What Is Total Depravity?

To say that the doctrine of total depravity is a fundamental tenet of Reformed theology would be tantamount to acknowledging that water is wet. So central, in fact, is the doctrine of total depravity to Reformed theology that R.C. Sproul described it as one of Reformed theology’s “core ideas.” But for many professing believers, even within Reformed circles, the very term total depravity can conjure up feelings of angst and unease, perhaps because there is something within us that would have us believe our depravity is not, in fact, total.

To understand what the doctrine of total depravity is, it may be helpful to first understand what it is not. Contrary to a common misunderstanding, the Reformed doctrine of total depravity does not teach that human beings are as morally corrupt as they could possibly be. As Joel Beeke explains, “‘Total depravity’ can give the mistaken impression that every sinner is essentially as evil as can be and could not be worse.”¹ Doctrinally, total depravity has less to do with mankind’s innately sinful condition, known as original sin, than with his utter inability and incapacity as a result of original sin to contribute anything meritorious to his salvation. As one commentary explains, “Total depravity . . . does not mean that humans are thoroughly sinful but rather that they are totally incapable of saving themselves.”² R.C. Sproul’s words provide additional clarity:

In the Reformed tradition, total depravity does not mean utter depravity. We often use the term total as a synonym for utter or for completely, so the notion of total depravity conjures up the idea that every human being is as bad as that person could possibly be. . . . the idea of total in total depravity doesn’t mean that all human beings are as wicked as they can possibly be. It means that the fall was so serious that it affects the whole person.

This explanation of the doctrine of total depravity mirrors that of the sixteenth-century French Reformer John Calvin, who, according to J.V. Fesko, believed that though “mankind is completely blind” and that “his ability to reason is useless in matters of salvation,” at the same time, “did not hold that human reason is utterly and totally shut down as a consequence of the fall.”³ And though the doctrine of total depravity does not hold that human beings are as sinful as we are capable of being, nevertheless, the depth of our depravity is still such that our entire being is affected by sin (Gen. 6:5; Rom. 3:23; 5:12). The noted Dutch Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck affirmed that sobering truth, saying, “The new covenant . . . leaves us in no doubt whatsoever about the sinful condition of the human race. The whole gospel is based on this assumption.”⁴ The Reformed doctrine of total depravity explains why salvation is, and must be, entirely by the grace of God alone. Salvation by grace alone is one of the “five solas” of the Reformed faith: sola gratia (grace alone), sola fide (faith alone), sola Scriptura (Scripture alone), solus Christus (Christ alone), and soli Deo gloria (for the glory of God alone).

Salvation from sin is wholly a supernatural work of God in the hearts of sinners (Eph. 2:8–9). As Theologian Louis Berkhof said, “The work of grace includes the entire renewal of man in the image of God and the spiritual transformation of the sinner into a saint.”⁵

A proper understanding of the Reformed doctrine of total depravity is fundamental to a proper understanding of the gospel and the Christian life, for only the gospel of Jesus Christ provides the solution to the problem of the spiritual vileness that inherently resides in the human heart as a consequence of original sin. The Westminster Confession of Faith declares,

Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation; so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto. (WCF 9.3)

The doctrine of total depravity is inexorably tied to the gospel, for apart from the bad news of our depravity the gospel is not good news.