Briefly, the Doctrine of Total Depravity defines the condition in which man finds himself in. From conception, the effects of sin are totally pervasive over man’s entire being. The whole person of man has been affected by the fall.
This does not mean that every person is as evil as they possibly could be, or that no person is able to recognize the will of God or do any good towards their fellow man. It simply means that there is no part of man that is not tainted by sin. The totality of our being, and every faculty along with it, is inherently sinful.
This is what it means to have a sin nature: because we are sinful in our totality, every part of us naturally sins. Because of Total Depravity, the very first presupposition we should hold before making application is that we must expect man to sin. The second presupposition we should hold is that we must expect man to sin in every area of life. Therefore, the most fundamental application of the Doctrine of Total depravity is that man’s totally pervasive sin nature is something that must be guarded against, in every area of life.
The specifics of how sin nature must be guarded against will very depending on the specific area of life. One thing, however, will remain constant—God knows what is right, and he has revealed what is right in his Word. The Word of God is both the final authority and the sufficient standard for every area of life, and is therefore the chief instrument by which we are to apply the doctrine of total depravity.
The doctrine being sufficiently stated, here are three short applications of the doctrine of total depravity.
Civics
Government’s chief purpose is to restrain violence and disorder, and to facilitate righteous living. But the government itself cannot be trusted with inordinate power and so it itself must be carefully restrained.
God has not granted civil government unlimited authority to pursue its purpose without restraint. Government itself is under the rule of God’s law.
Until Christ’s coming, man will always be wicked. Therefore, the purpose of government is NOT to achieve utopian ideal, nor is it to perfect mankind through human institutions. Not only is it not the place of government to do so, but it is futile to even attempt. The doctrine of total depravity therefore rejects the idol of human perfection and instead sees God alone on the throne.
Because government is instituted to restrain human wickedness, and because all humans are wicked, including those in government, the government must be organized in such a way as to restrain the wickedness of those ruling. No man is exempt from the rule of law.
Child raising
The principle application of total depravity that we should make regarding child raising is to reject the Pelagian notion that a person is born with the same purity and moral abilities as Adam before the fall. We are by nature sinners from birth (Eph. 2:3; Psalm 51:5). Thus we must realize that, unless corrected, a child’s natural desire will be to live in sin and rebellion.
The primary means of correction in a child’s life is his parents. God commands parents to “but bring them [their children] up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). The two primary instruments by which parents must train and admonition their children are first, the rod of correction, and second, instruction in righteousness through the Word.
Again, the doctrine of total depravity teaches us that, unless corrected, a child will naturally live in sin and rebellion, which leads to death (both physically and spiritually). Proverbs 23:13 states “Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.” Proverbs 24:11 states “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.” Hebrews 12:6 states that “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” Therefore, the rod of correction is an instrument of discipline instituted by God in order to soften a rebellious heart and hold back a child from the slaughter. We discipline because we love.
As the rod is used for correction, so to the Word of God is used for instruction. 1 Corinthians 3 tells us that “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness.’ And again, ‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.’” Matthew 15 teaches that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.” Therefore, the doctrine of total depravity teaches us that, unless instructed in righteousness, the natural thoughts of the mind will be futile and the natural inclination of the heart will be wickedness. The means of instruction that God has given us is his word: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches us that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” As such, any instructional institution that is antithetical to God’s word, such as state sponsored education, ought to be rejected by the Christian.
Philosophy
The doctrine of total depravity teaches that sin has negatively impacted every part of our being, including the mind. Because of sin, we cannot think properly about things: we are hampered both in our ability to think well, that is, in our natural ability to use reason, and in our ability to think correctly, that is, in our ability to apprehend truth. As such, fallen man rejects the wisdom and truth of God.
The first and most obvious application of the doctrine of total depravity to philosophy is that we should be naturally suspicious of our ability to reason well apart from God’s help. We should not trust in ourselves. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and Proverbs 28 teaches us that “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.”
This is not to say that sinful man has no ability to apprehend any truth. Romans 2 states that “For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts.”
However, Scripture teaches us that any truth, when separated from God and his direct revelation, will ultimately only lead to futility and darkness. Romans 1 teaches that God gives the reprobate up to a depraved mind “because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. . . .” We will never be able to fully apprehend God’s truth if we worship creation, be it the physical laws of the universe, the laws of logic, or our own minds, rather than the Creator.
Scripture teaches that it is only by the Holy Spirit’s work that we may have a renewed heart and mind. It is by the Holy Spirit that we are given the mind of Christ and are given spiritual discernment, thereby able to think rightly and properly apprehend truth (Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2:6-16). Because of our totally depraved nature, without this spiritual discernment and apart from God, all worldly wisdom leads to futility (Ecclesiastes 1).
I will end here for now. Many more applications could be made – I hope you are beginning to see the pervasiveness, the totality, of the doctrine of total depravity!