Owen on Depravity

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1Co 2:14 

 

For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace: 

because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: 

and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Rom 8:6-8  (ASV)

 

 

Two things can be said of the natural man and the things of the Spirit of God. Firstly, he does not receive them: secondly, he cannot know them.

In this double assertion, we learn firstly that the power to receive spiritual things is denied [to] the natural man (Rom 8:7). He cannot receive them because they are spiritually discerned. We learn secondly that the natural man willingly rejects them. This is implied in the words "does not receive the things of the Spirit of God." And he rejects them because they appear to him to be foolish. The natural man cannot, will not, and does not receive the things of the Spirit of God! He can know the literal sense of the doctrines presented to him. He can know that Jesus Christ was crucified. But there is a wide difference between receiving doctrines as mere statements presented to him and knowing the reality that those statements present.

The natural man can know the way of righteousness as a mere statement (2Pe 2:21). He can know other things also, merely as ideas presented to him (Ti 1:16; Rom 2:23-24). But these truths have no transforming effect on his life. The spiritual man, on the other hand, knows them in reality and they have a transforming effect on his life (Rom 12:2; Eph 4:22-24).

Now before spiritual things can be received two things are necessary. It is necessary that we understand them, agree with them, and receive them because they agree with the wisdom, holiness, and righteousness of God (1Co 1:23-24). It is also necessary that we see how well adapted they are to glorifying God, the salvation of sinners and bringing the church to grace and glory.

The natural man cannot do this. He can, however, receive exhortations, promises, commands and threatenings in the gospel (1Jo 5:20). But to him the wisdom of God is foolishness. Paul says that the "foolishness of God is wiser than men" (1Co 1:25). But to the natural man they are foolishness.

The natural man cannot know spiritual things because it is the Spirit of God Who endows the minds of men with that ability, and the light itself by which alone spiritual things can be spiritually discerned is created in us by an almighty act of the power of God (2Co 4:6)…The natural man cannot discern spiritual things so as to lead to the salvation of his soul because his mind is darkened by its own depravity. This is the misery of our persons and the sin of our natures. But it cannot be used as an excuse in the judgment day for not receiving spiritual things.

There is also in the minds of unregenerate men a moral inability by which the mind will never receive spiritual things because it is governed and ruled by various lusts, corruptions, and prejudices. These are so fixed in the unregenerate mind as to make it think that spiritual things are foolish (Joh 6:44; 5:40; 3:19).

Paul teaches us that Christ "hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Col 1:13). In this verse, we are said to be delivered from "the power of darkness" (Eph 5:11; Act 26:18; Isa 60:2; Eph 2:2; 2Co 4:4). Peter speaks of "chains of darkness" (2Pe 2:4). From these there is no escape.

This darkness fills the mind with enmity against God and all the things of God (Col 1:21; Rom 8:7). If God is great in goodness and beauty, why do men hate Him? This hatred arises from this darkness, which is the corruption and depravity of our nature. This darkness fills the mind with perverse lusts that resist the will of God (Eph 2:3; Phi 3:19; Col 2:18; Rom 8:5). This darkness fills the mind with prejudices against all spiritual things, and the mind is utterly unable to free itself from these prejudices. The darkened mind sees first the things it lusts after. Then, later, it recognizes those lusts in itself. But when men are called to seek God above all other desires, then this is considered to be foolish because the unconverted mind thinks that spiritual things will never bring contentment, happiness, and satisfaction. In particular, the unregenerate mind has a special bias against the gospel.

Now in the gospel there are two things preached: Firstly, there are those things that belong only to the gospel and have nothing of the Law or of the light of nature. They come to us only by revelation, and they are unique to the gospel. They are what makes the gospel to be the gospel. And they are all those things concerning the love and will of God in Christ Jesus (1Co 2:2; Eph 3:7-11).

Secondly, there are those things declared in the gospel that have their foundation in the Law and the light of nature. These are all the moral duties. These moral duties are in some measure known apart from the gospel (Rom 1:19; 2:14-15). There is on all men an obligation to obey these moral laws according to the light they have been given.

Now it is in this state that the gospel adds two things to the minds of men. Firstly, it shows the right way to obey. It shows that obedience can arise only from a regenerate heart that is no longer at enmity with God. It also shows that the whole purpose of obedience is to bring glory to God. It shows that we cannot obey until we have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. All these things put moral duties in a new framework—the framework of the gospel.

Secondly, by giving us His Spirit, God strengthens and enables us to obey according to the gospel framework. The gospel declares to us things that make gospel obedience to be gospel obedience and not legal obedience (1Co 15:3; Rom 6:17; Gal 4:19; Ti 2:11, 12; 1Co 13:11; 2Co 3:18): First, the gospel teaches the mysteries of the faith and lays them down as the foundation of faith and obedience. Second, the gospel then grafts all duties of moral obedience onto this tree of faith in Jesus Christ. This is what Paul does in his epistles. He begins by teaching the mysteries of the Christian faith. Then, on the basis of these mysteries and wonders of the gospel that has brought to us the grace and mercy of God, he teaches that, out of gratitude, we should seek to please Him Who so loved us by obeying him…

So, while the mind of man remains unregenerate, there is no hope for the soul coming out of darkness into the light of the glorious gospel of Christ.

 

We see, therefore, how important are the words of Jesus when He said, "Ye must be born again" (Joh 3:7).

 

John Owen (1616-1683): English Congregational pastor, author, and theologian; born in Stadhampton, Oxfordshire, UK.