The doctrine of man's impotence or total inability by A.W. Pink. Its nature. The doctrine we are now considering is the most solemn and forbidding one. Certainly it is one which would never have been invented by man. for it is far too humbling and distasteful. It is one which is most offensive to human pride, and it complete variance with the modern idea of the progress of the human race. Nevertheless, if we accept the Scriptures as a divine revelation, we have no choice but to uncomplainingly receive this truth, the ruined and helpless estate of a sinner. As fully attested by the Bible, There a fallen man is represented as so utterly carnal and sold in her sin, as to be not only without strength, Romans 5 verse 6, but lacking the least inclination to move toward God. Very dark indeed is his sight of the truth, but its supplement is the glory of God in rich grace, for it furnishes a real but necessary background to the blessed contents of the gospel. declare teaching of the Scripture on this subject. The Scriptures plainly teach that man is a fallen being, that he is lost, Luke 19, verse 10, that he cannot recover himself from his ruin, that despite the fact of an all-sufficient Savior presented to him, he cannot come to him until he is moved upon by the Spirit of God. Thus, it is quite evident that if a sinner is saved, he owes his salvation entirely to the free grace and effectual power of God, and not to any good in or from or by himself. Nor is a sinner's salvation to be in any way attributed either to pliability of his heart or diligence in the use of means. So then, it is not of him that wills. nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy. Romans 9 verses 16 and 18. The context of John 6 verse 44 indicates that our Lord was thus accounting for the enmity of the murmuring Jews. No man can come to me except a father which has sent me. Draw him." By those words Christ intimated that, concerning what fallen human nature is, the conduct of his enemies is not to be wondered at. Did they act it in no other way than will all other men, when left to themselves, that his own disciples would never have obeyed and followed him, had not a gracious divine influence been exercised on them? man's strong objection to this. But as soon as his flesh withering, truth is pressed upon the unregenerate, deraves an outcry in voice their objections against it. If the spiritual condition of fallen man is one of complete helplessness, then how can the gospel ask him to turn from his sins and flee to Christ for refuge? If the natural man is unable to repent and believe the gospel, then how can he be justly punished for his impenitence and unbelief? On what ground can man be blamed for not doing what is morally impossible? Outstanding these difficulties, the point of doctrine which we shall insist upon is that no one is able to comply with the terms of the gospel. until he is made a subject of the special and effectual grace of God, that is, until he is divinely quickened, made willing so that he actually does comply with its terms. Nevertheless, we shall endeavor to show that sinners are not unjustly condemned for their depravity, but that their inability is blameworthy. Great care needs to be taken in stating this doctrine accurately. Otherwise, men will be encouraged to put it to wrong use, making it a comfortable resting place for their corrupt hearts. By a misrepresentation of this doctrine, More than one preacher has strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, Ezekiel 13 verse 22. The truth of man's spiritual impotence has been so distorted that many sinners have been made to feel that they are to be pitied, that they are sincere in desiring a new heart, which has not yet been granted to them. Many, while excusing their helplessness, suppose this to be consistent with a genuine longing to be renewed. It is the duty of the minister to make his hearers realize that they are under no inability except the excuseless corruption of their own hearts. the need for understanding this doctrine. There is a real need for us to look closely at the precise nature of man's spiritual inability as to why he cannot come to Christ unless he be divinely drawn. But first, let us notice some of the tenets of others on this point. These fall into two main classes, Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians. Pelagius being the principal opponent of the godly Augustine and the fifth Century A. A. Hodge, in his outlines of theology, has succinctly summarized the Pelagian dogmas on the subject of man's ability to fulfill the law of God. Here is the essence of his four points. 1. Moral character can be predicated only of volitions. 2. Ability is always a measure of responsibility. Three, hence every man has always plenary power to do all that it is his duty to do. Four, hence a human will alone, to the exclusion of the interference of any internal influence from God, must decide human character and destiny. The only divine influence needed by man, or consistent with his character as a self-determining agent, is an external, providential, and educational one. Semi-Pelagians believe thus. 1. Man's nature has been so far weakened by the fall that it cannot act right in spiritual manners without divine assistance. 