Answers From The Woodsman
Jun. 23 2006
Q: So,
If you are in the forest, and a bear suddenly appears and chases you up a tree, and while you are in the tree, a herd of deer runs underneath, do you risk jumping out of the tree to kill the deer, or do you stay in the tree and hope the bear goes away?
Thanks,
-Nick
A: You jump out of the tree and onto the bear (II Sam. 17:34-35). Then you pursue the deer (Ps. 18:33; 2 Sam. 2:18; I Chron. 12:8; Hab. 3:19).
-Woodsman
Q: Dear Woodsman,
One of the songs we sang at Na (Jesus, thank you for the cross) had the phrase, “Knowing what was right, we turned from you”.
How does that jive with Reformed Theology when being “utterly depraved” would mean that we actually couldn’t possibly know what was right?
Just wondering!
Heidi : )
A: Heidi,
Reformed theology* asserts that sin pollutes our entire hearts and minds so much that we are completely unable and unwilling to do anything good. As Paul says, “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8, ESV). So Heidi’s question is, “If sinners still know the difference between right and wrong, then it seems like they aren’t completely corrupted by sin. If they were completely depraved, then their sense of right and wrong wouldn’t even function anymore!”
The central biblical text on this question is Romans 1:18-32, especially verses 18-25 and 32.
Romans 1:18-32 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them , because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived , ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
32 Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (italics mine)
Man knows God, and he does not know God. Man knows God in the sense that he clearly perceives the self-revelation of God. He does not know God in the sense that he never acknowledges God, he exchanges the truth for a lie, and he approves of disobeying God’s decrees. Paul’s teaching on human self-deception seems paradoxical. It’s not that we possess some truth about God but then suppress the rest; we suppress all the truth we possess--that’s the meaning of “total depravity.”
1 Cor 2:14 makes it clear just how deep and devastating our truth-suppression goes:
1 Corinthians 2:14 14 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.
The natural man (those who are “in the flesh”, Rom. 8:8) suppresses the truth to the extent that the things of God become unintelligible folly to him. And yet fallen people are image-bearers of God who cannot help but know God. We are all self-blinded people, without excuse. That’s what we mean when we sing “knowing what was right we turned from you.”
It’s a hard truth but it makes the truth that follows it even sweeter.
Jesus thank you for the cross
For the blood that sets us free
The crimson stain of all our sin
Washed away in your mercy
-Woodsman
*"Reformed theology” is the theological tradition that traces its roots back to many of the great reformers of the 16th century. It stresses that man is so sinful he would never turn to Christ unless God re-created his will by a sovereign, monergistic, irresistible act of the Holy Spirit.
Note: All scripture references taken from the English Standard Version Bible.