Steve Lemke on Total Depravity – Provocations & Pantings – by Timothy Brister
Timothy Brister points out the errors that may have made Dr. Steve Lemke want to distant himself from a belief in original sin. He Points out 2 mistakes that may be at the root of Dr. Lemke’s confusion:
(1) the idea that totally depravity eliminates human responsibility and
(2) that the imputation of original sin is total loss of the image of God.
The following is from the 1925 Baptist Faith and message and affirms a good understanding of original sin:
3. THE FALL OF MAN – Man was created by the special act of God, as recorded in Genesis. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Gen 1:27) “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Gen 2:7) He was created into a state of holiness under the law of his Maker, but, through the temptation of Satan, he transgressed the command of God and fell from his original holiness and righteousness; whereby his posterity inherit a nature corrupt and in bondage to sin, and are under condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become actual transgressors.
