Totally Lost | Romans 3:9–20

Paul then makes his conclusion to the introduction of his Theological treaties - We are all under sin. All men, despite their heritage, despite their religious background, despite their history are under the weight of sin and more than that all men are broken by that sin.

The clear teaching of scripture is that all men, in all times, and in all places are morally bankrupt and depraved.

Dr. Paige Patterson, Champion of the Conservative Resurgence stated it as such:

"The condition of the human heart that renders a man in his natural state the enemy of God (Col. 1:21) suggests the impossibility of adequate reformation. Even when an individual prompted by some noble impulse seeks to please God by either moral conduct or religious exercise, his failure to please God is abject and doomed to rejection by a transcendent, holy God. Were it not for the gracious act of God in Christ, no one could ever be right with God. No one could be saved. No one could be forgiven. Because the human condition is sufficiently deplorable, discussions of the sinful state of man began to embrace the terminology of “total depravity.”

R C Sproul once said, "We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners."

Original Sin relates to the effects of the Sin of Adam and Eve upon all of their posterity.

The Extent of Depravity

What does it mean to be totally depraved?

The STATE of Our Corruption (10-12)

We like to think of ourselves as basically good. We’re definitely not evil. But scripture defines us another way. We are godless.

Now I know that may heart you to hear, but Scripture identifies the essence of sin as ungodliness.

“Sin is the revolt of the self against God, the dethronement of God with a view to the enthronement of oneself. Ultimately, sin is self-deification, the reckless determination to occupy the throne that belongs to God alone.”

The problem is greater in that we are unable to understand or know God.

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

John Calvin, "Empty is the man in whom, there is not the knowledge of God, whatever other learning he may possess; yea, the sciences and the arts, which in themselves are good, are empty things when they are without this groundwork."

We are unable to seek God

Paige Patterson states,

"In this helpless estate can a man seek God? Can he feel sorrow for his sin, repent and by faith seek God under the impulse of his soul? The biblical answer seems uniformly to reject such a notion. No man seeks God."

John 6:44 ESV

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

We cannot seek after God because our inclination is always toward rebellion.

We do no good

The word for good here means kindness to others from the heart. It's not just good activities, but really points to the Love of God and kindness of God toward men. Thus, it is genuine love that leads to action. So Paul is saying we do not understand in our fallen state genuine good. We are incapable of it.

You and I cannot, and will not ever do one good deed apart from God. This is a hard truth that seems outrageous to us, and in fact people rail against the idea that we cannot do good apart from God. But we are not good and cannot do good because our hearts are so infected by sin.

“nobody ever does a single thing that is good, we are so corrupt that our sin infects even the best of our deeds.

When God examines an action, he considers it both in terms of its external action and its internal motive... But the Bible teaches that a truly good deed is motivated by a heart that seeks to honour God, by a heart that is loving God. That’s the internal dimension of the good deed. Though my outward acts may in fact conform to the external demands of the law, if they do not spring from a heart that loves God, then they are motivated by selfish desire. It is in that high sense of goodness that nobody outside of Christ ever does a good deed." - R. C. Sproul

We are incapable of good because our nature is evil

That is why Christ says, "Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles...a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit...Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." (Matt. 7:16,18,20)

R. Kent Hughes "

We are all infected with a radical corruption. We are morally ruined at our very roots. Jesus said the fruit is corrupt because the tree is radically corrupt (cf Mathew 7:15–20).

The SPEECH of Depravity (13-14)

1. Depravity leads others towards depravity (Misery loves company)

2. Depravity deceives us and others.

3. Depravity destroys

OUT OF THE HEART THE MIND SPEAKS

The STEPS of Depravity (15-18)

1. Depravity leads to bloodshed (Abortion)

2. Depravity causes misery.

3. Depravity removes the fear of God

UNIVERSE 25

Perhaps the most ambitious and well-known behavioral experiment with mice was conducted between 1968 and 1970 by American ethologist John B. Calhoun, who created a massive mouse “utopia” to record the social pathology of living in a structured society. He had been doing such experiments since the 1950s with Norway rats, but this was his biggest attempt yet. He constructed a mouse city called “Universe 25” that had enough square footage for over 3800 albino house mice to live comfortably. The population started with four breeding pairs that were lab-raised and resistant to communicable disease. All their needs were met: food, water, shelter of various kinds, and protection from the elements and predators.

Everything was fine until the population reached less than a quarter of what the enclosure could sustain. After 300 days or so, there was an inexplicable breakdown of societal norms which caused a noticeable slowing in population growth (which eventually peaked at 2200 before plummeting to zero). During the intermediate stage, mice began crowding together in large groups when there was plenty of free space to spread out more efficiently and comfortably. Male mice formed gangs that randomly attacked or killed one another for no apparent reason. Female mice became inattentive mothers, often abandoning or killing their young. In some cases, fetuses died and were simply absorbed into the mother’s body.

As the situation worsened, Calhoun solemnly noted: “Their spirit has died…” Insanity ensued and the population dropped. Pansexualism, cannibalism, and self-focused detachment became the norm. Male mice began obsessively mating with nearby mice of both genders, which was sometimes nothing more than violent sexual assaults. A small faction of younger mice, dubbed “The Beautiful Ones” (because their sleek coats showed no surface trauma), withdrew from all social interaction and spent their isolation eating, sleeping, and grooming themselves. Then, slowly but surely, all the mice in Universe 25 stopped breeding. Within two years from the start of the experiment, they were all dead.

While Calhoun was a naturalist and did not see the spiritual and instead focused on overcrowding (though the enclosure reached a population of 2200 and could easily provide for over 3500), he missed the true lesson from Universe 25.

In reality, what Calhoun uncovered was the dangers of creating an earthly utopia where one’s labors and duties are no longer necessary, and where God and His will have no place.