The Five Points of Calvinism - Part 2 (Total Depravity)

According to scripture, all men are totally depraved. Every faculty of our being is corrupt. Our will is merely the choosing agent for the desires of our hearts, and the heart is profoundly wicked. Prior to conversion, every sinner is as bad as Gen. 6:6-7 says that he is. "Every intent of the thoughts of their hearts were only evil continually." When God wiped out all men except Noah's family, He did not start over with a pure human race. Man is the same now as it was before the flood. What this text teaches us is that motives matter. God judges the heart, not merely the outward behavior. And He knows the heart far better than we do. This text is devastating. It means that human beings do nothing that is truly good. We are obligated to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbor as ourselves all of the time, without interruption. But the reality is that we never do it, prior to conversion. There is no one who does good, not even one. Everything we do must be done for the right reason -- love for God -- or it is sin.