Thoughts on Discipleship by Dr. W. A. Dillard - HTML preview

WHAT IS THE TOTAL HEREDITARY DEPRAVITY OF MAN?

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10.

The total hereditary depravity of man is an arbitrary way of stating the condition of mankind in his natural state. Grammatically, both total and hereditary are adjectives modifying depravity. Something is amiss here. Certainly man is depraved hereditarily, but the depravity is not total, rather it is the total man who is depraved hereditarily. So, more properly stated the statement should be, “The hereditary depravity of the total man.” This is what is really meant by the initial statement.

In layman’s terms this simply states that every human being is in a state of sinful depravity from God’s salvation in his entire being: mind, body, and spirit. By nature, he is as lost as lost can be. The Bible abounds with scripture references that this is so. One of the better known verses of scripture is Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” All must receive the wages of their work. “The wages of sin is death . . .” Romans 6:23 goes on to say.

Being made in the image of God, man is supposed to use his spirit to commune with God, his mind to think of God’s things, and his body to do God’s work. Instead, sin leads man to bow down to idols of wood and stone, and to worship the creature more than the creator. Sin leads man to think of evil things, selfish things, and to practice iniquity. Sin leads man to use his body to offend, abuse, and abase himself before his Creator.

Accordingly, sin is bringing every human being to death. To this, every hospital and cemetery testifies. Death is manifest in the mind that thinks wrong things, and becomes practically non-functional in the process of time. Death is seen in the body that ages, weakens, needs glasses, hearing aids, metal joints, and all sorts of help to keep going as long as possible. Sin is manifest in the spirit of man that cries out to worship but is directed in the wrong channels so that it becomes sacrilege rather than sacred.

“But I know lost people who really are good at heart” one may say. Wrong! A sinful heart is the problem with everyone. Jeremiah 17:9 forthrightly states that the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things.

Why is this? It is because of SIN. Just think. Simply disobeying God to eat from the wrong tree brought all this. A little sin you say? There is no such thing. A chain is broken whether it be by a petite lady with white gloves and a simple lock cutter or a burly blacksmith with a hot cutting torch. When it is broken, it is broken, and so is God’s law of righteousness. Because it is a hereditary part of every man, there are none who come into this world without depravity in their total being; hence, all are lost and in need of God’s salvation. But Jesus brought heaven’s grace and forgiveness to all who will accept Him!

FOR THOUGHT: Considering practical life experience, have you ever been around anyone who does not manifest the sin nature at times? Do you think anyone needs to be convinced of sin, due to its universal existence in people? Do you see the only possibility of salvation from sin is that wrought by Jesus, and He may be had by faith?

WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17.

A most interesting and intriguing question is reverberating from the lips of the Roman magistrate Pontius Pilate who said to our Lord, “What is truth?” That question ever remains the point of division among men. Pseudoscientists reject elements of faith in search of a truth they will not find. Philosophers offer variant, opposing viewpoints of what they think is the truth. Religious leaders propagate diametrically opposing views all in the name of truth. Worse than all the others, they purport that the truth they espouse comes from God. Surely, the fierceness of judgment is ever increasing. But back to the question, “What is the truth?”

Some say there is mathematical truth; medical truth, moral truth, religious truth, historical truth, etc. Why do these divisions exist? They are man-made, and exist mainly due to man’s desire to achieve an ecumenical mastery of life on the false premise that he is on an evolving scale of existence. All without acknowledging his Creator. In that rejection, he is allowed to proceed to the ultimate global disaster by the very grace of the Creator he insists does not exist. Let it be underscored that truth is truth no matter what discipline of life it primarily affects, and that all truth comes from God.

Jesus asked our Heavenly Father to “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17. It is God Who created and set in order every aspect of creation, thus it is His Word that is the ultimate and prevailing truth. Thus did Jesus say to His disciples of then and now, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32

So, where does all the variant lines of so-called knowledge purporting to be truth originate? Jesus plainly identifies them as coming from Satan, saying, “. . .He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. . .” John 8:44. On the other hand, we are told of the Holy Spirit that is given to God’s people, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” I John 2:27.

Accordingly, the Spirit of God is altogether true, and teaches His people in all things that are true! It is the Word of God that is true; hence, the Spirit of God impresses upon searching hearts the unity, symmetry, and harmony of magnificent truth presented in His Holy Word. All who live in this manner walk in truth, not in total separation from the flesh, but in spite of it.

FOR THOUGHT: Why do you think certain truths are constrained to particular disciplines? If God is the author of truth, does not all truth (including 2 X 2 =4) come from Him? Is it possible for contradictory terms to represent truth? Why do you think this? If not, why not?