If Man Is Totally Depraved, Why Does Satan Blind Unbelievers?

Since fallen humanity is already unable to come to God, what role does Satan play in blinding unbelievers? Today, Derek Thomas explores the biblical doctrine of total depravity and how Satan affects humanity’s resistance to the truth of the gospel.

NATHAN W. BINGHAM: Joining us this week on the Ask Ligonier podcast is Ligonier teaching fellow Dr. Derek Thomas. Dr. Thomas, since man is totally depraved, why do we read in the Bible that Satan blinds the minds of unbelievers?

DR. DEREK W.H. THOMAS: Yes. This is a good question. It assumes a number of things. First of all, that the natural man, the unconverted man, by nature, is totally depraved—not that he’s as sinful as he possibly can be, but that there is no aspect of his being that isn’t in some way tainted and marred by sin, and some more than others. So there are degrees of that total depravity in its effect upon the natural man.

Total depravity, then, implies spiritual inability—that the natural man is unable, by nature and by his own volition and natural abilities, to choose all the good that there is, or to choose to be saved, or to choose to believe on Christ. But spiritual inability doesn’t rule out human responsibility. We are free agents. We’ve lost free will, but we are still free agents. So we still choose within the limits of our nature. And we choose the clothes we wear; we choose the food that we eat; we get a menu, and we say, “No, I don’t want that. I don’t want that. I want a burger.” So a natural man has that ability.

But there is, I think, in Scripture, a sense in which Satan works on the hearts and minds and wills and desires of the natural man in a kind of spiritual oppression and blinds them by reinforcing their sinfulness, reinforcing their unbelief. He deepens their blindness.

And it’s really hard—and I don’t really want to do it—to put yourself into the mindset of Satan. There’s something about that—I just don’t want to go there. That he himself never seeks the light, but he wants the comfort of companions and followers and servants who won’t seek the light, either, to confirm his blindness by the blindness of others.

Now you’re asking a question about causality: How does that happen? If the natural man is totally depraved, how can Satan further blind him? And the only illustration that I can come up with is that a corpse may be dead, but you can always desecrate that corpse. And this action of Satan in his utter hatred of God, his utter hatred of Christ and of the gospel and of that which is good, finds the company of other evildoers, the source of his comfort and stability. And it’s utter darkness.

But it’s a question, of course, that reminds us that Satan is still alive. He hasn’t yet been cast into outer darkness that John speaks of in Revelation 20, which is yet to come. He still prowls about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (see 1 Peter 5:8). And he tempts believers too, as we see in the narrative of Peter—that Satan was there prowling about—which is why Peter—I’m quoting Peter’s words—and I think Peter forever after was conscious of just how easy it was to succumb, even as a believer, to succumb to his lies and his allurements and his temptations.