Can the Spiritually Dead Respond to Christ?

Summary

Grace in Focus Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Can the Spiritually Dead Respond to Christ?
Date: June 12, 2026
Hosts: Bob Wilkin, Sam Marr
Theme: Exploring the Calvinist doctrine of "total depravity" (the "T" in TULIP), the nature of spiritual deadness, and whether spiritually dead people can respond to Christ.

---

Episode Overview

In this concise but rich episode, Bob Wilkin and Sam Marr tackle a major topic within Calvinist and non-Calvinist theology: can spiritually dead individuals—those without eternal life—respond to Christ’s invitation? Drawing on critiques from the book Whosoever Will (especially Paige Patterson’s chapter on “total depravity”), the hosts dig into various interpretations, biblical examples, and theological implications, seeking to clarify the distinction between being deprived by sin and being totally incapable of response to the gospel.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Defining Total Depravity vs. Total Inability

• Context: “Total depravity” is a core tenet of Calvinism; Calvinists often use “total inability” synonymously.
• Wilkin: "A lot of people think total depravity means we're sinners. It means a whole lot more than that. In fact, another name that Calvinists use for total depravity is total inability." (03:07)
• Calvinists argue spiritual deadness means a total inability to do anything spiritually positive—even to respond to God or believe the gospel.

2. Illustrating the Calvinist View

• The “dead man in the well” analogy is commonly cited: a cadaver cannot respond, move, or even hear instructions.
• Wilkin and Marr point out, “If they were consistent, they would say you could tell them Jesus was born in Bethlehem and they wouldn't understand what you were saying. They couldn't believe it.” (03:22)
• Calvinists nuance this by introducing concepts like “temporary faith”—an intellectual assent that does not result in salvation.

3. Critiquing Calvinist Total Inability Using Scripture

• Paige Patterson’s Example: Adam and Eve
  • Patterson (as cited by Wilkin): “Though dead spiritually, they, Adam and Eve, could and did respond to God, preparing for his visit, talking with him and eventually accepting his remedy for their nakedness.” (05:19)
  • Wilkin adds, “Obviously they understood what God was saying to them. So this is a good example, one I’ve never used.” (06:44)

4. Biblical Counter-Examples to Total Inability

• Cornelius (Acts 10–11):

  • Marr: "He was a Gentile ... he was somewhat aware and he was seeking and God brought the message to him. But God also spoke to Cornelius directly as well, or through angels..." (07:37)
  • Cornelius listens, understands, and responds before regeneration, undermining the Calvinist notion, “How can he understand the angel if he's spiritually dead? If he is a cadaver at the bottom of the well, he can't hear what an angel has to say.” (08:09)
  • Cornelius’s faith and household’s conversion (see Acts 11:14) show spiritual receptivity pre-regeneration.

• Paul at the Areopagus (Acts 17):

  • Wilkin: "Paul even says that they [unbelievers] can grope after God and find him, for he's not far from us. And so this idea of spiritual deadness is totally wrong." (10:10)
  • Marr reads, “He says so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for him and find Him...” (10:04)

5. Theological Implications for Evangelism

• If spiritual deadness truly meant total inability, the biblical calls to seek God, hear the gospel, or believe would make little sense.
• Wilkin: "That's why it's a good thing to evangelize your children and your brothers and sisters and your parents and your aunts and uncles and people at work and people at school and people you come into contact with because they can really understand what you're saying. Now, they may reject it, but they can understand it." (11:37)
• Spiritual “deadness,” argue the hosts, simply means lacking eternal life—not an inability to respond or understand.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Deadness Meaning Inability:
  “When people are dead, they're dead. So Patterson's point is that the Calvinists say if you're spiritually dead, you can't do anything spiritually.” – Sam Marr (01:42)

• On Temporary Faith:
  “Calvinists say there's something called temporary faith where a person can even believe in Christ temporarily.” – Bob Wilkin (04:34)

• On Cornelius’s Conversion:
  “So how can he understand the angel if he's spiritually dead? ... He can't send for Simon Peter. And when Simon Peter comes, he can't believe. But he did believe and so did his household and they were all born again.” – Sam Marr (08:09)

• On Paul's Areopagus Message:
  “Paul even says that they can grope after God and find him, for he's not far from us. And so this idea of spiritual deadness is totally wrong.” – Sam Marr (10:10)

• Application to Evangelism:
  "Clearly spiritually dead people can believe. That's why it's a good thing to evangelize... because they can really understand what you're saying. Now, they may reject it, but they can understand it.” – Bob Wilkin (11:37)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Defining Total Depravity & Calvinist View: 01:30–04:33
• Use of “Temporary Faith” and Parable of the Soils: 04:33–06:51
• Counter-Example: Adam & Eve Responding: 05:19–06:51
• Counter-Example: Cornelius (Acts): 07:26–09:28
• Counter-Example: Paul at Areopagus (Acts 17): 09:28–10:30
• Theological Implications & Summing Up: 10:30–12:43

---

Conclusion

Wilkin and Marr argue passionately and biblically that being "spiritually dead" does not render people unable to understand or respond to God’s call—in contrast to classical Calvinism’s “total inability.” Using Adam and Eve, Cornelius, and Paul’s preaching to pagans as scriptural evidence, they advocate that evangelism is meaningful because all people, though lacking eternal life, are capable of responding to the gospel. This challenges a key point of Calvinist soteriology and encourages listeners to keep “Grace in Focus”—and to keep sharing the message.

