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.
~ Genesis 6:5 ~
Exegetical Part
I. The LORD (Yahweh) did not come to new knowledge of man’s sin. But in order to more effectively communicate the violence and increase of sin, the LORD is said to see. It is also not the case that God went without seeing sin, and then, at this point, now sees sin. In v. 3 it says, “And the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’” And then, if we peer back into chapter four, it becomes obvious that God has been dealing with man’s sin from Genesis 3 all the way up to Genesis 6, because in Genesis 4 we witness the murder of Abel at the hands of his jealous brother, Cain. Sin is nothing new to God at this point. The text is merely trying to emphasize the magnitude of sin.
By the time of Genesis 6, not only was the world covered by the effects of sin, but all men were sinful men. The LORD “saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth…” This is another way of saying, “All mankind was wicked, that wickedness was exceptional, and it had spread all over the earth.” This first clause refers to those visible or external immoral acts which are utterly repugnant to the holiness of God. The word for wickedness is often associated with outward deeds. Numbers 23:21 says, “He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, Nor has He seen wickedness in Israel.” And, Deuteronomy 13:11 says, “So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.” Again, in Deuteronomy 28:20, the phrase “wickedness of your doings” is used. Judges 9:56 says, “Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers.” Wickedness refers to those outworkings of sin we commit or wicked deeds.
II. God saw that the wickedness in the earth was great, but He also saw that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. This is what characterizes the intent of the thoughts of man’s heart. Now, this evil is not only continual as in perpetual, but it’s also an evil which characterizes every one of man’s intentions and every one of man’s thoughts. This is a comprehensive, all-enveloping evil which involves man’s intellect and, subsequently, man’s will. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” Man’s heart, which stands for his affections, his desires, and man’s intellect, often represented by thoughts or the mind, are entirely compromised by sin.
In Romans 1:18-20, we are told that all people outside of Christ are people who actively suppress the truth in unrighteousness. It says:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…
God has revealed Himself through creation. His invisible attributes are clearly seen, and are understood by the things that are made, that is, they are understood by all people through creation. And it’s not only His invisible attributes themselves, such as His goodness and wisdom, but also His deity (Godhead) and His eternal power. Yet, what, in his sin, does man do to this knowledge? Man suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. So, they are left without excuse (v. 20) “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Rom. 1:21).”
Doctrinal Part
The teaching of Scripture we have just canvassed, the teaching that says all of man’s intentions, affections, thoughts, etc. are evil continually, is that which we often refer to as the doctrine of total depravity. There are three characteristics of the doctrine of total depravity we must be careful to know and understand.
I. This depravity is total. In article II, chapter III, paragraph 1, the Synod of Dordt declared:
Man, from the beginning, was created in the image of God, adorned in his mind, with the true and saving knowledge of his Creator, and of spiritual things, with righteousness in his will and heart, and purity in all his affections, and thus was altogether holy; but by the instigation of the devil and his own free will (libera sua voluntate), revolting from God, he bereaved himself of these inestimable gifts; and, on the contrary, in their place, contracted in himself blindness, horrible darkness, and perversity of judgment in the mind; malice, rebellion, hardness, in the will and heart; and finally, impurity in all his affections.
This is none other than an expansive echo of Genesis 6:5 and Romans 1:18-20, that man is entirely wicked. Man began life in this world as an incorrupt creature, “adorned,” as it were, or furnished, with the true and saving knowledge of his Creator. Man had original righteousness in will and heart, and in all his affections. All of those things, so say the Canons of Dordt, were altogether holy prior to the fall. There was total righteousness. After the fall, however, there is total depravity or total ruin.
II. This depravity is comprehensive of all humanity. Apart from Christ, all people are totally depraved. There are no persons, no matter how good they may seem, who are exempt from this depravity. Man’s depravity began at the fall in Genesis 3. Thus, article II, chapter III, paragraph 3 of the Synod states, “Therefore, all men are conceived in sin, and born the children of wrath…” The psalmist, in Psalm 51:5, says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” And Psalm 58:3 says, “The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.” And again, in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
There is not any one person exempt from this depravity since Adam. Yet, there was one Man who descended from Adam, yet had not Adam’s sin, being conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary, and that one Man is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one exception to the rule of depravity. But every man and woman born by natural generation is conceived in Adamic sin, or original sin, and this original sin, which is another name for total depravity, gives way to all other sins we commit in this life.
III. This depravity explains the evil committed by human beings. Some say, “If you do not believe in total depravity, just pay more attention to your children!” And while that might sound like a rhetorical zinger or a lighthearted or comical jolt from one friend to another, yet it is not altogether without value. Children, at a very young age, as soon as their behavior becomes discernible, can be observed scheming, blatantly disobeying their parents, and yes, even lying with a bold face and no shame!
For those of us, however, who believe the doctrine of total depravity, misbehaved children should be no surprise! On a larger scale, world leaders plot and scheme for the sake of power. And it is not uncommon to hear of theft, murder, adultery, and all sorts of other sins which are acted out on a day-to-day basis in this world. Moreover, we, individually, have experience of this inherent sin or remaining depravity as we pursue holiness and therefore struggle against the evil of our own sin and the daily temptations we perpetually encounter. Philosophers, scientists, and every-day folk often wonder what the explanation is for these kinds of evils, and the only answer I could give them is, simply, us. People are evil by nature. And that, perhaps, is the sum of the entirety of the doctrine of total depravity. Scripture bears witness to this and human nature itself bears witness to this.
