Pagan Piety Series

Total depravity is not the concept that man is as bad as

he can be, for we all know that there are many degrees of

evil among the lost, and this holds true even among the

saved. Some redeemed people are less sinful than others,

and some lost people are less sinful than others. Total

depravity, when rightly understood, means that there is no

part of man that has escaped the taint of sin. He is spoiled in

every faculty. In body, soul, and mind he has fallen, and

there is nothing left of purity that can be used in any way to

merit salvation. It does not mean that he is worthless, for he

is still of such great value to God that He would send His

Son to die for His redemption.

If you looked at used cars and saw one with a poor body,

worn tires, and cracked glass, but with a good motor, you

might say there is some merit in it that makes it worthy of

being purchased. It might be the other way around, and the

motor is bad, but the body and tires may be very good. But

a car that would fit the total depravity category has a poor

motor, rusted body, worn tires, broken windows, clouded

mirror, leaky tank, and some defeat in every part. In other

words, there is nothing about it that compels you to admit

that it merits escape from the junkyard. If it is kept and

restored, it is only by grace. What would ever lead one to

restore it? It would be because of the original nature and

value of the car. It could be of great value again if restored.

This the idea behind God's salvation plan for man.

Man has no claim on God's mercy. There is nothing about

him that makes him worthy of a place in God's presence. If

he ever gets there, it is only by God's grace. Man was once

perfect and in fellowship with God, and if he is redeemed he

can be restored to that original value and relationship. This

means that man at his best is still evil and lost, but it does

not mean that he is no good. On the contrary, he is still the

most valuable creature in the world. He is valuable enough

for God to make a way for him to be restored. He is still the

only creature made in the image of God. He is like a Rolls

Royce, or some other unique model. By its very uniqueness

it opens the hope of being worth it to put labor into its

restoration. What is once was it can be again, and that

becomes a motivation to restore it.

The point I am getting at is that we must avoid carrying

the concept of depravity to the point of absurdity and

belittling the whole plan of God to redeem man. It was not

an arbitrary act on the part of God to save men. He had

planned to do so even before man fell because He knew that

man had the capacity to be like His Son. Even in his

depraved state he can do what is good in the eyes of God.

Jesus said to His disciples, "If you then, being evil, know

how to give good gifts to your children, how much more

should your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them

who ask Him?" If man who is evil can still do good, how

much more can God, who alone is untouched by all sin. The

book of Jonah is a clear revelation that just as good men can

do evil, so evil men can do good. Let's look at this beginning

with verse 13.

Verse 13. Jonah has been found guilty of sin against God,

and of endangering the lives of everyone on the ship. Men of

greater culture would have quickly agreed with his request

to be thrown into the sea, but to our surprise these men who

were so fearful are now willing to risk their lives for the sake

of Jonah. Jonah must have felt quit small, for here were

Gentile dogs, who were not a part of the covenant of God

with Israel, and yet they would do for him more than he

would ever consider doing for them. Even God's command

could not bring him to bother with Gentiles, and now he sees

Gentiles risking everything for his skin.

We don't want to get carried away to another extreme,

so we must recognize this as a unique situation. Without a

doubt the vast majority of pagans would have thrown him

over just for the sport of it. The story is trying to convey,

not that all pagans are just great guys after all, but that men