total depravity: a “necessary evil” doctrine

They have all fallen away;

together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

Psalm 53:3

The doctrine of total depravity is not one that is discussed much these days. Humanistic optimism in the 20th century misled the world into thinking that science and progress would just keep making us better and better. Our problems were due to lack of education and the affect of repressive archaic superstitions from religion. So Marxism tired to throw them off and unleash progress. Various Marxist principles even found their way into academia and education in the Western world. But it failed spectacularly. Scientism tried to prove itself worthy of our worship with remarkable advances… one example: in sixty years time we went from flimsy gliders to rockets that landed humanity on the moon. Oh… and we also had two world wars of unspeakable destruction thanks to science. This “progress” ended the 20th century in a worldwide nuclear annihilation standoff that exists to this day! 

G.K. Chesterton famously quipped that the doctrine of total depravity was the easiest to prove — just read the daily newspaper. And even now as postmodern relativism tries to dismantle and reframe human history, we still live with an onslaught of total depravity… much more readily observable with restraints thrown off… the universal sinfulness of the human race all over an interconnected, electronically instant access, world. Newspapers are old fashioned and gone, replaced with constant 24/7 Tik Tok videos and social media posts. Common people showing how they have their sin in common. We pull a device from our pocket that reveals to us total depravity worldwide in an instant. God is right in what He has revealed about the problems with humanity.

The apostle Paul laid out the gospel of Jesus Christ, understanding this sinfulness in Romans 3:10-12: “None is righteous, no not one; no one understands; no one seeks after God, all have turned aside, together they have become worthless; no one does good, no not one.” He echoes David’s experience thousands of years earlier in Psalm 53, but then Paul points to the only solution — Jesus! Romans 3:23-24: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” Thanks be to God! In Jesus we are delivered from the domination of depravity and transformed to become His holy people for His glory!