Total Depravity

The Spiritual Impotence of the Natural Man

"To cut off the sinner from all reliance upon himself, his merits and his powers; and throw him, naked and helpless, into the hands of the Holy Spirit to lead him to Christ in faith; should be the one great aim of the ministry." - Ichabod S. Spencer A Pastor's Sketches

"...if man is totally depraved, how is it that he can bring forth so many good things? This question is indeed valid but misunderstands what is meant when we talk about man as being rendered depraved by the fall. So what is meant, then, by the total depravity and spiritual inability of the natural man? It means that man's many good works, even though in accord with God's commands, are not well pleasing to God when weighed against His ultimate criteria and standard of perfection. The love of God and His law is not the unbelievers' deepest animating motive and principle (nor is it his motive at all), so it does not earn him the right to redemptive blessings from a holy God. The Scripture clearly implies this when it states "...without faith it is impossible to please Him." (Hebrews 11:6a, NASB) and "whatever is not from faith is sin." (Romans 14:23)

Total Depravity (Total Inability) Verse List
Travis Carden

Man's Utter Inability to Rescue Himself
Thomas Boston

Natural Men in a Dreadful Condition
Sermon by Jonathan Edwards, Dated February, 1753. Preached to the Stockbridge Indians.

Man’s Need of Salvation: Total Depravity and Man’s Inability
Brian Schwertley

Doctrine of Man's Impotence
A.W. Pink

Adam's Fall and Mine
R.C. Sproul

God's Part and Man's Part in Salvation
John G. Reisinger

Libertas Peccatorum - Man's State of Sin After the Fall
Robert J. Olson A Contrast of the Reformed and Evangelical Arminian Perspectives

Total Inability
Loraine Boettner

Man' Natural Blindness In Things Of Religion
By Jonathan Edwards

The Doctrines of Grace Part 1 - Total Depravity (MP3)
Arturo G. Azurdia III

A True Map of Man’s Miserable Estate by Nature
Christopher Love

Of the Distinction of Natural and Moral Necessity, and Inability
Excerpt from "The Freedom of the Will" by Jonathan Edwards.

Man's Moral Inability
Dr. Van Lees

Man's Radical Corruption
Dr. Van Lees