A friend once handed me a book after our Bible study. "This explains so much about God's sovereignty," he said with genuine enthusiasm. As I read through the chapters on Total Inability, this doctrine teaching that we're so spiritually dead we can't even respond to God unless He first regenerates us, something stirred in my spirit. Not anger at my friend, but a deep sadness. Like hearing a beloved hymn sung slightly off-key.
The more I studied, the more my heart ached. If we're truly unable to respond to God's call, then what do we make of all those "whosoever will" invitations throughout Scripture? Are they divine theater? Is our loving Father extending invitations to a feast knowing most can't even see the table?
I've wrestled with this teaching for years, not because I doubt God's sovereignty, but because I believe His sovereignty is actually bigger than Total Inability allows. Let me share what I've discovered in Scripture, not to win an argument, but to celebrate the magnificent scope of God's grace.
The Dead Who Hear
My friend explained Total Inability using the image of Lazarus in the tomb. "Dead people can't hear," he said gently. "They can't respond. That's why God has to regenerate us first, bring us to life, before we can believe."
It sounds logical. But is that what Jesus teaches?
Look again at John 5:25, "The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live."
The spiritually dead hear first. Then they receive life. That sequence matters tremendously.
This pattern appears throughout Scripture. Consider Adam after the fall, spiritually dead, separated from God, yet when the Lord called "Where are you?" in the garden, Adam heard. He responded. He even attempted to justify himself (poorly, but he tried). If spiritual death meant zero ability to hear or respond to God, this entire conversation becomes impossible.
Or think about Cain, fresh from murdering Abel. God speaks directly to him, reasons with him, even marks him for protection. The Lord doesn't waste words on those who cannot hear.
Paul reinforces this in Ephesians 5:14, "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light."
He's commanding dead people to wake up and arise. Such a command only makes sense if the "dead" retain the capacity to hear and choose whether to obey.
Most striking is Christ's message to Sardis, a church He explicitly calls "dead", commanding them to "wake up, strengthen what remains, and repent" (Revelation 3:1-3). These aren't words spoken over unresponsive corpses but urgent appeals to those who can hear yet choose spiritual slumber.
Being "dead in sin" is devastatingly real. It means separation from God, utter inability to save ourselves, and certain judgment apart from grace. But Scripture consistently shows it doesn't mean we can't hear His voice when He calls.
Seekers and the Sought
"But nobody seeks God," my friend reminded me, quoting Romans 3. "That's why He must regenerate us first, to create the desire to seek Him."
He's right about our natural condition. Romans 3:10-11 doesn't mince words: "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God."
Left to ourselves, we don't wake up desiring God. Our bent is fleeing FROM Him, not TO Him. Adam hid. Jonah sailed the opposite direction. We're all spiritual fugitives by nature.
But here's the beautiful truth: God doesn't leave us to ourselves.
When Paul addressed those pagan philosophers in Athens, he revealed God's heart: The Lord arranged human history "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17:27).
Sit with that a moment. God desires pagans, idol worshippers, to seek Him. He expects them to grope for Him. He promises they can find Him because "He is not far from each one of us."
Not just from some. From each one of us.
God's invitations echo throughout Scripture:
"Seek the LORD while He may be found" (Isaiah 55:6)
"You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13)
"Seek, and you will find" (Matthew 7:7)
These aren't cruel jokes aimed at the powerless. They're genuine offers backed by God's character and enabling grace.
The key understanding is this: While none of us seeks God naturally, God seeks us first. Jesus is "the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world" (John 1:9). Every person receives some light. When someone begins seeking God, it's because His grace is already drawing them.
Consider Cornelius. Before hearing the gospel, this Roman centurion "feared God," prayed constantly, and gave generously. Was he regenerated? No. Was he seeking God? Absolutely. And the Lord honored that seeking by sending Peter with the message of Christ (Acts 10).
Slaves at the Proclamation
"We're slaves to sin," Reformed brothers and sisters interject. "Romans 8 says those in the flesh cannot please God. How can a slave choose freedom?"
Again, Scripture affirms this truth. Romans 8:7-8 is unflinching: "The mind of the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
We cannot save ourselves, earn God's favor, or reform our way to righteousness. We're as enslaved as the Israelites in Egypt. But notice how God solves this problem.
The very next verse clarifies: "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you" (Romans 8:9).
So how do we receive the Spirit? Scripture's testimony is consistent:
"Having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Ephesians 1:13)
"Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing with faith?" (Galatians 3:2)
We receive the Spirit through faith, not before faith. God commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). His grace enables that response. When we believe the gospel, we receive the Spirit and pass from flesh to Spirit, from death to life.
Remember those Hebrew slaves hearing Moses proclaim freedom? They couldn't break their own chains. The power came entirely from God. But they had to choose to follow Moses out of Egypt.
Jesus captured this dynamic perfectly.
"How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Matthew 23:37).
Not "you were not able." You were not willing.
That's heaven's heartbreak. Not inability, but unwillingness.
Natural Problems, Supernatural Solutions
Some will quote 1 Corinthians 2:14.
"The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."
"See?" they'll say kindly. "The natural man can't understand spiritual truth without regeneration."
But context reveals Paul's meaning. He's discussing how God's deeper wisdom, His eternal plans, Christ's mysteries ,makes sense only to those with the Spirit. To human wisdom alone, God's truth seems foolish.
Yet Paul never suggests unbelievers can't grasp the basic gospel or respond in faith. One chapter earlier, he celebrates: "It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21).
