The Corruption of the Soul

Sermon Text

Ephesians 4:17—19

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

• Adam and Eve were created upright, but their willing disobedience brought sin, death, and condemnation into the world for them and their descendants.
• Sin corrupts every faculty of the soul: the mind becomes futile and darkened, the affections turn from God toward sinful desires, and the will freely chooses what is wrong.
• People remain God's image-bearers after the fall, so every person retains real dignity even though every part of human nature is defiled by sin.
• Total depravity does not mean that people are as evil as possible or have ceased to think, love, and choose; it means that no faculty remains untouched or spiritually sound.
• Recognizing personal guilt is not an invitation to despair but a necessary preparation for confessing sin and seeking mercy in Jesus Christ.
• The love of God shines most clearly against this dark background: Christ died for sinners who could not heal or commend themselves.

• Where am I rationalizing what God calls false or sinful?
• What do my strongest desires reveal about what I love and worship?
• When I sin, do I own my choice before God or shift responsibility to circumstances and other people?
• How can every person possess real dignity while also being deeply corrupted by sin?
• Why does total depravity not mean that every person is as outwardly evil as possible?
• Where does envy or discontentment distort my view of God's good gifts?
• How should the continuing image of God affect the way I speak about and treat people who differ from me?
• Have I faced the seriousness of my sin and cried to Christ for the mercy I cannot provide for myself?

The fall

Adam and Eve's first disobedience, through which sin and death entered human experience.

Original sin

The guilt and corrupted nature inherited from Adam, from which actual sins proceed.

Total depravity

The truth that sin corrupts every part of human nature—mind, will, affections, body, and conduct—without erasing the image of God.

Intellect

The soul's capacity to think and understand, now darkened and prone to futility and falsehood because of sin.

Affections

The soul's loves, desires, fears, joys, and griefs, which fallen people naturally turn toward themselves and created things rather than God.

Will

The soul's real capacity to choose; after the fall, people willingly choose sin according to their corrupted desires.

Image of God

The God-given dignity and creaturely likeness that remains in every human being even after sin has deeply distorted human nature.

Actual transgression

A particular sinful thought, word, desire, or deed that flows from humanity's corrupted nature.