Please Remember Us When You Pray

We just thought we would share with you some of our more pressing prayer requests:

1) That God would provide more Monthly Supporters to the ministry.

2) That we would find a person very adept (and reasonably priced) at website coding to code and implement our future website designs. Preferably a Christian.

3) That we might meet our various schedules for the numerous projects that are currently under
way.


These are just 3 of our needs that we would be blessed to have you keep in prayer with us and seek God’s provision for.

Thanks always to those of you who have a heart for The Omega Institute and the work we are seeking to do for Christ’s kingdom.

May The Lord Bless You,
The Staff at The Omega Institute

Thanks for Sharing Our Grand Opening

It was such a pleasure to see everyone who attended the Grand Opening reception of our new Omega Institute offices this past Saturday, March 29th. The afternoon seemed to fly by as our Omega Supporters came through the offices to see what their faithful prayer and financial support has helped the Institute obtain. We finally have a wonderful office suite in a very professional building and at a desirable and convenient location at 4250 Veterans Memorial Highway.

So far it has proved to be an enormous blessing, allowing us to work cooperatively together like never before, under one roof; as well as furnishing a perfect place for the launch of our newest division called Synergy- Christian Counseling and Life Issues Ministries. This reception was an event that the staff of Omega desired to put on specifically for those who have so generously supported us with prayerful support and continuing financial aid.

We hope it was as much of a blessing to all of you who attended as it was to have you here to thank personally and feel your encouraging presence with us in this ministry.

Thank you again from the entire staff of The Omega Institute.

Total Depravity Part 2

Our purpose at the Omega Institute is to help the believer understand and appreciate the doctrines of Scripture in a way he or she can truly digest and apply. This series of devotionals cover the spectrum of Evangelical biblical doctrine in such a way that the Christian can meditate each week on a different truth from Scripture so as to master the essentials and better know and serve his or her Lord.

Key Verse:

“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
—1 Corinthians 2:14

There are just some people who don’t get it. For some reason or another, we give up trying to make them get it – perhaps it is because they lack something necessary to get it (intelligence, willingness, background) or perhaps we are not making ourselves clear enough to them. When it comes to the doctrine of total depravity, unregenerated man is not getting it because he is conditioned by his sin to reject what God has made abundantly clear. In his classic commentary, Matthew Henry remarks, “Men unsanctified receive not the things of God. The understanding, through the corruption of nature by the fall, and through the confirmation of this disorder by customary sin, is utterly unapt to receive the rays of divine light; it is prejudiced against them. The truths of God are foolishness to such a mind. The man looks on them as trifling and impertinent things, not worth his minding.” Note what Henry says here: his mind is prejudiced against the things of God – this is the essence of total depravity. Because of the effects of the fall, man’s whole disposition has been distorted and twisted, making his unwilling, totally unwilling to receive the message of the gospel with saving faith and submit his life to the Lordship of Christ. “But so many people do this!” you rightly reply. Yes, they do. But how do they?

“When the disciples heard this they were astonished and said, ‘who then can be saved?’ And looking at them, Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ ” (Matthew 19:25, 26) As believers, we are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10); His masterpiece, His miracle, living testimonies of His grace, not our own wisdom or capacity to make a good spiritual decision!

The fall had tremendous effects on mankind – more than just making him sinful in the sight of God and in need of payment for the debt of his sin. In the Augsburg Confession, the early Lutherans put it well: “It is also taught among us that since the fall of Adam all men who are born according to the course of nature are conceived and born in sin. That is, all men are full of evil lust and inclinations from their mothers’ wombs and are unable by nature to have true fear of God and true faith in God. Moreover, this inborn sickness and hereditary sin is truly sin and condemns to the eternal wrath of God all those who are not born again through Baptism and the Holy Spirit. Rejected in this connection are the Pelagians and others who deny that original sin is sin, for they hold that natural man is made righteous by his own powers, thus disparaging the sufferings and merit of Christ.”

The Scriptural picture of fallen man was covered in our last devotional and thus, demonstrably well summarized here in the Confession. Although the doctrine of Original Sin, or the belief as to how Adam’s transgression and thus, man’s fall in the garden affected the rest of us, has been hotly debated through the centuries, the Scriptural description of fallen man is fairly clear – the inclination of his will is clearly turned from God.

Man then is in a condition where his best works, his most laudable actions are still filthy before the eyes of his Creator. He is in desperate need of both forgiveness and cleansing and a transformation of heart and mind that does not render him perfect or sinless in action, but turned, converted, repentant: changed 180 degrees back in the right direction toward God as to the inclination of his will. This is precisely what the Spirit’s work of regeneration does in the heart of man: it turns him around once again to become alive to God and as such, capable of responding to Him in faith (which is also gifted to Him by God). He is now in a position to understand and receive spiritual things now that he is alive in this manner whereas he was once dead.

