Tullian Tchividjian’s Total Depravity is Uniquely Reformed
A reader sent me a post by Tullian Tchividjian on total depravity that I think is a repost from several months ago: “Are Christians Totally Depraved?” As I have come to assert of late, New Calvinists know their cuts of authentic Reformed meat very well. Total depravity has always included the saints in authentic Reformed theology.
And like their Reformed forefathers, these mystic despots are masters of nuance and doublespeak—adorning ambiguity in lofty verbiage. What they really believe about the gospel is a higher knowledge that the totally depraved zombie sheep are not “ready” for.
So, instead of unwinding all of Tchividjian’s Ya, like, this is a very important question, and like, we aren’t totally depraved per se, but like, we are, and here is why, and like ya, we are totally depraved, I will just save us a bunch of time by totally refuting total depravity with an elementary level Sunday School lesson that any eight-year-old could teach.
Tchividjian finally gets down to the nitty gritty towards the end of the post:
While it is gloriously true for the Christian that there is nowhere Christ has not arrived by his Spirit, it is equally true that there is no part of any Christian in this life that is free of sin. Because of the totality of sins effect, therefore, we never outgrow our need for Christ’s finished work on our behalf–we never graduate beyond our desperate need for Christ’s righteousness and his strong and perfect blood-soaked plea “before the throne of God above.”
The fact of the matter is, when we become Christian’s the “totality” of sin’s effect on us is broken, and that’s why we don’t need the continual WASHING that Tchividjian advocates. John 13: 5-11;
5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
I’m not sure what could be clearer. Not being clean clearly refers to the need of the washing of salvation. The total washing no longer needs to be revisited, but only a washing of the feet. I believe this indicates a different repentance than the “deep repentance” propagated by Reformed theologians that advocates a continual returning to the washing of the whole body.
Again, these guys have authentic Reformed theology correct. Tullian cites Luther’s simul justus et peccator (simultaneously justified and sinful) i.e., we remain “sinful.” No distinction is made between the washing that breaks our bondage to sin, and the foot washing that is necessary to deal with the remnant of sin left in our mortal bodies. Reformed theology holds to the idea that Christians are still in bondage to sin and need a progressive justification accordingly. Hence, not only that, Jesus needs to obey for us in sanctification. “Jesus for us” is a Reformed mantra that means exactly that among other things.
Though the Reformed of our day whine and moan like alley cats screaming in the night that they are not Gnostic quietist antinomians, they most certainly are. And the pestilent children of the Reformation have returned and aided greatly in that understanding—bringing attention to it by their arrogant tyranny.
paul
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
Reblogged this on Paul's Passing Thoughts and commented:
Add your thoughts here… (optional)
LikeLike
[…] Tullian Tchividjian’s Total Depravity is Uniquely Reformed. […]
LikeLike
Do you not believe it is through Christ that our works of obedience in sanctification are acceptable to God?
LikeLike
Do you not believe it is through Christ that our works of obedience in sanctification are acceptable to and pleasing to God?
LikeLike
Anon,
NO. BECAUSE of Christ. NOT “through” Christ. Don’t play word games with me on the double imputation issue. You do it again and you will be spammed. People who waste my time annoy me.
LikeLike
Was Peter playing word games? “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
LikeLike
Oh wow–you got me on that one! Whew doggies–serious smoking gun.
LikeLike
I suppose there might be some genuine, but misguided, believers, who actually think, “Well, there’s nothing more that Jesus can do for me, so I’m on my own now. Fortunately, I’m equipped to follow every command perfectly.” But Tchividjian, and some others, seem to think that that’s how most Christians think. So they go in the completely opposite direction, and say that there’s no real difference between being saved and not saved. We need Jesus just as much, if not more, than when we were unsaved.
As with so many things in the believer’s life, it’s a matter of balance. If we’re really own our own, why is Christ advocating for us? And, of course, if there’s no real difference between saved and not saved, why is it necessary to be saved?
As I wrote before, I don’t see this defeatism in Calvin. It’s true that he believed that none of our works, even when we’re justified, are 100% without sin. But isn’t that basic Christian doctrine? He nowhere says or even implies that, therefore, we should not even try to obey any of God’s commands. He merely says that, when we are justified, God graciously accepts our works of obedience, and is pleased by them, and that this has to do with the finished work of His Son. But that part of it is God’s business – our part is to obey.
This is very different than constantly bemoaning our sinful state, hanging our heads, and continually contemplating what Jesus has done for us, and, occasionally, just to show that we are saved, obeying one of God’s commands. I have a strong feeling that Tchividjian doesn’t live this way. He either doesn’t see this disjunction, or he doesn’t realize how poorly he’s communicating.
LikeLike
“He merely says that, when we are justified, God graciously accepts our works of obedience, and is pleased by them, and that this has to do with the finished work of His Son. But that part of it is God’s business – our part is to obey”
Jeff, Yes, Calvin was the pope of Geneva and had a ton of power when he came back the second time. He was on board with banishments, torture and burnings and generally micromanaging the population through the power of the magistrate..Calvin believed he was obeying God in it all. He made it HIS business that others obey what he thought God demanded.
I
LikeLike