2. This weakened moral state which infants inherit from their parents is a cause of sin, but not itself sin in the sense of deserving the wrath of God. Three, man must strive to do his whole duty when God meets him with cooperative grace and makes his efforts successful. Four, man is not responsible for the sin he commits until after he has enjoyed and abused the influences of grace. Armenians are semi-Pelagians. Many of them go on the whole length of the error in affirming the freedom of man's fallen will toward good. But their practical contention may fairly be stated thus. Man has certainly suffered considerably from the fall, so much so that sinners are unable to do much, if anything, toward their salvation merely of themselves. Nevertheless, sinners are able by the help of common grace. supposed to be extended by the Spirit to all who hear the gospel, to do those things which are regarded as fulfilling the preliminary conditions of salvation, such as acknowledging their sins and calling on God for help to forsake them and turn to Christ. And if sinners will thus pray, use the means of grace and put forth what power they do have, then assuredly God will meet them halfway and renew their hearts and pardon their iniquities. But we object to this belief. First, far from the scriptures representing man as being partially disabled by the fall, they declare him to be completely ruined, not merely weakened, but without strength. Romans 5 verse 6. Second, to affirm that the natural man has any aspiration toward God is to deny that he is totally depraved. that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is only evil continually, Genesis 6, 5. That there is none that seeks after God, Romans 3, verse 11. Third, if it were true that God could not justly condemn sinners for their inability to comply with the terms of the gospel, and that in order to give every man a fair chance to be saved, he extends to all the common help of his spirit, That would not be grace, but a debt which he owed to his creatures. Fourth, if such a God-insulting principle were granted, the conclusion would inevitably follow that those who improved this common grace could lawfully boast that they made themselves to differ from those who did not improve it. But enough of these shifts and subterfuges of the carnal mind. Let us now turn to God's own Word and see what it teaches us concerning the nature of man's spiritual inability. First, it represents it as being a penal one, a judicial sentence from the righteous judge of all the earth. Unless this is clearly grasped, at the outset we are left without any adequate explanation of this dark mystery. God did not create man as he now is. God made man holy and upright, and by man's own apostasy he became corrupt and wicked. The Creator originally endowed man with certain powers. placed him on probation, and prescribed a rule of conduct for him. Had her first parents preserved their integrity, had they remained in loving and loyal subjection to their maker and ruler, all would have been well, not only for themselves, but also for their posterity. but they were not willing to remain in a place of subjection. They took the reins into their own hands, rebelling against their governor, and the outcome was dreadful. The sin of man was extreme and aggravated. It was committed contrary to knowledge, and through the beneficence of the one against whom it was directed, in a face of great advantages. It was committed against divine warning and against an explicit declaration of the consequence of man's transgression. In Adam's fearful offense, there was unbelief, presumption, ingratitude, rebellion against his righteous and gracious Maker. Let the dreadfulness of this first human sin be carefully weighed before we are tempted to murmur against the dire consequences which accompanied it. Those dire consequences may all be summed up in the fearful word death, where the wages of sin is death. The full import of that statement can best be ascertained by considering all the evil effects which has since come to man. A just, holy, sin-hating God caused the punishment to fit the crime. The Probation of the Human Race in Adam When God placed Adam on probation, it pleased him to place the whole human race on probation. For Adam's posterity were not only in him seminally, as their natural head, but they were also in him legally and morally, as their legal and moral head. In other words, by divine constitution and covenant, Adam stood and acted as a federal representative of the whole human race. Consequently, when he sinned, we sinned. When he fell, we fell in him. God justly imputed Adam's transgression to all his descendants, whose agent he was. By the offense of one, judgment came upon all men, to condemnation, Romans 5, verse 18. By his sin, Adam became not only guilty, but corrupt, and that defilement of nature is transmitted to all his children. Thomas Boston wrote, quote, Adam's sin corrupted man's nature and leavened the whole lump of mankind. We putrefied an atom as our root. The root was poisoned and so the branches were envenomed. End quote. Therefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all sin, Romans 5, 12, we repeat that Adam was not only the father, but the federal representative of his posterity. Consequently, justice required that they should be dealt with assuring in his guilt, that therefore the same punishment should be inflicted on them, which is exactly what the vitally important passage in Romans 5 verses 12 to 21 affirms. By one man, acting on behalf of the many, sin entered as a foreign element, as a hostile factor into the world, the whole system over which Adam had been placed as a vicegerent of God. blessed in the fair face of nature, bringing a curse upon the earth, ruining all humanity in death by sin, its disappointed wages, and so death as a sentence of the righteous judge passed upon all men, because all men were seminally and federally in Adam. It needs to be carefully borne in mind that in connection with the penal infliction which came upon man at Tepal, he lost no moral or spiritual faculty, but rather the power to use them right. In Scripture, death, as it wages the sin, does not signify annihilation, but separation. Its physical death is the separation of the soul from the body, so spiritual death is the separation of the soul from its maker. Ephesians 4 verse 18 expresses it as being alienated from the life of God. Thus, When the father said to the prodigal, This my son was dead, Luke 15, he meant that his son had been absent from him, away in the far country. Hence, when as a substitute of his people Christ was receiving in their stead the wages due them, he cried, My God! My God, why have you forsaken me? This is why the lake of fire is called the second death, because those cast there are punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 9. We have said that all of