Elenctic Part
Total depravity has been a doctrine held to by many throughout church history, although it hasn’t always been called total depravity. Obviously, it can be easily discerned in the Scriptures themselves, from both Old and New Testaments. Yet, it was also a doctrine believed very early on by Christians after the apostolic era, without terrible amounts of controversy. Augustine, who lived in the 5th century, once wrote, “of his own will a man forsakes God, so as to be deservedly forsaken by God.” And it was Augustine who dealt with a major distortion of the doctrine of total depravity, when Pelagius intended to overturn the doctrine by thinking of man as able to, as it were, cooperate with God in the work of redemption.
Later, the doctrine of depravity would come under fire by the time of the Reformation, largely by the Roman Catholics and, some years later, the Arminians and Remonstrants. The basic premise common to all those who would have erased the doctrine of total depravity was the conviction that man had it in himself to respond positively to God’s revelation. We must answer this objection as follows:
I. Man is entirely unable to save himself. “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy (Rom. 9:16).” And, “you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins… (Eph. 2:1).” And again, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses… (Col. 2:13).” Man can no more initiate his own process of salvation than a dead man might begin to dig himself out of the grave! If it were not the case that man is totally depraved, then why can’t men save themselves? Has there been anyone who has climbed out of his own spiritual death by his own existential strength? I think not! Man is dead, and dead he shall remain—unless of course God makes him to live.
II. There has come much confusion from the doctrine of total depravity. Some, willing to preserve man’s inability, have taken total depravity to mean that the unregenerate man cannot reason rightly whatsoever. But Romans 1:20 says that the unregenerate man does understand some things, even some things concerning the existence of God. Romans 1, in fact, assumes that the basic reliability of man’s sense perception is still intact. Moreover, the unregenerate man can perform many things which requires the truth. They can build houses, engineer chemicals, describe physics in terms of precise mathematics, etc. The unregenerate man continues to have a very powerful mind which is still able to discern truths through the works of creation.
The doctrine of total depravity nowhere denies the sharpness of the unregenerate man’s intellect. The doctrine of total depravity states that, since man’s heart is darkened, and since man is dead in his sins, no matter what truth he understands in this creation, he will never use it to deduce the correct conclusions! Any vestige of deity that the natural man might perceive in this creation will be taken to be something other than what it is. He will make excuses for it, he will delay responding to it, and he will form it into an idol made in his own image. Man is not depraved because his mental faculties do not work, man is depraved because his mental faculties do work, and because man’s heart is darkened, he uses the sharpness of his mind to construct all sorts of fantasies which lead him to any other conclusion but the one true God who exists.
Practical Part
The doctrine of total depravity doesn’t fall short of practical application. There is much here which not only can but must inform our living as Christians if we are to live obediently before our good, gracious, and holy God.
I. Semper reformanda. Always reforming ought to be our individual mission statement as believers. God has kindly and effectually called us into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9), yet, this side of glory, He has not yet totally eradicated the depravity which remains in us. Our depravity may no longer be total, but it is nevertheless depravity. This ought to cause us not to question those things that are true, but to question our conclusions. We ought not question doctrine in total, but we need to be apt to question our doctrine, our conclusions. And we need not question our own conclusions for no reason; we must question our conclusions for the sake of reforming or conforming ourselves unto the truth of God’s holy Word.
We must never forget that we continually fall short of the glory of God. And we must never assume without argument that our settled opinions align with the truth (Rom. 3:23). We continue to have a part of us that hates the truth, and this can be seen in our own sin. We need to ensure that, as Christians, our flagship question is always: What is true? That is our business as Christians, to cut through our depravity by Word and Spirit, and grow in the truth as we leave behind the old man (Eph. 4:22).
II. Humility. The doctrine of total depravity ought to move us to a purity in humility. We are but creatures pulled by God from the dirt of the earth. What have we to offer? What have we to bring to the King of kings and Lord of lords? Are we so prideful so as to think we can add one iota of persuasive or compelling power to God’s decision to save us? In our hubris, do we actually believe that we can be a meritorious people? Do we think we can appease God by our actions? What about other people? Have we tricked ourselves into thinking we are better than other sinners? How could that possibly be so? We came from the same parents they came from! It is God and God alone who determines we should no longer dwell under those same sinful parents, but under the Fatherhood of God in Christ Jesus the Son.
The doctrine of depravity tells us that we did nothing to earn our salvation, but received everything we now have, nothing being original to us (1 Cor. 4:7). Thus, we ought to be lowly in spirit, not having superiority complexes, not taking ourselves too seriously, but being truly humble and lowly understanding that all mercy and grace comes from the Most High.
III. Utter reliance on Father, Son, and Spirit. Total depravity, seeing the helplessness of all humanity outside of Christ, but also our own helplessness who are in Christ, ought to make us recognize our total dependence upon God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (Jn. 15:5). Without the Triune God, revealed to us in Scripture, we would be just like the world. And without the Triune God, revealed to us in Scripture, the world would be much worse than it presently is. Depravity is more or less depending on Jehovah God. Do we long for relief from our remaining depravity? A maturity in holiness? A progression in obedience? Then we must turn toward the Triune God upon whom our sanctification relies!
IV. Our salvation never depended upon our own value. Finally, know that your salvation never depended on your perfection or your works of the law. Therefore, it will never depend on your own original perfection or your ability to perform works of the law. To this effect, Paul writes:
Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith (Gal. 3:3-5)?
You see? Your election, your effectual calling, your justification, your adoption, your sanctification, none of it depends on your own original righteousness or your own original ability. You were totally depraved! How then could it have dependent on you? It was a work of God’s Spirit. Now, you have remaining depravity! How could it now depend upon you if it never did in the first place? It is a work of God’s Spirit and nothing less, by which you will be brought to the end, Christian!
Victory Baptist Church | A Sovereign Grace Church in Kansas City 