And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to t

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And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to t

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Title: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to t

1

And you He made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sins, in which you once walked
according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
who now works in the sons of disobedience, among
whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, just as the others. (Eph.
21-3)

2
TOTAL HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY

What is Total Hereditary Depravity and why should
we be concerned with it?
THD is the first of the five points of what is
generally referred to as Calvinism.
The other four points are
Unconditional election
Limited atonement
Irresistible grace
Perseverance of the saints

3
TOTAL HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY

Both proponents and opponents of Calvinism have
used the acronym, TULIP, as a memory aid in
conveying the five points.
While this doctrine did not originate with John
Calvin, he is still its most famous defender.
Before exposing THD as error, it is only fair to
allow some of those who have advocated it to
speak for themselves in their defense thereof.

T. H. D. DEFENDED BY JOHN CALVIN
(Commenting on Ephesians 23)
God pronounces all men without exception, both
Jews and Gentiles...to be guilty until they are
set free by Christ. So that outside Christ there
is no righteousness, no salvation, and, in short,
no excellence. By children of wrath understand
simply those who are lost and deserving of
eternal death. Wrath means the judgment of
God so that the children of wrath signifies
those who are condemned before God. Such, Paul
tells us, had been the Jews, and all who had been
eminent in the Church and they were so by
nature, that is, from their very origin, and from
their mother's womb. This is a remarkable passage
against the Pelagians and all who deny original
sin. What dwells naturally in all is certainly
original but Paul teaches that we are all
naturally liable to condemnation.

Therefore sin dwells in us, for God does not
condemn the innocent. The Pelagians quibbled
that sin spread from Adam to the whole human
race, not by derivation, but by imitation. But
Paul affirms that we are born with sin, as
serpents bring their venom from the womb. Others
who deny that this is really sin, are no less at
variance with Paul's language for where
condemnation is, there must surely be sin. It is
not with blameless men, but with sin, that God is
angry. Nor is it wonderful that the depravity
which is inborn in us from our parents is
reckoned as sin before God for while the seed is
still hidden, He perceives and condemns it. But
one question arises. Why does Paul subject the
Jews to wrath and curse, like the rest, when they
were in fact the blessed seed? I answer, they
have a common nature. Jews differ from Gentiles
only in that, by the grace of the promise, God
delivers them from destruction but the remedy
was still to come. Another question is, since God
is the Author of nature,...

....how comes it that He is not to blame, if we
are lost by nature? I answer, nature is twofold
the first was created by God, the second is the
corruption of it. This condemnation, therefore,
which Paul speaks of does not proceed from God
but from a depraved nature. For we are not now
born such as Adam was at first created, but we
are the adulterous seed of degenerate and sinful
man (Calvin's Commentaries, Vol. 11, pp. 141,
142).

EVALUATING CALVINS COMMENTS
The phrase, by nature, according to Calvin,
means from their very origin, and from their
mother's womb.
But surely it does not mean this at Romans 214.
...when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by
nature do the things in the law, these, although
not having the law, are a law to themselves.
Why, then, must it mean this at Ephesians 23?
...among whom we all once conducted ourselves in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of
the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, just as the others.
Calvin makes God a respecter of persons when he
says, Jews differ from Gentiles only in that, by
the grace of the promise, God delivers them from
destruction. But there is no respect of persons
with God. (Rom. 211)

Calvin says, further, that God is not to blame
for our being lost, though we are lost by
nature and He is the Author of nature. He
defends this by saying that the nature by which
we are lost is the corruption of the nature
which God created. But, if God has unchangeably
ordained whatsoever comes to pass Westminster
Confession of Faith, III.I then He is the author
of the sin by which man's original nature was
corrupted and this condemnation, therefore,
which Paul speaks of does indeed proceed from
God as well as from a depraved nature.
Of course, God is not the author of the sin by
which mans original nature was corrupted.
Rather, man sinned of his own volition in
violation of the ideal will of God, that no man
ever sin even one time.

T. H. D. DEFENDED BY EDWIN H. PALMER
1. Not absolute depravity. Absolute depravity
means that a person expresses his depravity to
the nth degree at all times. To be totally
depraved, however, does not mean that a person is
as intensively evil as possible, but as
extensively evil as possible. It is not that he
cannot commit a worse crime rather, it is that
nothing that he does is good. He is unable to
do a single thing that is good.... Not only are
the sins of man not as bad as they might be, but
neither are they as comprehensive as they might
be. One man does not commit all possible sins."

2. Not a complete absence of relative good....
Not only is it true that the unregenerate does
not commit sins in the worst way possible, nor
all sorts of sins, but it is also true that he is
capable of doing a certain amount of good if you
rightly understand the word good. A relatively
good work...may have the correct outward form but
not be done from a true faith or to the glory of
God.

