Depravity: Utter Versus Total

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Galatians 5:16

As a little boy I once stole an ice-cream sandwich from a convenience store. Every step I took as I scurried away doubled the pressure on my conscience. Fifty feet from the store I burst into tears, turned around, and returned the stolen goods. Mom and Dad had taught better.

There is a difference between utter depravity and total depravity. I was never utterly depraved. To be utterly depraved is to be as morally corrupt as you can possibly be. Utterly depraved people are the ones who make headlines, the ones who have little or no moral conscience.

Even after I became a Christian, though, I discovered that the capacity to do a sinful thing always foments just on the other side of a thin membrane which separates our new nature from the old.

Whether it is lust or pride or losing our temper, we have the capacity to commit any particular sin at any time. This is total depravity. Utter depravity is to continuously sin; total depravity is the ever-present capacity to sin. Total depravity is not that we are as wicked as we could possibly be, but that we could be wicked at any time.

A friend received a significant honor. I can’t remember struggling with envy and jealousy before, but on that day, I was swept up into a whirlwind of envy. I drove back to my office in a complete state of shock. Where in creation did that come from? It leaked through the pinholes of my otherwise good character. A Christian’s good character is the character of Jesus breathed into each of us by the Holy Spirit. Once we stop allowing the Spirit to fill us with power, the pinholes leak sin from our old nature.

Accepting our total depravity—our capacity to sin, that our character is filled with pinholes—is essential to living a victorious Christian life. If we presume that when we become Christian we are now good, we have missed the point. Jesus Christ shed His blood to forgive our sin, not to remove our sin. We have a continuing sinful nature which requires us to guard our heart and mind. We must post a twenty-four-hour guard at the gate to our mind.

Our Dual Nature

We are not essentially good in the temporal world. Until we are glorified with Christ in heaven, we have a dual nature. Like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, these two natures coexist in our minds.

When we became Christians, we received a new spiritual nature, but we also kept our old sinful nature. Each day, even each moment, we make the choice to live by the Spirit or the sinful nature. “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”

Two natures beckon us to their way of living. By the Spirit, the disciple lives according to the new nature. And unless we continually walk in the Spirit, constantly appropriating His power, our spirit will shrivel up like a grape.

Focus on the Positive

The key is to focus on the positive instead of the negative. “Live by the Spirit.” That is the positive, and then you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. God did not say, “Do not sin, and you will live by the Spirit.” He said, “Live by the Spirit and you will not sin.” This is a huge difference. The action point for the Christian is to focus on doing the right thing, not on avoiding the wrong thing. The former is living by grace; the latter is living by law.

Every Biblical Christian has the desire to be obedient. But how do we pull that off? Our effort must be Spirit-aided, not in our own strength. You cannot keep from sinning, but you can rely upon the Holy Spirit to produce His fruit in you. Have you focused on not sinning, or living by the Spirit? “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Galatians 5:16).

Have you thought that since you are not utterly depraved that you must be good? We are not utterly depraved, but we are totally depraved. No part of our character is without pinholes. Only the Spirit can strengthen us to overcome the desires of the sinful nature which constantly ooze through the pinholes in the membrane which separates our new nature from the old.

I SURRENDER

Dear Father, I confess that since I am not utterly depraved, I have not thought of myself as totally depraved. Yet I know that I am capable of committing any sin at any time. These pinholes in my character lead me inexorably back to You. Only by Your Spirit do I have any hope of leading a sanctified life. Empower me to live by the Spirit and not gratify the desires of my sinful nature. Amen.