Depravity

 Depravity

As it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE" (Romans 3:10-12 NAS95).

Without regeneration, man’s depravity will always drive him away from God. "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed (John 3:19-20 NAS95).

Regeneration is what changes a man’s heart, allowing him to seek the light. Jesus speaking to Nicodemus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3b NAS95). Without rebirth, the heart remains in darkness.

A man’s will will always choose what it perceives as being in its best interest. In his work The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Calvin defines how the will works.  

He says the will is bound. This refers to a will corrupted by sin, which freely chooses only evil because it is held captive by sinful desires. It still chooses on its own, but it cannot seek good. 

While bound by his will, man remains responsible for submitting to God as Lord. His just reward for rejecting Christ as Savior is condemnation.

Therefore, we who are in Christ, should praise God, Who being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4b-7 NAS95).

Heavenly Father, thank you for removing our blindness. Lord, may You do the same for those on our hearts. They will always choose wrong without Your mercy and grace. Open doors for us to share the Gospel and draw them to yourself. We ask in Jesus Name.