{"id":12690,"date":"2016-08-17T01:37:40","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T06:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/mans-total-depravity\/"},"modified":"2016-08-17T01:37:40","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T06:37:40","slug":"mans-total-depravity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/mans-total-depravity\/","title":{"rendered":"MAN\u2019S TOTAL DEPRAVITY"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal'><b>JOHN 6:22\u201358<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal'><i>No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal'><i>(John 6:44)<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: 18.0pt;line-height:normal'>The Reformed or Augustinian doctrine of election is grounded in the fact that man is so sinful, so depraved in his fallenness, that apart from the irresistible grace of God not one could ever turn to Christ. In John 6:25\u201358, Jesus said, \u201cNo one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.\u201d Jesus did not say some people can come, or only a few people; He said no one is able to come to Him. Absolutely no one can come unless God does something first.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: 18.0pt;line-height:normal'>Notice that Jesus said \u201ccan.\u201d <i>Can<\/i> means \u201cis able,\u201d while <i>may<\/i> means \u201chas permission.\u201d Jesus did not say that no one <i>has permission<\/i> to come to Him, or no one <i>may<\/i> come to Him. Rather, He said that no one <i>is able<\/i> to come to him. No one is able because man is totally depraved, sinful; no one seeks God because no one is good, holy, and righteous even in the least.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: 18.0pt;line-height:normal'>Next we observe that Jesus said no one can come to Him \u201cunless.\u201d This introduces an exception. Apart from this exception, no one could ever come to Christ. Finally, we come to the word <i>draw<\/i>. This word does not mean to \u201cwoo\u201d or to \u201centice.\u201d Many people erroneously think this is what draw means in this context. They say that God gives grace to everyone, but that grace has a limited effect. It does not force people to come but only woos them. The final decision rests with the sinner.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: 18.0pt;line-height:normal'>This interpretation of John 6:44 is impossible because in James 2:6, we read, \u201cAre they not the ones who are dragging you into court?\u201d Likewise, Acts 16:19 says, \u201cThey dragged them into the marketplace.\u201d The same Greek word is used in all three verses. Obviously, mere enticement is not in view here.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent: 18.0pt;line-height:normal'>Kittel\u2019s <i>Theological Dictionary of the New Testament<\/i> tells us that the word translated <i>draw<\/i> in John 6:44 means \u201cto compel by irresistible authority.\u201d It was used in classical Greek for drawing water from a well. We do not entice or persuade water to come up from the well, but we force it against gravity to come up by drawing it in a bucket. So it is with us. We are so depraved that God must drag us to Himself. While we were dead in transgression, He made us alive together with Christ (Eph. 2:4\u20135).<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;   text-align:center;line-height:normal'><b>CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;   text-align:center;line-height:normal'>Exodus   47\u201350<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;   text-align:center;line-height:normal'>Matthew 26:1\u201316<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:   18.0pt;line-height:normal'>Every time you pray this week, thank God for His   sovereignty in salvation, unconditional love, total provision, and your   certain hope of heaven. Express your gratitude and joy for God\u2019s work of   redemption in your life. Read the passages below as a reminder of your   inability in salvation and your total dependence on God.<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:   normal'><i>For   further study: Ps. 51 \u2022 Rom. 3:10\u201320 \u2022 Col. 1:15\u201323<\/i><\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal'>thursday<\/p>\n<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:center;line-height:normal'>february<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>JOHN 6:22\u201358 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:44). The Reformed or Augustinian doctrine of election is grounded in the fact that man is so sinful, so depraved in his fallenness, that apart from the irresistible &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/mans-total-depravity\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;MAN\u2019S TOTAL DEPRAVITY&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12690\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}