Non-Scriptural Illustrations of Human Depravity and Salvation
Scripture describes human depravity as a condition of spiritual death requiring divine intervention. Paul writes that God "gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead," emphasizing that believers were joined with Christ in his resurrection [1]. This union means that those once dead in sin now share in Christ's resurrection life, both presently and eschatively [6]. The apostle's language of being "made alive together with Christ" underscores the radical nature of the transformation—not improvement of an existing capacity, but resurrection from death.
The Impossibility of Self-Rescue
The doctrine of salvation by grace alone rests on the premise that human works cannot merit justification. Titus 3:5 contrasts "human actions that might be thought to merit salvation" with "God's grace," affirming that salvation comes "through faith in God's mercy alone" [2]. This principle extends beyond Jewish ceremonial law to encompass all human religious effort. As one Methodist commentator observes, "neither the works of the Jewish law, nor of any other law, could justify any man," and without an alternative means of justification, "the world must have perished" [8]. The Psalms' descriptions of human depravity, though prompted by specific historical instances, reveal "what man, when unrestrained, is in his present condition" [9].
The Nature of Transformation
Salvation produces a fundamental change in identity rather than mere behavioral modification. Believers "strip off their old life and put on Christ's new life," allowing Christ to guide their conduct [5]. This new nature, created by God's Spirit, expresses divine life within the believer [7]. The transformation involves both washing away sins and receiving "new life through the Holy Spirit," signifying "a complete departure from the life of sin and death and a transfer into the realm of life and purity" [2].
Significantly, good works follow rather than precede this transformation. God "created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us," making good works "the result, not the cause, of salvation" [3]. The Spirit working through a transformed heart produces the good life that law-keeping could never achieve. Even Gentile believers, once "strangers and foreigners," become "fully accepted into God's family" and "children of God" through Christ [4], demonstrating that the transformation transcends ethnic and religious boundaries.
Sources
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 2:5: 2:5 gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead (literally made us alive together with Christ): Joined with Christ, believers share in his resurrection, now and in the future (see 2:6; Rom 6:4-14; Col 3:1-4). • It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved: See Eph 1:2; 2:8-9.”
- Titus (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Titus 3:5: 3:5 not because . . . but because: The contrast is between human actions that might be thought to merit salvation and God’s grace (see Gal 2:16). Salvation is through faith in God’s mercy alone (Eph 2:8). • He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth: See Ezek 16:9; John 3:1-15; Eph 5:26; Heb 10:22; 2 Pet 1:9. • and new life through the Holy Spirit: This signifies a complete departure from the life of sin and death and a transfer into the realm of life and purity (see also Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 5:17; Col 3:10).”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 2:10: 2:10 He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us: Good works are the result, not the cause, of salvation. God’s Spirit, working through a transformed heart, produces a good life (Gal 5:22-23).”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 2:19: 2:19 Gentiles who believe are no longer strangers and foreigners (2:11-12, 17). Through Christ, they are fully accepted into God’s family. They become children of God, just like believing Jews (see Rom 8:14-17).”
- Colossians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Colossians 3:9: 3:9-10 your old sinful nature . . . your new nature: Paul contrasts old and new identities (see also Rom 5:12-21; 6:6; Eph 4:22-24). Believers strip off their old life and put on Christ’s new life, allowing him to be Lord and to guide the way they live.”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 2:6: 2:6 united with Christ Jesus: Because of this union, believers share God’s glory and blessings, and experience resurrection both now and in the future (see Rom 6:4-14; Col 2:12-13; 3:1-4).”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 4:24: 4:24 A believer has a new nature: God’s Spirit expresses his life within the believer (see Col 3:10; cp. Gen 1:26; Rom 12:1-2; Gal 5:22-23). The transforming work of God’s Spirit is part of the gift of salvation (Eph 2:8-10).”
- Galatians (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Galatians 2:16: Knowing that a man is not justified - See the notes on Rom 1:17; Rom 3:24 (note), Rom 3:27 (note); Rom 8:3 (note). And see on Act 13:38 (note) and Act 13:39 (note), in which places the subject of this verse is largely discussed. Neither the works of the Jewish law, nor of any other law, could justify any man; and if justification or pardon could not have been attained in some other way, the world must have perished. Justification by faith, in the boundless mercy of God, is as reasonable as it is Scriptural and necessary.”
- Romans (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Romans 3:10: As it is written, &c.-- (Psa 14:1-3; Psa 53:1-3). These statements of the Psalmist were indeed suggested by particular manifestations of human depravity occurring under his own eye; but as this only showed what man, when unrestrained, is in his present condition, they were quite pertinent to the apostle's purpose.”