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John 3:3 is one of the verses used by Calvinists to defend the idea that regeneration precedes faith.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

According to Calvinists, when Jesus says that “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” this means that unbelievers are spiritually blind, and cannot even see the offer of the kingdom of God, or see their need for grace and everything else that comes with the kingdom of God, unless and until they are born again.

In other words, according to Calvinists, one must be born again before he or she can see anything related to the kingdom of God, including the gospel, the forgiveness of sins, and God’s offer of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

What Did Jesus Mean in John 3:3?

From the statement of Jesus in John 3:3 about people not being able to see the kingdom of God, it would be difficult to know what Jesus meant.

Certainly, as Calvinists claim, He could mean that people cannot even observe their need of grace and forgiveness, or see anything at all related to spiritual matters. The Greek word for “see” (Gk., eidon) can refer to seeing, perceiving, or understanding something.

Yet this is not the only way this Greek word can be understood. It can also refer to experiencing something (1 Pet 3:10; Luke 2:26; Heb 11:5), or of visiting a place or person (Luke 8:20; Acts 16:40, 1 Cor 16:7) (BAGD, 220-221). With these various interpretations, how can we know what Jesus meant when He said that unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God? By looking in the context.

John 3:3 in Context

John 3:3 is found near the beginning of a conversation Jesus has with Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus about how to be born again. After Jesus makes the statement in John 3:3 about being born again, Nicodemus gets confused, and asks Jesus to clarify (John 3:4).

So in John 3:5, Jesus rephrases His statement. He tells Nicodemus that there are two births, the first birth is physical, and consists of being born of water, that is, from a mother’s womb. The second birth is spiritual, which requires being born of the Spirit. We have physical life from our mother by being born of water, but we also need spiritual life by being born of the Spirit.

But Jesus does not stop with clarifying what it means to be born again. He also clarifies His statement about seeing the kingdom of God.

Following this clarifying statement about being born again, Jesus says that unless one is born again, they cannot “enter the kingdom of God.” In this way, Jesus clarifies exactly what He meant earlier when He spoke of seeing the kingdom. Jesus meant that only those who are born again may enter the kingdom.

John 3:3 Does Not Teach Total Inability

In other words, John 3:3 is not a verse at all about humanity’s total inability to understand, comprehend, or even see anything related to the kingdom of God, but is rather a statement about humanity’s inability to enter into or experience the rule and reign of God in the life (which is what the kingdom of God is) unless they have first been born again (BAGD, 221).

John 3:3 is not a verse which defends the Calvinistic teaching that regeneration precedes faith, but is rather a verse which teaches the biblical idea that regeneration precedes life in the kingdom of God.

To enter into the kingdom of God, we must first be born of God. To experience the life of joy, fulfillment, satisfaction, and purpose that God wants for us, we must first be born of the Spirit so that God’s new life dwells within us.

Jesus goes on to explain this very clearly to Nicodemus in John 3:15-18. Jesus does not say that unless a man is born again, he cannot believe in Jesus for eternal life (Vance, The Other Side of Calvinism, 225). He says that unless a man is born again, he cannot “see the kingdom of God,” that is, he cannot enter into and experience the rule and reign of God in his life.

So there is nothing in John 3:3 about mankind’s inability to see or comprehend anything about the gospel or the kingdom of God unless they are first regenerated by God.

To the contrary, as seen by Jesus’ own example with Nicodemus in this very text, the call of the gospel and the offer of life with God in His kingdom is one of the primary ways by which we can point unregenerate people to Jesus so that they might believe in Him and find life.

It is because people can understand the hope, grace, love, and mercy found the gospel of Jesus Christ that so many people find the gospel compelling.

It is because the biblical teaching about the kingdom of God promises joy, contentment, and significance to those who live under the rule and reign of God that the invitation to enter into the kingdom by faith in Jesus Christ has such persuasive power.

When the gospel, the kingdom of God, and the offer of eternal life are rightly proclaimed, they have great drawing power to all who are unregenerate, for they contain the light and life that people have been searching for, but not finding.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

Does Jeremiah 17:9 teach Total Depravity?

By Jeremy Myers

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Jeremiah 17:9 is frequently used by Calvinists to defend the idea of Total Depravity.

The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9).

According to Calvinists, this means that the human heart can do nothing but evil, and even when we think we are doing good, we are only deceiving ourselves, for even that which our sees as good is actually wicked.

