Romans 7:14-25
Total depravity is a reality taught in Holy Scripture and experienced in life that has important implications for pagans and Christians alike. Very often we think of this Biblical doctrine in connection with those who are unregenerate, or with regard to Christians before their conversion. Somehow we reflect less frequently on the depravity which still infects those who have been saved by grace and born again of the Holy Spirit.
This is a serious omission, for misunderstanding or underestimating the continuing corruption in the believer leaves the Christian unprepared for the warfare of sanctification and leads to a variety of spiritual problems.
Opposite teachings. There are many errors propagated in evangelical circles on this subject, the two main tendencies of which are perfectionism and antinomianism.
The former asserts that the Christian life is (or ought to be) characterized by complete victory over sin. Perfectionistic teachers not only distort the Biblical teaching on holiness, but also dangerously underestimate the believer’s struggle with indwelling sin. This sets up the tenderhearted Christian for a real struggle with depression and assurance.
On the other end of the spectrum, proponents of antinomianism insist that true Christians may be no different in terms of vital godliness than pagans. They teach that the believer may be judicially free from sin, while “carnal” in the overall tendency of life. Oftentimes without realizing it, they teach that sin may still have dominion in the believer’s life. They set up many for tragic self-deception and encourage spiritual lethargy in others.
In sum, the perfectionist tends to deny continuing depravity in the believer, while the antinomian implicitly denies the work of the Holy Spirit in sanctification to be an essential component of our salvation. Of total depravity in the believer’s life, the perfectionist says that it no longer exists in the victorious Christian, while the antinomian says that it doesn’t matter for the carnal Christian.
Over against both these mistakes, the Bible teaches that when a person becomes a Christian the dominion of sin is broken, but the presence of sin is never abolished in this life. In sorting out this doctrine and its implications, there are several great principles to be kept in mind.
I. Believers are still sinners...
Depravity is still part of the believer’s reality. We not only fall victim to the depravity of others in this life, we continue to see the fruits of depravity in our own character and conduct. This is why Martin Luther could speak of believers as simul justus et peccator (meaning at the same time righteous and sinner).
He did not say that Christians are no different after conversion from before, but he did mean to acknowledge that sin continues to be a constant reality in the believer’s experience. Even in the Christian, the residue of depravity is scattered throughout the whole man—mind, will, and affections. So when certain religious teachers speak of the “higher life”, “perfection”, “entire sanctification”, “living without sin” or “perfect love” as the norm for Christians in this life, they betray their contradiction of Scripture.
It was not a backsliding believer, but the Apostle Paul that was moved by the Holy Spirit to write in Romans 7:14-20:
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
The apostle then sums it up in verses 21-25:
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
This truth brings with it a two-edged sword of conviction and comfort. It moves us to grieve the way we continue to displease our loving Lord, but it also allows us to be realistic about our spiritual growth. When we see remaining sin in us, we are reminded that God has not yet completed His final domination of sin. Its bondage is broken, but its influence is still keenly felt.
II. Who must strive against sin...
That there is a continuing influence of sin in the believer means that there will be God-instigated internal spiritual warfare in the lives of all true Christians. That we are a new creature with a new, eternal soul in which we will never wish to sin strives against the remains of depravity. Though sin’s dominion is ended by regeneration, its presence is not. We thus read in Romans 5:21, “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life.” As J.C. Ryle puts it, a holy violence, a conflict, a warfare, a fight, a soldier’s life and a wrestling are that which the Romans 7 passage above is speaking of as characteristic of the true Christian.
Christians are not to be passive in this warfare (a favorite “higher life” teaching), though, nor are we to become complacent about remaining corruption (a dangerous result of antinomian teaching). Often, perfectionistic teachers assure us that victory over sin will be ours if we will only “let go and let God” or “be still and yield ourselves to God.” All we need do, they say, is believe and the conquest of depravity will be assured.
These instructions are not only unintelligible, but also impractical. They don’t work. Sanctification is not an instantaneous work, for God tells us “to watch, pray, and fight”, as well as “to believe”, in our struggle for sanctification. The vocabulary of the New Testament requires an active response, not merely a passive yielding. Our efforts are empowered by the Spirit and done in a framework of grace, to be sure, but we ourselves are called by God to fight. We are to resist the sinful desires of our body, which will become spiritual and glorified only at the resurrection of the last day.
III.Though not dominated by sin...
Though sin still remains in true Christians, and we see in ourselves the evidence of a great struggle between flesh and Spirit, yet in Christ we have been freed from sin. We read in Romans 6:6,7: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”
This is not merely a freedom from judicial consequences, but a freedom unto holiness. Thus sanctification always accompanies justification.
When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, He frees him from his natural bondage under sin. When there is grace, there is righteousness. Where there is no righteousness, there is no real grace, because, as we saw earlier in Romans 5:21, grace reigns in righteousness. As a result of our liberation from sin’s dominion, our affections are no longer enslaved to worldly desire. Our wills are enabled to prefer spiritual good. We are motivated to live in accord with the law of God and not the law of self.
Those who would saddle us with the “carnal Christian” doctrine underestimate God’s work of regeneration and sanctification and thereby tempt some to apathy with regard to indwelling sin. But the corruption of nature, which remains in the regenerate during this life, and all its tendencies are truly and properly sin and, as such, it is to be hated and mortified by the Christian. This means we will work and pray against the remaining sin in our experience and never glibly excuse it by saying, “Well, I am already forgiven.”
IV. Need to attain growth and holiness
Finally, the Christian’s walk will neither be marked by complacency towards sin, nor spiritual perfection. When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, He sets him free to will and to do that which is spiritually good: yet, because of the sinner’s remaining corruption, he continues to desire that which is evil at times, although he has an ongoing desire to do that which is good. When perfectionistic teachers assure us that we can come to a point when we no longer consciously struggle against sin, they stumble at three points
•They underestimate sin, which is more than willful acts, but extends to thoughts and disposition.
•They underestimate perfection, which involves more than a superficial outward conformity to the law, but requires whole-hearted obedience in behavior, pure motivation, dependence on God, and desire for His glory.
•They show a longing for cessation of spiritual hostilities this side of glory, which the Bible does not promise.
No, the true Christian will walk through this world in a fight against sin, not just in others but in himself. Depravity remains a reality for believers—all too real in our thoughts, words, and actions. But God has broken the dominion of sin by uniting us to Christ, given us the Spirit to empower our obedience, given us His Word for an unchanging standard of righteousness, and filled our hearts with a desire for His glory and eternal fellowship with Him as our goal. Sin will not have the last word.