrongly that men are so depraved that they are incapable of repenting of their sins; that they must be “saved” by an act of God before they can repent and confess Jesus as Savior and truly be “saved.” What? This is taking it too far.

The Holy Spirit can convict a sinner so that conviction turns into a confession. This is what GRACE is all about. God extends His grace to the sinner; the sinner can accept or reject it. (See my full-length teachings on “Grace,” “Love,” “Forgiveness,” “Repenting,” “Justification,” and “Glorification”).

1 Corinthians 2:14 explains for us that the “natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God…” Man in his/her fallen state cannot perceive the high things of God. This is why man must repent and be born from above. Once our dead human spirit is quickened by God’s Holy Spirit, we can each become a new creation, alive unto God.

“DEPRAVITY” – Part 2

Depravity is also known as “filth” and “filthiness.” These two words are found in the verses that speak of ceremonial uncleanness, that is, moral depravity, and only secondarily mean literal mire and dirt.

In Old Testament Hebrew we often read about ceremonial uncleanness (Ezekiel 22:15, et al.). The word commonly translated “uncleanness” is related to a number of others, all meaning “defilement” or “to defile.” The more graphic definition is “excrement.” The terms “defilement” and “filth” are further used in relation to garments, even furniture. Isaiah 4:4 reads, “When the LORD has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and has purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst by the spirit of justice and by the spirit of burning…” Isaiah 28:8 reads, “For all the tables are full of vomit and filthiness so that there is no clean place.”

David, in Psalm 14:3 writes, “They all turn aside, together they become corrupt (defiled); there is none who does good, not even one.” It is implied here that all men have a depraved nature (as seen in Part One). Psalm 53:3 repeats that all men are “corrupt.” (See also Job 15:16.)

Researching the etymology of words is important. Many times the meaning of words are obscured in translation, so it is important to go back to the roots. There are also parallel terms that need to be considered when studying the Scriptures.

Ezekiel 16:5-6 is graphic in presenting Jerusalem as a victim of no pity (v. 5), cast out in the open field (a newborn still covered in blood, v. 6). Isaiah 64:6 is a graphic picture of and refers to female menses: “But we are as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is as filthy rags [– used during a woman’s menstruation].” This certainty shows that men and women are inwardly unclean!

Turning to the Greek, the most common word for “unclean” is rupain’o: “to make dirty,” “to defile,” as in Revelation 22:11. The noun rup’os, “filth,” is usually thought to be the oily exudate of a plant such as Hyssop (see 1 Peter 3:21), and the abstract concept rupari’a signifies “dirt” or “filth,” often used of moral/ethical depravity (see James 1:21). There are other Greek words translated “ugly” and “shameful” (see 1 Corinthians 11:6, et al.). Then we find “foul” and “foul mouthed” (see Colossians 3:8; 1 Timothy 3:8).

So, the Scriptures prove that depravity is a real state of the human race, and that only Christ can correct it — with our help, of course: THRU OUR REPENTANCE!!!

~ Gen. Jim, POW