Romans 5:12
Depravity
Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church
February 12, 2006
Introduction
Tonight as we take up our subject of depravity, remember that we are considering anchors of our faith. An anchor is something that will hold us in place when the winds of change and compromise come up and try to move us off our position. I have already spoken on the subjects of justification, propitiation and atonement, but what I have not spent much time on is the necessity of these works of God.
What do Missionary Baptists believe the Bible to teach concerning depravity? Notice I did not ask what Missionary Baptists believe about depravity, but what do we believe the Bible to teach about it? A subtle difference perhaps, but don’t ever forget that the anchors of our faith are not Missionary Baptist doctrine, but Bible doctrine. These are not our beliefs, but God’s truths as they are expressed in His Word.
In Romans 5:12, the apostle Paul wrote,
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
What do we mean by depravity, and more specifically, what do we mean by a position called total hereditary depravity? The word depravity means “corruption, immorality or sinful. In man’s natural condition, that is, the condition a man is in before the new birth, man is totally depraved. He is totally corrupt, immoral or sinful. Every part of his being, body, mind, spirit or soul: all that you can use to describe a man is sinful, it is corrupted by sin.
The word hereditary means that this total corruption is transmitted from the parents to the offspring in conception and birth. Each of us receives our sinful nature from our parents. It is because of this hereditary depravity that we can say that man has inherited guilt, or inherited sin. By one man sin entered into the world, and in God’s design that sin nature is passed from one set of parents to the next. When Adam sinned, God looked upon the human race as though all had sinned. In other words, He imputed Adam’s sin to us. But not only is our sin an inherited sin, we choose to sin.
You might be sitting there thinking, “Brother Kevin, why are you preaching this stuff? I’m not interested in depravity. What difference do you think this makes to me?” Those are legitimate questions. Why preach this stuff? There are three reasons you need to know what depravity is, and we’ll spend the most time on the first.
Because man is confused about his sin
Did you ever hear someone say, “Oh, she’s not all that bad.” I’m sure you have, and have probably said it yourself. I certainly have, and I know what we mean by that: he’s not all that bad when you compare him to some of the other people in the world. Some say that man is a victim of his environment and that changing your environment will solve your problems.
But what does the Bible say about a man’s sin? Let’s consider a few verses of Scripture. (Have congregation read these)
• Psalm 51:5 – We’re born sinners. The conception of a life takes place in a sin nature. Like begets like. Sinful parents produce sinful offspring.
• Psalm 58:3 – You do not have to teach a kid to lie. He is born a liar; born with a natural propensity to sin.
• Psalm 39:5 – David did not say that man at his worst was vanity. He did not say this was our worst condition before men; this is man at his very best! The very best character a man can develop is void of anything that is of value.
• Isaiah 64:6 – the leper’s rags
• Jeremiah 13:23 – Isaiah didn’t bother answering these questions because the answer is obvious. It is the nature and custom and practice of the sinner to sin.
• Jeremiah 17:9 – I know you have heard people trying to defend a man by saying, “Well, he’s a good person at heart.” But Jeremiah said that his heart is the trouble. It is the most deceitful thing you have!
We could go on and on! The Bible is full of evidence that says there is nothing good in man. We may clean up the outside and look good to everyone else, but God knows that within us all is a depraved sinful nature just waiting for the opportunity to express itself.
• Romans 3:9-19 – what an ugly picture of man’s nature!
In Romans 1 we find God turning man over to his reprobate mind. Did you know that the only thing that keeps you or me from chasing after debauchery is the grace of God? That’s right! God stands in our way, but there are many who are so headstrong and hellbent on chasing after sin that God gets out of the way and let’s them pursue it.
The unsaved man or woman loves sin so much that we love sin more than life itself. Don’t believe me? Then why will a man who knows his habits are killing him continue them? Why does the overweight person eat himself to death? Why does the gambler spend his last dime while his family goes hungry? They do it for the same reasons you or I will neglect to spend time in prayer or the study of God’s word – because we are sinners! We will neglect the very things that give us life and chase after those things which lead to death!
