{"id":36722,"date":"2014-09-04T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?p=36722"},"modified":"2014-10-12T14:58:59","modified_gmt":"2014-10-12T22:58:59","slug":"psalm-143_2-total-inability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/psalm-143_2-total-inability\/","title":{"rendered":"Psalm 143:2 does not teach Total Inability"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes verses like Psalm 143:2 are referenced by Calvinists to defend their doctrine of Total Depravity.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no one living is righteous (Psalm 143:2)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-36752\" src=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/guilty-Psalm-143-2-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"all are guilty - Psalm 143:2\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/guilty-Psalm-143-2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/guilty-Psalm-143-2-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/guilty-Psalm-143-2-570x380.jpg 570w, https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/guilty-Psalm-143-2.jpg 1017w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>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\u2019s sight.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s grace when it is offered to us. Such an acceptance of God\u2019s gift is non-meritorious, and to the contrary, is based upon the fact of us not having any merit.<\/p>\n<p>So <strong>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.<\/strong><\/p>\nIf you want to read more about Calvinism, check out other posts in this blog series: <a title=\"Words of Calvinism and the Word of God\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/words-of-calvinism-and-the-word-of-god\/\" target=\"_blank\">Words of Calvinism and the Word of God<\/a>.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Calvinists often used Psalm 143:2 to defend the doctrine of total inability. While Psalm 143:2 does teach about universal sinfulness, there is nothing in the text from which to extrapolate total inability. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[14,1534,2052,1272,39,1183,2010,2037,1533],"class_list":{"0":"post-36722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"tag-books-by-jeremy-myers","8":"tag-calvinism","9":"tag-psalm-1432","10":"tag-sin","11":"tag-theology-salvation","12":"tag-theology-sin","13":"tag-total-depravity","14":"tag-total-inability","15":"tag-tulip","16":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Psalm 143:2 does not teach Total Inability<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Calvinists often used Psalm 143:2 to defend the doctrine of total inability. 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