---

For further study and resources, visit faithalone.org

Transcript

[A]

The following is a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society. All this week we've been discussing a book called Whosoever A Critique of Calvinism. Today the question we will be looking at is can the spiritually dead respond to Christ? This is the T in Tulip. What is depravity and what might be the difference in definition from a Calvinist to a non Calvinist? Thank you for joining us today friend. This is Grace in a Ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. Our website is faithalone.org Please come and visit us there to find out about our subscription free magazine, our online seminary, our books and articles and our events. One upcoming in Kamiyah, Idaho. You want to take a look at that coming up in July. A Beautiful Place, Kamia, Idaho and a regional conference there July 19th through the 23rd. All you need to know about [e-mail] now with today's discussion, here is Bob Wilkin along with Sam Marr.

[B]

Alright everybody, we are, I think this is episode four or five of our little series we're doing talking about this book called Whosoever Will, but more so talking about Calvinism and going through some of the core beliefs of it and some of the major issues that we have with that theology. So in this episode we're going to talk about the Tea in Tulip.

[C]

Tea in Tulip is total depravity.

[B]

Total depravity. And we're going to offer a better explanation than the Calvinists when it comes to what being spiritually dead means.

[C]

Yeah. Now we've been looking at a book. It's called Whosoever Will. It's a critique of five point Calvinism. So the chapter on total depravity was by Paige Patterson, who used to be at Criswell Bible Institute and then used to be the president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. And Paige Patterson was one of the key players in helping move the Southern Baptist seminaries from liberalism back to conservatism. So I think real highly of him, although I think Paige Patterson holds to a mild form of lordship salvation. But I like more or less what he says about total depravity. A lot of people think total depravity means we're sinners. It means a whole lot more than that. In fact, another name that Calvinists use for total depravity is total inability. Here's how Patterson describes what Calvinists say. Dead people cannot do anything. When people are dead, they're dead. So Patterson's point is that the Calvinists say if you're spiritually dead, you can't do anything spiritually.

[B]

And the spiritually dead refers to the non elect, right?

[C]

That's right. In Calvinism, all points tie together. The unconditional election ties in with total depravity and limited atonement all the way down the line. So if you believe one of the points, they all five hang together and they argue. If you reject any of them, then you reject all five. So when they say that you can't do anything, one of the illustrations that's often used is think of someone who fell down a 40 foot well, broke his neck and died at the bottom of the well. And so rescuers come to rescue the person at the bottom of the well and they throw him a rope and they say, tie the rope around your waist and we'll pull you out. Well, because he's a cadaver and he can't tie the rope around his waist. He can't even hear them, he can't understand them, he can't do anything. And that's the Calvinist view of total depravity. If they were consistent, they would say you could tell them Jesus was born in Bethlehem and they wouldn't understand what you were saying. They couldn't believe it. They couldn't understand it because they can't get anything spiritually whatsoever. Now that's not exactly what Calvinists say. What they say is, well, you can intellectually believe many of the fundamentals of the faith. In fact, Calvinists would argue you could intellectually believe all the fundamentals of the faith.

[B]

Right?

[C]

And they have a discussion in this book about something called temporary faith. Calvinists say there's something called temporary faith where a person can even believe in Christ temporarily.

[B]

Right? And you can think that you're saved, but really you're not because you weren't one of the elect.

[C]

And they also have temporary works. So you can have works that look like the works of a believer. That's how they understand the second and third soils. In the parable of the four soils it says it sprang up. So they have to have some explanation of if the seed that germinates is the saving word of God, how is it these people aren't saved? Well, they say because they only have temporary faith. And temporary faith doesn't save. That still doesn't explain how the seed germinated. One Calvinist I read said, well, they have some kind of spiritual life, but it's less than eternal life. It's some kind of work of God in their life. Well, how can God do any work in their life if they can't respond to him in any way. Right. So here's what Paige Patterson says in order to prove that the Calvinist view of total depravity is wrong. On page 39 of this book, whosoever will, he says, quote, though dead spiritually, they, Adam and Eve could and did respond to God, preparing for his visit, talking with him and eventually accepting his remedy for their nakedness. Now I would probably change that slightly and say his remedy for their deadness. And I would cite Genesis 3:15, the first gospel, that the seed of the woman was going to crush the head of the seed of the serpent, but the seed of the serpent was going to strike the seed of the woman on the heel. Both of those occurred at the cross. Ultimately, he suggests Adam and Eve were born again when they met with God. I would say the pre incarnate Lord Jesus Christ in the garden in Genesis 3. And I would agree with him. Obviously they understood what God was saying to them. So this is a good example, one I've never used.