In Paul’s description of the spiritually dead in the first three verses of the second chapter of Ephesians, he says a couple of important things: (1) we walked in this deadness (v. 2) meaning that it involved an active lifestyle rather than an inert condition [like physical bodily death]; (2) we followed the leading of the world system under the power of Satan (v. 2); (3) we were all in this condition formerly, no exceptions (v. 3); (4) we followed our lusts and desires, not the prompting of the Spirit of God (v. 3).

The very next two words in the chapter are glorious: “but God …” (v. 4) Without His gracious intervention in the lives of those as utterly helpless as dead men, we could not respond to Him in faith as those now alive to Him in our human spirits. We need a new spirit and a renewed heart. God knew this, which is why He promised this in the Old Testament when speaking about the provisions of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:26-29; reiterated in Hebrews 8:7-13).


As sinners, we are so in need of God’s grace in forgiveness and in cleansing, but also in need of renewal and transformation. We need transforming grace. Paul spoke of this very thing in his epistle to Titus:

“He saved us; not on the basis of things we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” —Titus 3:5

There is a beautiful picture of redemption in the pages of the Old Testament that reveals the renewing dimensions of justification within the scope of God’s redemptive purpose. In the Old Testament prophetic book of Zechariah, the prophet is shown an image of the high priest at his time, standing before the angel of the LORD and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The angel, speaking for the LORD (it has always been my opinion that this is the Preincarnate Christ who is Himself the LORD yet distinguished from the Father – this passage is one of the strongest evidences of this in Scripture) rebukes the Enemy and reminds him that Joshua the high priest (representing the people of Israel) has been plucked from the fire – rescued by the gracious action of God. The sinful state of the people of God (represented by Joshua) is depicted by the filthy garments he wears as Satan is rebuked by the angel of the LORD. So, the LORD in the person of the angel of the LORD removes the filthy garments and replaces them with festal robes (see: Zechariah 3:1-4).

What I love about this picture is that it shows both the expected and the unexpected dimensions of our salvation: that our sins are removed is what we would have expected based on what Scripture promises about salvation; what we would not have expected is that this salvation given to the people as represented by Joshua dismisses the accusations of the Enemy, which he consistently and rightly fires at the people of God day and night (see: Revelation 12:10). Joshua’s position is not the only thing that is changed here, but his condition. This is the effect salvation has on the believer – like Joshua, the man or woman who is saved does not initiate the program; God does. Joshua did nothing to warrant, request or fill some precondition for receiving the grace he received in this episode – God did the transforming work on His own initiative.

The grace of God transforms from the inside out – it changes who we are before God and who God is to us. Once that happens, we are able to make a legitimate and personal commitment to God.

—Larry Carrino

Post By: Dr. Larry Carrino, Educational Director of The Omega Institute. ©2008 The Omega Institute, Inc.

Posts are available as content for your newsletter, website, or blog with permission and terms. Contact Michael Rotolo mrotolo@theomegainstitute.com for details.

Total Depravity Part 1

Our purpose at the Omega Institute is to help the believer understand and appreciate the doctrines of Scripture in a way he or she can truly digest and apply. This series of devotionals cover the spectrum of Evangelical biblical doctrine in such a way that the Christian can meditate each week on a different truth from Scripture so as to master the essentials and better know and serve his or her Lord.


Key Verse:

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them too we all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest.” —Ephesians 2:1-3

It is difficult for the human mind, particularly the American mind, to accept that there is something we cannot do – we are often up for the challenge, our pride rises up within us and we possess that burning desire to prove to the world that we can rise above the tide and emerge victorious. Challenges in life speak of the inferred inability to do something that must be proven otherwise; we are told we don’t have the “stuff” so we strive to prove that we do. This kind of pioneering spirit conquered the American west, set the Industrial Revolution in place, inspired the technological wonderland we are beholding today in this information age and lurked behind the most inspiring military victories in human history (as well as the most insidious).

When theologians speak of the term “total depravity” (also known as total inability or total corruption), they refer to a lack of ability in man to respond to God in a manner that will result in their justification. I have full sympathy for the man who immediately reacts to such a term as a challenge to his autonomy, particularly regarding his volition (will). If we were being told that we are unable to lift five hundred pounds with our bare hands, perhaps we would accept this more easily (although some might begin a serious regimen of training to prove otherwise!); but to be told what we are able to choose? Really!

It is here that the limitations of human language intersect with the mission of theology: to explain what the Word of God is really saying to us. This is the reason theological terms often possess “alternates” (such as total inability or total corruption in this case, along with more current options offered by Reformed theologians). I suppose that there is always a better way of putting something which conveys the truth of God’s revelation more accurately. Admittedly, terms like total depravity give the impression that there is absolutely nothing “good” or redeemable about man in his fallen state; that he is as bad as he can possibly be; although this is not what the doctrine of total depravity means. I suppose total inability infers the notion that man is “willing to be willing” but unable to do so in much that same way a paraplegic desires to move his legs but cannot physically accomplish the task. This too is not what the doctrine means.

