Matthew 3:8, the “ability” of fallen man, Total Depravity and being “dead in sin”

Latter-day Saints, as well as other groups, are often attacked for expecting potential converts to display godly attitudes before being baptised and confirmed members of the Church. LDS teaching on this point is summed up in the fourth Article of Faith:

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion of the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

In Matt 3:8, recording the words of John the Baptist to the Pharisees and Sadducees, the KJV reads:

Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.

The Greek of this text reads:

ποιήσατε οὖν καρπὸν ἄξιον τῆς μετανοίας.

Literally, John is commanding the people “to do” (ποιεω) works that are “worthy” of repentance. The Greek adjective translated as “worthy” is αξιος. In New Testament soteriological contexts, it is always used to describe the reality of someone or something; it is not a mere legal declaration; in other words, something is counted/considered worthy because they/it are intrinsically worthy. We can see this in the Gospel of Matthew itself:

Nor scrip for your journey, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy (αξιος) of his meat. And into whateoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who it is worthy (αξιος); and there abide till ye go thence . . .And if the house be worthy (αξιος), let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. (Matt 10:10-11, 13)

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy (αξιος) of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy (αξιος) of me. (Matt 10:37-38)

Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy (αξιος). (Matt 22:8)

We can also see this in the verb form of this adjective (αξιοω) and its usage in the New Testament. Speaking of Christ and his worthiness, we read the following:

For this man was counted worthy (αξιοω) of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. (Heb 3:3)

Not only are there important soteriological implications of this, but also anthropological, as it calls into question the Reformed/Calvinistic belief of Total depravity (the “T” of the TULIP).

Of course, some may pose the question, “What about all those texts that speak of us being ‘dead in sin’ such as Eph 2:1-5?” In addition, some Reformed apologists, such as James White, also bring up John 11 and the rising of Lazarus from the dead and Lazarus’ inability to respond to Jesus as biblical proof of the inability of man.

Calvinists are guilty of gross eisegesis in Eph 2:1-5 (and parallel texts in Rom 6:2 and Col 2:13) by investigating the various ways Scripture uses the metaphor of spiritual death. For example, the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 portrays an image of spiritual death precisely opposite the Reformed concept. The story’s main concern is to illustrate the initial spiritual salvation of an individual (as opposed to the physical resurrection in the story of Lazarus). Hence, we see a context in which the New Testament author’s meaning of spiritually “dead” can be gleaned much more appropriately. In the story of the Prodigal Son, the son leaves the father’s house with his share of the wealth. After squandering the wealth, the son finally comes to his senses and returns by his own free will to the father. The father, in turn, greets his son with compassion and invites him back into the home. This sequence of events becomes very significant in our present discussion on the meaning of the metaphor “dead” since the father describes the son’s return specifically in Luke 15:23 as, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.” Not without significance, verse 32 repeats verbatim the father’s description of his son’s return: “. . . for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” In light of the fact that the son himself came to his senses and subsequently made his way home, Jesus’ use of the metaphor “dead” to describe the father’s understanding of the son’s previous spiritual state connotes a state, not of “total depravity,” but rather of cooperation by the son with the father’s will. Moreover, since the story of the Prodigal Son is surrounded by other parables in Luke 15-16 which illustrate the nature of initial salvation (e.g., “The Lost Sheep” in Luke 15:1-7; “The Lost Coin” in Luke 15:8-10 and “The Shrewd Manager” in Luke 16:1-3), the medley of parables does far more to help us understand the extent and limitations of spiritual death in regard to conversion than does the story of the physical death of Lazarus.

Furthermore, trying to tie John 11 and the physical raising of Lazarus with man being spiritually raised by God is to engage in false comparisons, a common exegetical fallacy Calvinists and others engage in. That certain theologies are forced to go down that (eisegetical) route should be strong evidence of how exegetically bankrupt their theological system is.