Don’t ever be confused about the fact that man is absolutely depraved in his sinful nature. He is not good, his heart is not good, and his ways are not good.
Because the Lord’s churches have forgotten about sin
I don’t mean that we’ve forgotten what sin is. I mean that we’ve forgotten what sin costs and where sin leads. How do I know? I know because most churches are not evangelizing, including ours. We just don’t do it, and we don’t because we’ve forgotten about sin. We’ve forgotten that the “wages of sin is death.” We’ve forgotten that “to be carnally minded is death.”
Not only are we not evangelizing, but we’re not calling people to give it up. Paul told the Corinthian church to purge out the old leaven, to put sin away from them. The Lord’s churches ought to have such a hatred for sin that we quit patting people on the back and making excuses for their behavior and start calling for one another to step into the light.
We’ve forgotten that it is sin that destroys families. It is sin that destroys churches. Pastors are falling out every day due to sin. Godly deacons are being led astray every day because of sin. Good relationships go bad because of the ugliness of sin.
Men, would you be content to be married to an unfaithful woman? Would it be okay with you if she only committed a little adultery? Would it be okay with you if she only spent one night a week in someone else’s bed?
Someone read 2 Corinthians 11:2.
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
Have we forgotten that we are the bride of Christ? That God is not content with just a little sin? Someone else read Ephesians 5:25-27.
“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”
Have the Lord’s churches forgotten about sin? I believe so, and because we have not taken our sin seriously we send out a message to the world that sin is not serious. But listen, man in his natural, lost condition is sinful. He is depraved and we must never forget it. You see, man is confused about his sin in large part because churches have forgotten about sin, but the third reason we must understand depravity is…
Because God is serious about sin
I don’t have to convince you of this. God was so serious about it that “He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God demonstrated just how serious He was about the depravity of man when He crucified Jesus Christ. If God was so concerned about our depravity, then should we not also be?
When God looked upon Adam and Eve, He did not see people who were just a little bad. He saw them in their depravity. When God looked upon the face of the earth in Noah’s day, He found that all were absolutely depraved. God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their depravity, and the Scriptures teach that what God did to those cities was done for an example to us. The wages of sin or the wages of man’s depravity is death.
God told Adam that in the day he ate of the forbidden fruit that he would surely die, and that’s exactly what he did. He died that day, a spiritual death, a spiritual separation from God that eventually resulted in the death of God’s only begotten Son Jesus Christ.
How do we know God was serious about sin? We know because of the cross.
Our Only Hope
Think with me for a moment about what a great need we have in our depravity. Our sin condemns us. We are absolutely condemned before the wrath of an offended God. Without Christ we are estranged from God, aliens from Him and without hope in this world. We are dead – spiritually dead in trespasses and sins.
However, God made provision for our depravity in sending Christ to die for us. The only thing a lost sinner can do is receive the salvation God offers, but let me make something clear. A man, a sinner, being spiritually dead, cannot act toward God, cannot respond to God, and he will never have any desire to be saved as long as God leaves him alone. If God were to leave a man alone, he would never have a desire to be saved. But the fact is, the Holy Spirit influences every sinner that is capable of responding.
John wrote that we are born again “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” In other words, no one is saved unless God is drawing them to be saved.
If God were to leave a man alone, he would never have a desire to be saved. But the fact is, the Holy spirit influences every sinner that is capable of responding…and herein lies man’s choice in salvation. You have a choice in the matter of the salvation of your soul because God imposes the choice on you.
Tonight you may have never really acknowledged your absolute depravity before God. You may have never really responded to His invitation to accept Him as your personal Savior. The Holy Spirit is leading you to do so; is drawing you to Him. Will you respond to that leading?
More likely than that you are standing here tonight with your sins completely forgiven, but you have taken for granted just how much God loved you in spite of your depraved nature. When was the last time you bowed and thanked God for extending His grace to you?