The truth is: the Scripture speaks of our will in terms of what it is conditioned to want to do (because the will only knows how to do one thing: want). When theologians speak of total depravity, they are speaking about the effects of the fall on the human will and what it is conditioned to desire. These effects of original sin are clear in Scripture: from the very beginnings of God’s story in His Word, fallen man is pictured as possessing great wickedness and that “the intents of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) David lamented to God that he was conceived in sin (Psalm 51:5) and it was the prophet Jeremiah who posed the penetrating question: “can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard change his spots?” Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” (Jeremiah 13:23) It was the same prophet who informed us of the condition of the human heart in its fallen state: it is exceedingly wicked and sick to the point that we cannot truly know it (Jeremiah 17:9).

“Alright,” you retort, “sick, but not incapacitated from doing something a benign as asking for help!” Fair enough – let’s see what Scripture says. Jesus said in Mark 7:21-23 that from the heart of fallen man come all kinds of wicked things (He lists them) and these are the things that defile us. The apostle John tells us that the reason Jesus was rejected although He was the Light of the world is that men (not certain men) loved darkness and hated light, because their deeds were evil (John 3:19).

At this point, many of you might still be objecting to such passages as speaking only of the sad, sinful state of man, but still insist that such persons can reach out and grab the lifeboat of salvation in choosing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. After all, while we do not have the will to do good as God would demand of us, we do have the power of choice, right?

Read the third chapter of Romans, verses 10-20 and try to maintain this position. “There is none who do good, there are none who seek God.” None who seek God … does this mean that man does not possess the power of choice? Don’t miss this: no – man does possess the power of choice – the Scripture nowhere teaches that man cannot make choices; it reveals the inner nature of fallen man as someone who will never choose to submit to God and trust Him for salvation. He is philosophically able to make the choice, meaning that he possesses a will that under different circumstances can feasibly make the choice to respond in faith to the call of salvation. We need to remove this fictitious picture in our minds of sinners going to hell kicking and screaming and crying, “We were willing but we were not chosen!” This is a twisted caricature of the Biblical picture of man who is more truly spoken of as rebellious and unwilling to follow God to such a degree that he can rightly be called “unable” due to his hard-boiled condition.

This is why the apostle Paul speaks of the unregenerate mind (the mind of the person who has not been affected by the power of the Holy Spirit to change his disposition before God) as both hostile to God and unable to subject itself to the law of God (Romans 8:7). Commentators John Walvoord and Roy Zuck make this observation about this verse in their Bible Knowledge Commentary: “The unsaved lead lives that are totally void of spiritual life and ability.” What does the unsaved lack the ability to do? They lack the ability to choose for God in submitting to His command to receive and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Does this really mean that unsaved man is so hardened in his sinful condition that he is unable to choose for God with his own twisted will? Jesus said that no one could come to Him unless it was granted them by the Father.” (John 6:65). Yes, but perhaps He was just speaking about Himself as the only way to God that men need to choose (and they are able to do so). No – Jesus said earlier in this very chapter that no one could come to Him unless the Father draws them to Christ (John 6:44). You see, while Jesus certainly claims to be the only way to God, He is equally clear that we cannot come to Christ (not the Father) who in turn brings us into a right relationship with God, unless something supernatural happens that God must do, and in view of man’s unwillingness, initiate.

“Man! What can be so hard about just choosing Jesus? It’s not like faith is a work or something so incredible that it should require an act of God!” Really? Paul said, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that we all were once “foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our lives in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” (Titus 3:3) “That wasn’t me before I was saved! I was a sinner, but I was an otherwise decent person!” Jesus too recognized that we can give good things and do things that man in his sinful and short-sighted state may consider benevolent, but He still calls us “evil” (Matthew 7:11).

Our biggest problem in accepting the doctrine of total depravity is that we have a very different standard than God does in what it means to love Him in the way a truly pure heart, like Jesus’ would. God’s overriding command, the thing upon which the law and prophets depended (Matthew 22:36-40) demands from us a love for God that encompassed the whole heart, the whole will and the whole mind. Are you willing to admit that you have never loved God this way for a split second in your entire lifetime? Every “good” action, every “pure” thought, every “fine” motive, every “sacrificial” gesture still possesses enough self, pride and personal agenda so as to make our own righteousness as filthy rags compared to what God both demands and deserves. In fact, I think He said that once (Isaiah 64:6)! It is so imperative that we possess a right, Biblical view of ourselves so that we might possess the right view of our salvation and exult in the glory of the gospel! More on that next time.

—Larry Carrino

Post By: Dr. Larry Carrino, Educational Director of The Omega Institute. ©2008 The Omega Institute, Inc.

Posts are available as content for your newsletter, website, or blog with permission and terms. Contact Michael Rotolo mrotolo@theomegainstitute.com for details.