How Low Can Man Go?

They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me (John 16:2-3).

In the Reformed faith there is a strong adherence to five cardinal principles espoused by John Calvin (A.D. 1509-1564). These five principles are symbolized by the acrostic T.U.L.I.P., which stands for: Total depravity of man, Unconditional election of God, Limited atonement of Christ, Irresistible grace of God, and Perseverance of the saints.

The total depravity of man describes how sin has affected us as human beings. Total depravity says that sin has so corrupted us that apart from God’s grace, we love other things more than we love God. Our mind, body, heart, and spirit - the whole of the human being - has been negatively affected by sin. It is total depravity because sin has affected us to the extent we cannot escape it or its consequences. Yet, God has not stopped loving His creation (John 3:16). In His great love for us, God restrains sin in us, keeping us from being as evil and wicked as we possibly could be. It is hard to imagine someone can be more evil or wicked than Emperor Caligula or Emperor Nero, Genghis Kahn, Heinrich Himmler, or Mao Zedong. But as evil as these men were, they were not as evil as they could have been if not for the restraining power of God. 

The evil and wickedness of men is proof of their depravity. Godlessness has abounded in every generation since Adam and Eve. Godliness has always been met with godlessness in every generation since Adam and Eve. (1 John 3:11-13) For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother's righteous. Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. (Proverbs 29:27) An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, and he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked. (Amos 5:10) They hate the one who rebukes in the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks uprightly. 

It is the same today as it has been since sin entered the human experience. Faithfulness to the Lord God sets the non-believer’s teeth on edge and stirs up within him a hatred for the child of God. We pride ourselves in being members of an enlightened humanity, a cultured civilization, a tolerant people. But we live in a dream world. We have lofty thoughts of a utopian world that will never materialize by man’s ingenuity. A general survey of human history proves that man cannot create a world without evil and corruption. Why? Mankind is spiritually depraved, totally depraved. Jesus warned His disciples then, and us today, that the Gospel we believe in and live by will be met with opposition and persecution. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. It is nothing to fear, but it is something to be prepared for mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Amen.

Pastor Martin