The gospel seems foolish to worldly wisdom, yet God uses this "foolish" message to save those who believe. These believers were "natural" moments before, but chose to trust God's testimony rather than dismiss it.
The Holy Spirit works on everyone hearing the gospel. Jesus promised:
"When He has come, He will convict the world of sin" (John 16:8).
Not just select individuals. The world.
Remember Pentecost? Peter preaches, and the crowd, natural men all, are "cut to the heart" and cry out, "What shall we do?" (Acts 2:37). The Spirit-empowered gospel penetrated their natural defenses.
The "natural man" remains natural only by rejecting the Spirit's conviction. As Jesus explained:
"Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light" (John 3:19).
The issue isn't inability to perceive light but preference for darkness.
The Drawing That Woos
"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him" (John 6:44).
This verse often serves as the cornerstone for Total Inability. If nobody can come without being drawn, and if God only draws some, then human choice vanishes. But we must ask: Whom does the Father draw? How does He draw?
Jesus answers clearly:
"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself" (John 12:32).
All people. Everyone. The Father's drawing is universal, accomplished through the Son lifted up on the cross.
John 6:45 explains the process: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me."
All are taught. Those who hear and learn come to Jesus. The responsibility rests with us to respond to the Father's teaching.
The Greek word for "draw" (helkuo) doesn't always mean irresistible force. God "drew" Israel with "cords of love" (Hosea 11:4), yet they often resisted. The Father draws through the gospel, but not all drawn will come. Why? Not because they can't, but because many won't.
Jesus couldn't be clearer:
"You are not willing to come to Me that you may have life" (John 5:40).
Not unable. Unwilling.
The Gift We All Can Receive
"Faith itself is God's gift to the elect," some might offer, quoting Ephesians 2:8:
"By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God."
But what exactly is the gift? The whole package, salvation by grace through faith. Paul emphasizes that we don't earn salvation through faith. Faith isn't a meritorious work but simply the empty hand receiving God's gift.
Consider how faith actually comes:
"Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).
The Word itself carries power to awaken faith in receptive hearts. God provides the message and the Spirit's conviction. We provide the response.
When Acts 11:18 says God "granted" repentance to Gentiles, it means He opened salvation's door to them, something Jews thought impossible. He gave them opportunity to repent, not that He repented for them.
If faith were simply downloaded into select individuals, why would Jesus marvel at unbelief (Mark 6:6)? Why would Scripture consistently hold people responsible for refusing to believe?
When the Philippian jailer cried out, "What must I do to be saved?" Paul didn't say, "Nothing, wait for regeneration." He commanded: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:30-31).
That command assumes ability. The jailer believed that very night.
The Beautiful Balance
Dear friends, when we let all of Scripture speak, a glorious picture emerges that magnifies both God's sovereignty and human responsibility:
God desires all to be saved. "God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:4). No footnotes. No exceptions.
Christ died for all. "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world" (1 John 2:2). The cross isn't limited but universal in provision.
Grace appears to all. "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men" (Titus 2:11). Through creation, conscience, and gospel, God's light reaches every heart.
The invitation is genuine. "Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17). These aren't empty words but real offers.
Choice matters. "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve" (Joshua 24:15). Meaningless words if we lack all ability to choose.
Judgment is just. People perish "because they did not receive the love of the truth" (2 Thessalonians 2:10). They had opportunity. They refused it.
The God Who Waits
A.W. Tozer captured it beautifully: "Man's will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so."
Our God isn't afraid. He's so sovereign, so secure, that He can work through genuinely free choices without forcing them. He chose a plan where "whosoever will" may come.
This doesn't diminish God's glory, it magnifies it. What displays more power: programming robots to love you, or creating free beings who choose to love you despite every opportunity to rebel?
My brothers and sisters who hold to Total Inability are sincere, godly people who desire to honor God's sovereignty. I share that desire completely. But I believe Scripture reveals a God whose sovereignty is so vast He can offer genuine choice. Not only can, but does. Whose love is so wide it truly encompasses the world, Whose grace is so powerful it enables any humble heart to respond.
The gospel isn't divine theater performed before an audience that cannot applaud. It's a genuine invitation from a Father who stands with open arms, having made the way clear through His Son's sacrifice, empowering response through His Spirit's conviction.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20).
Anyone who hears. Anyone who opens. Not just the pre-regenerated. Anyone.
Coming Home
This matters deeply. If you've been paralyzed thinking you might lack the ability to come to Christ, hear this good news: If you sense His call, you can respond. That tug on your heart? That's the Father drawing you. That conviction of need? That's the Spirit working.
For those secure in theology that limits God's saving desire, if the Spirit enables everyone, if Christ draws all, if the Father genuinely desires all to be saved ,then every person we meet is someone God actively pursues, someone who could respond today if they heard the gospel clearly.
The dead can hear His voice. Not just some. All. Because the voice that speaks is the same voice that said "Let there be light" in the darkness. It carries its own power, its own enablement.
But it doesn't override the will. It invites. It calls. It draws. It waits with patience and love.
Jesus still cries out:
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink" (John 7:37).
Anyone who thirsts. Anyone who comes. Anyone who drinks. Anyone who believes.
That beautiful gospel word: Anyone.
The dead hear His voice even now. The only question is: Will you answer?
By God's sovereign decree and abundant grace, the choice is ours. And that, dear friends, is very good news indeed.
"And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17).
Come.
