Romans 9, Predestination & Total Depravity

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth of God in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” (Romans 1:18-23)

 

Concerning this text Dr. Van Lees says,

 

“This passage declares that fallen man universally suppresses or represses the truth of God (verse 18). Verses 19-21 state that all men know there is a God, that creation bears a witness to God's existence and that witness is understood by every person. However, even though the witness gets through to everyone, everyone represses that witness.”

 

I disagree. Nowhere in this text do we find the phrase, “fallen man.” Nowhere does it say, “…fallen man universally suppresses or represses the truth of God.” Nowhere does it say, “EVERYONE suppresses that witness.” What it says is that the wrath of God is against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth. What it says is that the unrighteous men who suppress the truth “knew God.” Nowhere does it say, “…all men know there is a God…” It does NOT say, “creation bears witness to God's existence.” It says that creation shows God’s ATTRIBUTES, His POWER, and His DIVINE NATURE. I would say that that’s quite a bit more information than just the fact of His existence. Furthermore, what is known about God is evident WITHIN them and TO them. This is how all men can know God. Not, “know there is a God,” not, “know that God exists,” but KNOW GOD. So BEFORE these men became corrupt and depraved, they knew God through what has been made, and through the evidence within them and to them.

 

Now, is this ungodliness and unrighteousness of men something that all men are born with by default? No, verse 21 says, “…they BECAME futile…” Verse 22 says, “… they BECAME fools…” Verse 23 says, “…THEY EXCHANGED the glory of the incorruptible God for an image…” They already knew God “because that which is known about God is evident within them” (verse 19).

 

Verse 24-25: “THEREFORE God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity…FOR [because] they exchanged the truth of God for a lie…”

 

Being given over to impurity is not where a man starts. It’s the consequence of a wrong decision and wrong action. That would be exchanging the truth of God for a lie. One cannot exchange the truth if one does not ALREADY posses the truth. And so the men in question DID posses the truth. That which is known about God is evident within them (verses 19-20).

 

Verse 26: “FOR THIS REASON God gave them over to degrading passions…” For what reason? Because “…they exchanged the truth for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator…” (Verse 25) They did not BEGIN with degrading passions, they were given over to degrading passions as a consequence of their actions.

 

Verse 28: “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God ANY LONGER, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…” The phrase, “any longer” indicates that they HAD acknowledged God. The depraved mind is not where they began; it’s where they wound up. They were “given over to a depraved mind” BECAUSE they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer.

 

Here’s the chronology. Paul’s opening statement is: “The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Implied question: “Why and how does this happen?”

 

1) Through the creation, that which is known about God is clearly seen, it is evident within them, and it is evident to them (verses 19-20). This is where men begin.

 

2) Even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks (v 21a)

 

3) They became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened and they became fools (v 21b-22).

 

4) They exchanged the glory of God, which they had previously possessed due to the testimony of creation and the evidence within them, for an image in the form of corruptible man and of creatures (v 23, 25).

 

5) Consequently, God gave them over to impurity (v 24, 26).

 

6) Because they did not acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind (v 28).

 

So, these men being spoken of knew God. Their ungodliness, unrighteousness, and depravity are due to their actions. Even though they knew God, they did not honor Him or give thanks. And so God gave them over to depravity. (For the Preacher says, "Lo, this only have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions," (Eccl. 7:29.)

 

The next question is, does this apply to ALL men? Do ALL men, necessarily, by default, because of a “sin nature” being passed from generation to generation, start out knowing God, and then automatically refuse to honor Him and give thanks, and so are given over to depravity?

 

Romans 2:5-11:

 

“But because of your stubborn and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil…but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good…”

 

So we see that the unrighteous and depraved men being spoken of are not ALL men. There is a distinction being made between those who do good, and those who do evil. Not all men do evil. Not all men do good. The issue is whether an individual OBEYS the truth, or OBEYS unrighteousness.

 

Another thing I want to point out is that when a Calvinist sees the phrase, “corruptible man” as in Rom 1:23, he views this phrase from his paradigm of the doctrine of total depravity and original sin. He gives it moral content. However, this is NOT Paul’s paradigm for this phrase.

 

When Paul uses the phrase, “incorruptible God” and “corruptible man” he is speaking of physical death, that is, subject to corruption, subject to physical decay. Most translations translate “corruptible man” (NASB) as “mortal man.” That is a better rendering in my view. “Corruptible man” is “subject to decay.” In Paul’s sermon in the synagogue at Antioch, when speaking of Jesus’ resurrection he says,

 

“But that He raised Him from the dead, never to return to decay, He has expressed this way, ‘I will give you the sacred blessings assured to David.’ For this reason He says in another passage, ‘Thou wilt not let thy Holy One see corruption.’ For David, after serving the purpose of God in his own generation, died and was buried with his fathers, and underwent decay; but He whom God raised did not experience decomposition [other translations use the word, “corruption”].” (Acts 13:34-37)

 

The “corruption” that the Holy One (Jesus) does NOT see is physical decay. That should be obvious from the context. So when Paul says, “…God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life…” he is using the term, “eternal life” as a synonym for physical immortality. Which just happens to be one of the main things that man lost because of “the Fall”, that is, Adam’s disobedience – access to the tree of life, which is physical immortality. Physical corruptibility, the “bondage to decay” i.e. “death”, is what man inherits from the 1st Adam. (See previous section on “The Fall of Man.”) We would also suggest that MAYBE that when Paul uses the term “dead in trespasses and sin” in Ephesians he might mean “subject to physical death in trespasses and sin.”

 

Be all that as it may, when Dr. Van Lees says, “This passage declares that fallen man universally suppresses or represses the truth of God…” he is once again reading his theological bias into this text. The text does not say that man, or even “fallen” man if you will, universally suppresses or represses the truth. What it says is that some men do, and that the wrath of God is revealed against the ungodliness of those men who do suppress the truth. Other men don’t suppress the truth, and,

 

“God…will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil…but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good…” (Rom 2:5-11)

 

NEXT: Romans 5:12, 18: Through One Man Sin Entered