3. Positively only and always sinning.
Although we assert that natural man (one who has
not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit) can do
relative good, it is necessary to reemphasize
that even this relative good is not fundamentally
truly good in God's sight. The reason for this
is, as the Belgic Confession puts it, that the
motive of love and faith is missing. In fact,
the relative good is basically, in the deepest
sense, nothing else than sin and evil Total
depravity means that natural man is never able to
do any good that is fundamentally pleasing to
God, and, in fact, does evil all the time Proof
texts Gen. 65 821 Jer. 1729 Ps. 515 Rom.
310-18.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Gen. 65,8,9) 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. This is the
genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect
in his generations. Noah walked with God.
This does not say that man was wicked from birth.
Notice that Noah was an exception.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Gen. 821) 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.
From his youth does not mean from birth.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Jer. 179)The heart is deceitful above all
things, And desperately wicked Who can know
it?
This is a proverb, which is a general truth, not
an absolute truth.
Besides, it does not say, the heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked from
birth!

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Psalm 515) Behold, I was brought forth in
iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
Whose iniquity? Whose sin?
Illustration In anger did my father hit me.
Whose anger? Mine or my fathers?
This is probably an deliberate exaggeration for
emphasis.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Rom. 310-18) As it is written There is none
righteous, no, not one There is none who
understands There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside They have together
become unprofitable There is none who does good,
no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb With
their tongues they have practiced 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 And the way of peace they have
not known. There is no fear of God before their
eyes.
Verse 12 says, They are all gone out of the
way it does not say, They are all born out of
the way.

4. Negatively total inability. Another way of
describing total depravity is to call it total
inability. Many prefer this term to total
depravity, since the latter term leads some to
think that man is as bad as he can be. The term
total inability, however, suffers from being too
negative. It suggests that the sinfulness of man
is a lack rather than a positive characteristic.
But the term is very useful in driving home the
fact of the inability of man to do, understand,
or even desire the good.
a. Man cannot do the good In speaking of the
total moral inability of the unregenerate to do
good, Jesus once asked Can we pick grapes from
thornbushes or figs from thistles? His answer
was No, every good tree bears good fruit, and
the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot
bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good
fruit (Matt. 717, 18). In other words, the
unregenerate cannot do what is truly good Other
verses used 1 Cor 123 John 154,5 Rom.
87,8.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Matt. 717,18)Even so, every good tree bears
good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A
good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad
tree bear good fruit.
Jesus is not saying, here, that all men are
incapable of doing good.
He is illustrating the fact that all false
teachers teach error.
Notice verses 15 16.
(Matt. 715,16)Beware of false prophets, who
come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly
they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by
their fruits. Do men gather grapes from
thornbushes or figs from thistles?

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(1 Cor. 123) Therefore I make known to you that
no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus
accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord
except by the Holy Spirit.
This passage is talking about the exercise of
spiritual gifts. Notice verse 1.
(1 Cor. 121) Now concerning spiritual gifts,
brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant
One receives the Spirit because he has already
been regeneratednot so he can be regenerated.
(Gal. 46) And because you are sons, God has sent
forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts,
crying out, Abba, Father!

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(John 154,5)Abide in Me, and I in you. As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it
abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you
abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much
fruit for without Me you can do nothing.
Jesus is talking about His disciples and the
necessity of abiding in Him He is not speaking
about unregenerate individuals.
(Rom. 87,8) Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God for it is not subject to the law of
God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in
the flesh cannot please God.
The carnal mind is not the unregenerate, but
the regenerate who walks after the flesh rather
than after the Spirit. They cannot please God
because they are not trying to please God.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Rom. 81-6) There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
who do not walk according to the flesh, but
according to the Spirit. For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free
from the law of sin and death. For what the law
could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin He
condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us
who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit. 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.

EDWIN H. PALMERS DEFENSE CONTINUED
b. Man cannot understand the good. Not only is
man unable to do the good by himself, he is not
even able to understand the good. He is as blind
as cyclops with his one eye burned out. Lydia,
for example, heard Paul preach Christ at the
riverside in Philippi. Only after the Lord
opened her heart was she able to give heed to
what was said by Paul (Acts 1614) Additional
verses used Eph. 418 2 Cor. 312-18 John
843 Matt. 1314 1 Cor. 118 214.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Acts 1614) Now a certain woman named Lydia
heard us. She was a seller of purple from the
city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord
opened her heart to heed the things spoken by
Paul.
This passage does not say how the Lord opened
Lydia's heart.
But see how the Lord opened the hearts of two
disciples.
(Luke 2413-32) Now behold, two of them were
traveling that same day to a village called
Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And
they talked together of all these things which
had happened. So it was, while they conversed and
reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went
with them. But their eyes were restrained, so
that they did not know Him. And He said to them,
What...