Adam's posterity shared in the guilt of the great transgression committed by their federal head, and that therefore the same punishment is inflicted on them, is on him. That punishment consisted, so far as its present character is concerned, in his coming under the curse and wrath of God, the corrupting of its nature and immortalizing of its body. Clear proof of this is found in that inspired statement, and Adam lived 130 years, and begat a son in his own likeness after his image, Genesis 5-3, which is indirect antithesis to his being created in the image of God, Genesis 1-27. That Adam's first son was morally depraved was clearly evidenced by his conduct, and that his second son was also depraved was fully acknowledged by the sacrifice which he brought to God. As a result of the fall, man is born into the world so totally depraved in his moral nature. is to be entirely unable to do anything spiritually good. Furthermore, he is not in the slightest degree disposed to do good, even under the exciting and persuasive influences of divine grace. The will of man is completely unfit to act right in cooperation with grace until the will itself is by the power of God radically and permanently renewed. The tree itself must be made good before there is the least prospect of any good fruit being born. Buy it. Even after man is regenerated, the renewed will always continues dependent on divine grace to energize, direct, and enable it for the performance of anything acceptable to God. The language of Christ clearly shows, without me you can do nothing, John 15 verse 5. But let it be clearly understood that though man has by the fall lost all power to do anything pleasing to God, yet his maker has not lost his authority over him, nor forfeited his right to require that which is due him. As creatures we were bound to serve God and do whatever He commanded, and a fact that we have by our own folly and sin thrown away the strength given to us cannot. and does not cancel our obligations. Is a creditor no right to demand payment for what is owed him because the debtor has squandered his substance and is unable to pay him? If God can require of us no more than we are now able to give him, Then the more we enslave ourselves by evil habits and still further incapacitate ourselves, the less our liabilities. Then the deeper we plunge into sin, the less wicked we would become, which is a manifest absurdity. Even though by Adam's fall we have become depraved and spiritually helpless creatures, Yet the terrible fact that we are enemies to the infinitely glorious God, our Maker, makes us infinitely to blame and without the vestige of a legitimate excuse. Surely it is perfectly obvious that nothing can make it right for a creature to voluntarily rise up at enmity against one who is the sum of all excellence, infinitely worthy of our love, homage, and obedience. Thus for man, whatever the origin of his depravity, to be a rebel against the governor of this world, it is infinitely evil and culpable. It is utterly vain for us to seek shelter behind Adam's offense, while every sin we commit is voluntary and not compulsory. The free, spontaneous inclination of our hearts, this being the case every mouth, will be stopped, and all the world stand guilty before God. To this it may be objected that the writer of Romans argued that he was not personally and properly to blame for the corruptions of his heart. It is no more I that do it but sin that dwells in me. Romans 7.17 and verse 20. But there is no justification for perverting the language in that passage. If the scope of the words is noted, such a misuse of them is at once ruled out. The writer was showing that divine grace and not indwelling sin was the governing principle within him. As he had affirmed previously, sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under the law but under grace. Romans 6 verse 14. Far from insinuating that he did not feel wholly blameable for his remaining corruption, he declared, I am carnal, sold under sin. Verse 14. He cried as a broken-hearted penitent, O wretched man that I am. Verse 24. It is perfectly obvious that he could not have mourned for his remaining corruption as being sinful if he had not felt he was to blame for them. Man's spiritual inability is not only penal, but moral, by which we mean that he is now unable to meet the requirements of the moral law. We use this term moral first of all in contrast with natural, for the spiritual helplessness of fallen man is unnatural, inasmuch as it does not pertain to the nature of man as created by God. man, and Adam was endowed with full ability to do whatever was required of him, but he lost that ability by the fall. We employ the term moral in the second place because it accurately defines the character of fallen man's malady. His inability is purely moral because while he still possesses all moral as well as intellectual faculties requisite for right action, yet the moral state of his faculties as such is to render right action impossible. A. A. Hodge said, Its essence is the inability of the soul to know, love, or choose spiritual good, and its ground exists in that moral corruption of soul in which it is blind and sensible and totally averse to all that is spiritually good. The affirmation that fallen man is morally impotent presents a serious difficulty for many. They suppose that to assert his inability to will or do anything spiritually good is utterly incompatible with human responsibility. or the sinner's guilt. These difficulties are later considered at length, but it is necessary for us to allude to these difficulties at the present stage because the effort to show the reconcilability of fallen man's inability with his responsibility has led not a few defenders of the former truth to make predications which were unwarrantable and untrue. If held that there is There must be some sense or respect in which even fallen man may be said to be able to will and do what is required of him, and may have labor to show in what sense this ability exists, while at the same time man is, in another sense, unable.