Once again, I generally agree with the Calvinistic interpretation of this passage about the general message it contains. Nearly all people know how easy it is to justify our own sinful actions and deceive ourselves into doing things that we normally would not do, or that we know to be wrong. But again, as with the other Calvinistic proof texts, I am just not sure we can extrapolate total inability from this text. It is true that the heart is deceitful, but this does not mean that we are unable to believe in Jesus for eternal life.

Calvinists will occasionally argue that a deceitful heart means that a person cannot even think reasonably about what is right and wrong. Yet I find it ironic that many Calvinists will then try to reason with unbelievers about how they need Jesus, and also reason with non-Calvinists about the rationality of Calvinism.

Regardless, even Jeremiah himself explains in the surrounding verses that a deceitful heart does not mean that people cannot do any good. Prior to Jeremiah 17:9, Jeremiah pronounces a curse upon those who trust in man and whose hearts depart from God (Jeremiah 17:5). In other words, Jeremiah states that our hearts can choose whether to trust in men or God.

Immediate following Jeremiah 17:9, Jeremiah says that God searches the heart, and gives to every man according to his ways, that is, according to what he has done (Jeremiah 17:10). So when the entire context is considered, what Jeremiah means is that we should choose to trust in God rather than men, but we often fail in this. When we do, nobody can fully understand the thoughts and intentions of their own hearts—let alone the heart of others!—except God Himself.

Far from being a text about the total inability of mankind, Jeremiah 17:9 is a text of encouragement.

There is great hope in this text.

After calling people to trust in God rather than men, Jeremiah admits that sometimes our hearts deceive us. But when we look around and realized that our hearts have led us astray, we can know that God searches our hearts, observes the intentions of our mind, understands what we were trying to do, and leads us in His ways.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

Isaiah 53:6 and Isaiah 64:6 Do Not Teach Total Depravity

By Jeremy Myers

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Isaiah 53:6 and Isaiah 64:6 are quite popular among Calvinists for defending the doctrine of Total inability. Here is what they say:

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).

But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6).

While these texts do teach that all people sin, and in fact, even the works which we believe to be righteous are viewed as filthy rags in God’s eyes, there is nothing in these texts which teach the idea of total inability.

In fact, the first verse, Isaiah 53:6, could be understood to teach the opposite.

Isaiah 53:6 Does Not Teach Total Depravity

Isaiah 53:6 says that all of us have gone astray, that each of us has turned to his own way.

The Calvinistic doctrine of Total Depravity does not teach that each of us goes astray or turns away, but rather that we are born that way, that before we can even make a choice for good or evil, we are predisposed to only choose the evil.

Yet Isaiah 53:6 seems to teach that a genuine choice is made, that we choose to go astray and turn to our own way. In other words, we become this way. We grow into our sinfulness.

What about Isaiah 64:6 and Total Depravity?

Isaiah 64:6 also says that in God’s eyes, even our righteous acts are like filthy rags. Many have rightfully pointed out that the Hebrew term for “filthy rags” in this verse has been softened by our English translations. What the Hebrew really says is “menstrual cloths.” This idea would have been particularly repulsive for Jewish people living according to the Mosaic purity laws.

Some point to Isaiah 64:6 and say that if even the works that humans view as righteous are like menstrual cloths in God’s eyes, then how much more filthy are the normal, everyday works in God’s eyes, not to mention the sinful deeds which we ourselves view with revulsion?

But I am not sure if this is the right way of reading this text. It seems more likely that Isaiah is saying that that the righteous acts are especially filthy to God.

Why?

Because people often perform righteous acts in an attempt to merit favor with God or to please and appease God. When works are righteousness are done with this as the motivation, they not only unrighteous acts before God, but are the worst kind of unrighteousness.

Righteous acts which are intended to merit God’s grace and favor are disgusting and filthy to God. His grace is given to us freely. We do not need to work to achieve, earn, keep, or prove the grace of God toward us.

Some might argue with this by pointing to the preceding verse where Isaiah says that God meets with people in their rejoicing and in their righteous deeds (Isaiah 64:5). So how can Isaiah say that God meets with him who does righteous, but in the very next verse, say that righteous deeds are like filthy rags?

Isaiah is actually contrasting what God does do for people who are truly righteous, with what God is currently doing for the Israelites as a result of their fake and feigned righteousness. For though God would meet with people who rejoice in Him and do what He desires, the people to whom Isaiah writes do not even call on God’s name or stir themselves to take hold of God (Isaiah 64:7).

