Total depravity is the idea that sin has so infiltrated every part of our being that we cannot take any steps towards God unless he first intervenes. This is the truth we find in passages such as the following:
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. (John 6:44)
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, together they have become useless; there is no one who does good, there is not even one. (Romans 3:10-12)
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to this worldly age, according to the ruler of the atmospheric domain, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and by nature we were children under wrath, as the others were also. (Ephesians 2:1-3)
It is true that
I once was rebellious, corrupted by sin, Pursuing the Devil’s dark path, Oblivious, dead to the state I was in, An object of God’s dreadful wrath. (James Boice)
The following video of shows how even at an early age the depravity of children shows itself. No one has to teach children to be deceitful. Our inherited sin has so affected us that even as kids, we will do whatever it takes to get our own way.
(Okay, I’m not sure how well that video illustrates the point, but it’s my son, and I thought it was cute!)
However, it is also true that humanity is created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27), and as such human life is inherently valuable. That is why God linked the command not to murder with the creation of humans in God’s image (Genesis 9:6).
Sometimes we can so emphasize the depravity of man that we can forget that it is precisely that depraved humanity that God loved. And this is how he loved that depraved humanity: He sent his Son to die for them! Our language of “total depravity” sometimes makes us think that there is nothing in humanity to love or be excited about, or that somehow the image of God in mankind was simply obliterated in the fall.
The term “total depravity”–and even to some extent “radical depravity”–has screened out the reality that humanity is created in God’s image and has inherent worth because of that.
Now, just to clarify, the “inherent worth” of being made in God’s image is not the same thing as any “moral worth” or moral claim to favor with God. Man is still completely lost apart from God and is affected by sin in such a way that even the good that he does is not done for the glory of God but for his own glory, and is therefore tainted with sin. Man is definitely dead in sin and cannot come to saving faith apart from a sovereign work of God.
Perhaps we should consider using a different term. Or maybe it would be more helpful to add terminology to our vocabulary so that “total/radical depravity” is not the only category we use to speak of humanity. If asked to describe humanity, I might answer that we are bearers of God’s image who are fallen, helpless and broken.
I don’t want to despise the image of God in man, marred though it may be. Nor do I want to ascribe to mankind more moral ability than Scripture allows. Rather, my hope is that I will acknowledge the good things that humanity does while proclaiming without apology our great need and utter dependence upon God.