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
...kind of conversation is this that you have
with one another as you walk and are sad? Then
the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said
to Him, Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem,
and have You not known the things which happened
there in these days? And He said to them, What
things? So they said to Him, The things
concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet
mighty in deed and word before God and all the
people, and how the chief priests and our rulers
delivered Him to be condemned to death, and
crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He
who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides
all this, today is the third day since these
things happened. Yes, and certain women of our
company, who arrived at the tomb early,
astonished us. When they did not find His body,
they came saying that they had also seen a vision
of angels who said He was alive. And...

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
...certain of those who were with us went to the
tomb and found it just as the women had said but
Him they did not see. Then He said to them, O
foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all
that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the
Christ to have suffered these things and to enter
into His glory?
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He
expounded to them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning Himself.
Then they drew near to the village where they
were going, and He indicated that He would have
gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying,
Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the
day is far spent. And He went in to stay with
them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table
with them, that He took bread, blessed and
broke...

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
...it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were
opened and they knew Him and He vanished from
their sight. And they said to one another, Did
not our heart burn within us while He talked with
us on the road, and while He opened the
Scriptures to us?
(Luke 2444-47) Then He said to them, These are
the words which I spoke to you while I was still
with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets
and the Psalms concerning Me. And He opened
their understanding, that they might comprehend
the Scriptures. Then He said to them, Thus it is
written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ
to suffer and to rise from the dead the third
day, and that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in His name to all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Eph 418) Having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God, because of
the ignorance that is in them, because of the
blindness of their heart.
You cannot darken a room that is already pitch
black.
If man is born with the total inability to
understand Gods word, how can his understanding
be darkened?

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(2 Cor. 312-18) Therefore, since we have such
hope, we use great boldness of speech--unlike
Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the
children of Israel could not look steadily at the
end of what was passing away. But their minds
were blinded. For until this day the same veil
remains unlifted in the reading of the Old
Testament, because the veil is taken away in
Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read,
a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one
turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now
the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with
unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory
of the Lord, are being transformed into the same
image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit
of the Lord.
The passage is not talking about complete
blindness, but about blindness to the fact that
the old covenant has...

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
been abolishedsuperseded by the new.
(John 843)Why do you not understand My speech?
Because you are not able to listen to My word.
They could not bring themselves to listen with a
view to understanding.
Matt. 1314 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah
is fulfilled, which says Hearing you will hear
and shall not understand, And seeing you will see
and not perceive.
This is explained in verse 15, which Palmer
ignored.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Matt. 1315) ...For the hearts of this people
have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should
see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and
turn, So that I should heal them.
In short, they did not want to understand. Their
ears had grown dull and they had closed
their eyes. Thus, they were not born with dull
ears and closed eyes.
(1 Cor. 118) For the message of the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved it is the power of God.
Calvinists have cause and effect reversed, here.
They are perishing because the message of the
cross is foolishness to them.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(1 Cor. 214) 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 natural man is not the unregenerate man
but the uninspired man (see context, vv.
6,13).
(1 Cor. 26) However, we speak wisdom among those
who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age,
nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to
nothing.
(1 Cor. 213) These things we also speak, not in
words which man's wisdom teaches but which the
Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things
with spiritual.

EDWIN H. PALMERS DEFENSE CONTINUED
c. Man cannot desire the good. Not only is the
non christian unable to do anything that is truly
good, not only is he unable to understand the
good, but worse still, he is not even able to
desire the good Alleged proofs Mt. 718 John
33 843 154,5 644 665. Here is total
depravity man cannot choose Jesus. He cannot
even take the first step to go to Jesus, unless
the Father draws him. And this depravity is
universal. No one can come, says Jesus. Not
just some... but none. That is universal,
total inability (The Five Points of Calvinism,
pp. 9-16).

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(Matt. 718) A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
(John 33) Jesus answered and said to him, Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
(John 843) Why do you not understand My speech?
Because you are not able to listen to My word.
(John 154,5) Abide in Me, and I in you. As the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it
abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you
abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much
fruit for without Me you can do nothing.
Desire is not under consideration in any of these
verses.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(John 644) No one can come to Me unless the
Father who sent Me draws him and I will raise
him up at the last day.
This is explained in verse 45. Jesus went on to
say,
(John 645) It is written in the prophets, And
they shall all be taught by God. Therefore
everyone who has heard and learned from the
Father comes to Me.
This implies that the Father draws through the
word of God, which is why the gospel is to be
preached. Notice
(Luke 811,12) Now the parable is this The seed
is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the
ones who hear then the devil comes and takes
away the word out of their hearts, lest they
should believe and be saved.