[A]

We will return to today's topic, but to inform you about GES online seminary, it is now Grace Evangelical theological [e-mail] seminary. Apply through Aug. 2. Registration closes Aug. 16 for the fall semester and semester begins Sept. 16. You can earn an M. Div. Degree and full scholarships are available with good academic standing through our generous donors. Come study with us. Grace Evangelical theological [e-mail] seminary now one

[C]

I like to use is Cornelius. Why would Cornelius be a good example of why total depravity is not right?

[B]

Because he was a Gentile, he was a God fearer. So he had been studying the Jewish texts and he was somewhat aware and he was seeking and God brought the message to him. But also spoke to Cornelius directly as well, or through angels spoke to Cornelius and Peter and arranged their meeting.

[C]

So when the angel tells Cornelius to send to Simon, did Cornelius understand what he was supposed to do?

[B]

He understood what he was supposed to do. Yeah.

[C]

And he did it right.

[B]

Right.

[C]

So how can he understand the angel if he's spiritually dead? If he is a cadaver at the bottom of the well, he can't hear what an angel has to say. He can't send for Simon Peter. And when Simon Peter comes, he can't believe. But he did believe and so did his household and they were all born again. And Peter talks about that in the Jerusalem council in Acts 15:7, 11 that they believed. See what Calvinists say is that regeneration precedes faith. So what you have to do in order to save the dead man at the bottom of the well, you have to resurrect him, give him life back, and then he can be saved. And according to Calvinists, he doesn't even believe. He doesn't even tie the rope around his waist. God ties the rope around the waist. God does the believing for them by giving them the gift of faith. Cornelius, we're told in Acts 11:14, he was told by the angel that Simon Peter will tell you words by which you and your household must be saved. Well, he believed that. He believed that Simon Peter was going to tell him the saving message. And when he did, he did believe the saving message, that by faith in Jesus, he was forgiven and saved forever.

[B]

Right?

[C]

And so all of this contradicts this Calvinist idea that deadness means you have no response to God. And also think of Acts 17:27. This is where Paul is preaching in Athens at a place called the Areopagus. And he's speaking to a group of philosophers. He talks to them about the resurrection of the dead and their kind of myth. But in verse 27, he says something about how unbelievers can seek God and find God.

[B]

He says so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for him and find Him. He, though he is not far from

[C]

each one of us, and he's talking to unbelievers and he doesn't think it's stupid to talk to them. Right? Paul even says that they can grope after God and find him, for he's not far from us. And so this idea of spiritual deadness is totally wrong.

[B]

Right? I mean, none of the accounts in Acts where Paul or Peter, any of them are preaching to large groups, you know, if they were being honest by the Calvinist view, they should have said, well, some of you, it doesn't matter what you do, you're already gone. But I'm talking to the people in the crowd that might be elect. You need to do these things so you can be regenerated and then receive faith. It just doesn't follow any of the teaching in the book of Acts.

[C]

No, that's right. But it'd even be a step more. You'd say, some of you, if you are elect, and those of you who are elect are going to be born again. Now, you, you can't do anything to be born again. You can't believe. But what can happen is God can regenerate you. And I know you don't understand any of this, but God can do this. And he can give you the gift of faith. Here's what I would say, and I'm going to Talk about Ephesians 2:1 10. And part of that is you were dead in your trespasses and sins. And one of the things I say there is to be spiritually dead is to be spiritually dead, right? It doesn't mean you can't respond to God. It doesn't mean you can't understand anything. It means you lack eternal life. And what you need is eternal life. So what the dead person needs is life. And so God gives them everlasting life if they believe. Now, it is true, there's a satanic blinding, 2nd Corinthians 4:4. But God takes away that blinding if we are open, if we're groping after him, if we're seeking him. That happened with Cornelius. It happened with Lydia in Acts, chapter 16. So I like what Paige Patterson does in this chapter. And clearly spiritually dead people can believe. That's why it's a good thing to evangelize your children and your brothers and sisters and your parents and your aunts and uncles and people at work and people at school and people you come into contact with because they can really understand what you're saying. Now, they may reject it, but they can understand it. And even if they reject it, they can chew on it and meditate on it and eventually be born again. Well, thanks so much everybody. Let's remember to keep Grace in focus. Amen.

[A]

Read many from our library of thousands of free magazine and journal articles [e-mail] resources. That's faithalone.org did you miss an episode of Grace in Focus that you really wanted to hear? Just come to faithalone.org that's faithalone.org we have all our past episodes right there on the site. Our team is really great about answering questions, comments and feedback. If you've got some, we hope to hear from you. Let me give you our email address so you can do just that. It's radioaithalone.org that's radioaithalone.org now. We thank you friend for joining us every day this past week. It's been good to have you along. We hope you have a great weekend. Spend some time with other believers in a Bible believing, Bible teaching church and we'll see you back here on Monday for more Grace in Focus. The proceeding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.