Whatever righteous works they do perform is all a sham. They are going through the motions. Their heart is not in it. They are doing what they do because they think they have to and because they think it is the activity of sacrifice and singing that God wants, when in reality, God simply wants their hearts. God wants a genuine relationship with His people, not faked religious activity so that people appear righteous before others.

Isaiah 53:6 and Isaiah 64:6 are not really referring to the Total Depravity or total inability of mankind at all, but are rather teaching the important truth that while we are all sinners, the worst sin we can commit is the religious sin of performing empty and meaningless acts of righteousness which are intended to please and appease God and trying to make ourselves look holy and righteous in the eyes of others.

These verses then, and especially Isaiah 64:6, are not a blanket condemnation of all people around the world as being totally depraved, but are rather a condemnation of religious behavior that appears righteous, but is only outward and which tries to manipulate God.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

Does Ecclesiastes 7:20, 29 teach Total Depravity?

By Jeremy Myers

3 Comments

Several verses from Ecclesiastes are often used to defend the Calvinistic idea of total inability, but all they really teach is that all people sin.

For there is not a just man on earth who does good And does not sin (Ecclesiastes 7:20).

Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29).

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead (Ecclesiastes 9:3).

In seeking to understand these verses, we must remember that the author of Ecclesiastes has a fairly pessimistic outlook on life, which is somewhat coloring his perspective on humanity. Nevertheless, this does not mean that what he says is not true. What he says is true: All people are sinners. Everybody sins. God has made us upright, but we seek out many schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29). God made us inherently good, but each of us has turned away. We are sinful.

It could be argued, of course, that the statement in Ecclesiastes 7:20 says more than that people sin, for it also says that there “is not a just man on earth who does good.” In other words, not only do people sin, but all they do is sin. Many modern people would object to this idea, saying that most people perform all sorts of good deeds in their lives.

I would argue, however, that even when we do good things, there are always hidden agendas and secret ambitions of the heart which lie behind the good things that we do. In doing good, we often seek to stroke our pride, have other people praise us, look good to our friends, or gain love, affection, and recognition from others. Sometimes we do good simply because it makes us feel good. So in this sense, we can agree with the statement in Ecclesiastes 7:20 that no one does good, for even the good things we do are tainted with ambition, pride, and selfish motivations.

But nevertheless, this is still a far cry from the Calvinistic idea of total inability.

Believing in Jesus for eternal life is not something we “do.” Faith is not a work. Believing in Jesus for eternal life is the opposite of work, and in fact, is founded upon the recognition that we cannot work for eternal life (Romans 4:4-5).

Faith in Jesus is required because of the fact that “there is not a just man on earth who does good.” So passages like these in Ecclesiastes are not saying we cannot believe; they are simply saying that our works are not good.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

Psalm 143:2 does not teach Total Inability

By Jeremy Myers

2 Comments

Sometimes verses like Psalm 143:2 are referenced by Calvinists to defend their doctrine of Total Depravity.

Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no one living is righteous (Psalm 143:2)

There are other verses throughout the Bible that say similar things. But there is a vast difference between Total Depravity as defined by the Calvinist and not being righteous in God’s sight.

It is a biblical fact that no one is righteous before God. We are all sinners (Romans 3:23). We have all done what is wrong. No one has the positive righteousness of God, and no one can do enough good works or become holy enough in order to attain this infinite righteousness. This lack of righteousness is all that passages like Psalm 143:2 are teaching.

In and of ourselves, we have no merit, nor any basis on which to stand to gain favor with God. But this does not mean that we cannot believe in Jesus for eternal life, or cannot accept the good gift of God’s grace when it is offered to us. Such an acceptance of God’s gift is non-meritorious, and to the contrary, is based upon the fact of us not having any merit.

So we can affirm the truth of passages like Psalm 143:2, that before God there is no one who is righteous, without having to add to this core biblical idea the unbiblical concept of total inability.

If you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: Words of Calvinism and the Word of God.

John 3:3 Does Not Teach Total Inability

What Did Jesus Mean in John 3:3?

John 3:3 in Context

John 3:3 Does Not Teach Total Inability

Does Jeremiah 17:9 teach Total Depravity?

Isaiah 53:6 and Isaiah 64:6 Do Not Teach Total Depravity

Isaiah 53:6 Does Not Teach Total Depravity

What about Isaiah 64:6 and Total Depravity?

Does Ecclesiastes 7:20, 29 teach Total Depravity?

Psalm 143:2 does not teach Total Inability

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