"Every human being who comes into this world has a nature polluted by sin. The infectious disease of Adam's sin has made its way into the bloodstream of his children. Every part of us, as human beings, has been infected by sin. This is the meaning of the term total depravity.
The Bible teaches that our minds have been polluted by sin. Romans 1:21, 8:6-7, and Ephesians 4:17-18 all speak to the reality that in this fallen state our minds are filled with foolish speculations. This is not a reference to silly thoughts; it is a reference to an anti-God stream of consciousness. Our understanding has been darkened. Instead of the light of truth shining brightly in our minds, our minds are dark, filled with sin, and depraved and are unwilling and unable to submit to God and his revelation. This is not to say that we cannot think true thoughts or understand certain things about the world around us. It is not even to claim that we think only bad or evil things. It is to say however, that in our fallen state, we do not acknowledge God in our thinking, we do not submit our minds to his authority, and therefore we suffer from intellectual autonomy and mental impurity. The charge of corrupt and depraved minds cannot be honestly challenged. There is an annoying little prosecutor, called 'conscience,' who uses our daily experiences to convict us.
The Bible also teaches that our wills have been infected by sin. Although the debate over 'free will' is a long-standing and complex debate, there is no lack of biblical evidence demonstrating that our wills--that part of our humanity that chooses--are also contaminated by sin. Our Lord Jesus says, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin' (John 8:34). No matter what some may say about free will, slavery is slavery. Fallen human beings are slaves to sin. This slavery includes our wills. Paul's testimony is equally devastating: 'Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?' (Romans 6:16). So why do we choose what we choose? Our 'chooser' is in the straightjacket of our own fallen desires.
Once during a prison Bible study in the drug and alcohol unit, I was teaching on the bondage of the will. One of the inmates bristled and then blurted out, 'Preacher, do you mean to tell me that I don't have free will?'
"Yes, that's what I'm saying the Bible teaches.'
'I don't buy it!' he said irritably.
So I asked him, 'Are you incarcerated for a drug- or alcohol- related offense?' The question was a safe on considering my location.
'Yes,' he sheepishly replied.
I asked, 'Have you ever wanted to stop abusing drugs and alcohol?'
A little humbled, he said quietly, 'Yes. I've tried many times.'
'If your will is free and you can do what you will, then why not just stop? The reason you can't just say "no," is that you are a slave. Your will is a slave to your own sinful nature.'
End of debate, though, thankfully, not the end of the story.
This brings us to the sad fact that the Bible also teaches that our emotions have been infected by sin. Get the big picture: we have been corrupted by sin through and through. Our minds are fallen and corrupt. Our wills are in bondage to our depravity. And our emotions are defiled and disfigured by sin. Listen to God's indictment against us: 'For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water ' (Jeremiah 2:13). There is an insane emotional reversal that has taken place. That which is ultimately lovely and glorious and satisfying, namely God, has been forsaken by us because we love that which is unsatisfying and unlovely, namely sin. This is the heart of depraved emotions.
Again, the prophetic indictment comes thundering from the divine bench: 'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?' (Jeremiah 17:9). The heart, the seat of our innermost being, including the emotions, is sick and deceitful, so that we cannot even understand ourselves. There is an insane love for darkness rather than for light (John 3:19). It is not only a matter of Why do I do the things I do? but also of Why do I love the things I should hate and hate the things I should love? Why do I enjoy the moldy Vienna sausage of sin yet I am repulsed by the most succulent cuts of perfectly prepared filet mignon of Divine Joy? Thomas Boston captures the radical depravity of our emotions with unforgettable language:
The natural man's affections are wretchedly misplaced; he is a spiritual monster. His heart is where his feet should be, fixed on
the earth; his heels are lifted up against heaven, which his heart should be set on. His face is towards hell, his back towards
heaven; and therefore God calls him to turn. He loves what he should hate and hates what he should love; joys in what he
ought to mourn for, and mourns for what he should rejoice in; glories in his shame, and is ashamed of his glory; abhors what
he should desire, and desires what he would abhor.
Like a Picasso painting, all our parts are distorted, out of place, backwards, and usually dark. The biblical portrayal of us in our fallen state is unflattering. So much for self-esteem. The proper relationship of the emotions to the will and to the mind is twisted; it is out of order and out of proportion. We resemble a circuit board that at one time functioned properly and reliably, with all the components perfectly integrated. But since the fall, instead of our charges following the right paths, they deviate because of sin and cause serious malfunctions.
In other words, we short-circuit emotionally, mentally, and volitionally. Behavior, thoughts, and attitudes can trigger our emotions, but those behaviors, thoughts, and attitudes can be sinful, creating some serious malfunctions. Our emotions can also overpower or overcharge our thoughts, behaviors and attitudes, blowing our fuses. The sad reality is that we are serious train wrecks!
Our emotions can be downright toxic. They can put such a stranglehold on our whole psyche that our fuse box is blown by their misdirected power surges. The effects are far-reaching. For instance, the Bible depicts many times the impact the emotions can have over the body. When David sinned, the impact of his guilt, along with all the emotional freight, pummeled him physically. 'For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer' (Psalm 32:3-4). The emotional wreckage of David's guilt had true psychosomatic effects. Psalm 38 and Proverbs 14:30; 17:22 reinforce the truth that the medical world is very aware of: the emotions are so powerful that they can affect the body and physical health.
The manifestations of fallen emotions are nearly limitless. However, like many things in the Bible, not every emotion is either black or white. We need to qualify that not all emotional manifestations are sinful any more than all mental thoughts or volitional acts are sinful. There are also issues of physiology, personality, and temperament that may not be inherently sinful. Some of the following emotions are always sinful, while others may be appropriate at certain times under certain circumstances. With those caveats, consider that anger, hatred, bitterness, resentment, fear, anxiety, and worry can all be sinful emotions and sinful emotional expressions. Being easily offended, being driven my emotional impulses, and allowing the emotions to determine what is believed or what course of action is taken are reflections of sinful emotional states. Being unsympathetic, cold, indifferent, and as detached as the guards at Buckingham Palace is emotional malfunction and depravity. Allowing emotions to cloud reality, to restrict what we believe or determine how we respond to truth, are other forms of emotional corruption.
To sum it up: our emotions have received the fatal infection of original sin and a fallen human nature. The toxicity of sin has permeated our emotions. Our emotions can short-circuit our whole system. The system is already broken. But the emotional power-surges or insufficient emotional power currents (the equivalent of an emotional brown-out) can further damage an already malfunctioning system. Man in his fallen state is pervasively ruined by sin in his mind, his will, and his emotions. Only redemption in Jesus Christ can begin the restoration project, rebuilding the ruins caused by sin. This reconstructive project begins with the new birth and is carried forward in sanctification." pgs 49-53
-Brian S. Borgman
Borgman, Brian S. Feelings and Faith: Cultivating Godly Emotions in the Christian Life. Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2009.
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