EVALUATING PALMERS PROOF TEXTS
(John 665) And He said, Therefore I have said
to you that no one can come to Me unless it has
been granted to him by My Father.
It has been granted to every man who has heard
the preaching of the gospel. Notice these
passages
(1 Thess. 213) For this reason we also thank God
without ceasing, because when you received the
word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed
it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth,
the word of God, which also effectively works in
you who believe.
(2 Thess. 213,14) But we are bound to give
thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by
the Lord, because God from the beginning chose
you for salvation through sanctification by the
Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He
called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of
the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

MAN'S ABILITY TO DESIRE, UNDERSTAND AND DO THE
GOOD ESTABLISHED
(EZEKIEL 181-32)
(1-2) The word of the Lord came to me again,
saying, What do you mean when you use this
proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying
The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the
children's teeth are set on edge?
Israel used a proverb to deny personal
responsibility for her sins.
(3) As I live, says the Lord God, you shall no
longer use this proverb in Israel.
God's intention, here, is to refute the proverb.
(4) Behold, all souls are Mine The soul of the
father As well as the soul of the son is Mine
The soul who sins shall die.
Every individual shall be guilty only of his own
sins.

(5-9) But if a man is just And does what is
lawful and right If he has not eaten on the
mountains, Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of
the house of Israel, Nor defiled his neighbor's
wife, Nor approached a woman during her impurity
If he has not oppressed anyone, But has restored
to the debtor his pledge Has robbed no one by
violence, But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing If he has
not exacted usury Nor taken any increase, But
has withdrawn his hand from iniquity And executed
true judgment between man and man If he has
walked in My statutes And kept My judgments
faithfully--He is just He shall surely live!
Says the Lord God.

(10-13) If he begets a son who is a robber Or a
shedder of blood, Who does any of these things
And does none of those duties, But has eaten on
the mountains Or defiled his neighbor's wife If
he has oppressed the poor and needy, Robbed by
violence, Not restored the pledge, Lifted his
eyes to the idols, Or committed abomination If
he has exacted usury Or taken increase--Shall he
then live? He shall not live! If he has done any
of these abominations, He shall surely die His
blood shall be upon him.

(14-18) If, however, he begets a son Who sees
all the sins which his father has done, And
considers but does not do likewise Who has not
eaten on the mountains, Nor lifted his eyes to
the idols of the house of Israel, Nor defiled his
neighbor's wife Has not oppressed anyone, Nor
withheld a pledge, Nor robbed by violence, But
has given his bread to the hungry And covered the
naked with clothing Who has withdrawn his hand
from the poor And not received usury or increase,
But has executed My judgments And walked in My
statutes--He shall not die for the iniquity of
his father He shall surely live! As for his
father, Because he cruelly oppressed, Robbed his
brother by violence, And did what is not good
among his people, Behold, he shall die for his
iniquity.

(19-20) Yet you say, Why should the son not
bear the guilt of the father? Because the son
has done what is lawful and right, and has kept
all My statutes and observed them, he shall
surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son
shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the
father bear the guilt of the son. The
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon
himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall
be upon himself.
Each individual determines his own spiritual
state of life or death.

(21-23) But if a wicked man turns from all his
sins which he has committed, keeps all My
statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he
shall surely live he shall not die. None of the
transgressions which he has committed shall be
remembered against him because of the
righteousness which he has done, he shall live.
Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked
should die? says the Lord God, and not that he
should turn from his ways and live?

(24-25) But when a righteous man turns away from
his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does
according to all the abominations that the wicked
man does, shall he live? All the righteousness
which he has done shall not be remembered
because of the unfaithfulness of which he is
guilty and the sin which he has committed,
because of them he shall die. But when a
righteous man turns away from his righteousness
and commits iniquity, and does according to all
the abominations that the wicked man does, shall
he live? All the righteousness which he has done
shall not be remembered because of the
unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin
which he has committed, because of them he shall
die. Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not
fair. Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My
way which is fair, and your ways which are not
fair?

(26-29) When a righteous man turns away from his
righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it,
it is because of the iniquity which he has done
that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away
from the wickedness which he committed, and does
what is lawful and right, he preserves himself
alive. Because he considers and turns away from
all the transgressions which he committed, he
shall surely live he shall not die. Yet the
house of Israel says, The way of the Lord is not
fair. O house of Israel, is it not My ways which
are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
The wicked individual can turn from his sins and
live, and the righteous individual can turn from
his righteousness and die.

(30-32) Therefore I will judge you, O house of
Israel, every one according to his ways, says
the Lord God. Repent, and turn from all your
transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your
ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions
which you have committed, and get yourselves a
new heart and a new spirit. For why should you
die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in
the death of one who dies, says the Lord God.
Therefore turn and live!
Here, we have encouragement to repent therefore,
those who need to repent have the ability to do
so.