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Where do the Scriptures teach that man had a holy, pure nature that became corrupted and transmitted to his posterity?
Where do the Scriptures teach that man had a holy, pure nature that became corrupted and transmitted to his posterity?
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
This verse is usually held up as support for "original sin" but let me challenge that concept. It doesn't say "sin spread to all men" ... but rather it says "death spread to all men." I see this verse as supporting "original death." This makes sense since God didn't curse the world with sin, he cursed it with death! Therefore death, not sin, is perpetual and spreads to all. Thusly, death (or more specifically, our fear of death) becomes the causal agent for the sin nature.
Where do the Scriptures teach that man had a holy, pure nature that became corrupted and transmitted to his posterity?
2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,Before we get too excited about things, however, we must remember that Adam sinned in the garden prior to death and prior to having any "sin nature." I guess that is the "nature" of beings who have a free will. Free will is the ability to choose the wrong choice.
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
ok...this is interesting! Have not seen it laid out like this!Here is my take on the sin nature. For this, we must go back to the beginning - to the first sin.
Gen 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
From this verse, we can see that sin was a choice by Adam and Eve. As such, SIN is an invention of Man, not of God. Jesus calls Satan the "father" of liars, so perhaps you could say it was an invention of Satan and of Man. James confirms who is responsible for sin.
Jam 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted [by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
So the result of sin is death because death is a just punishment for sin. Romans says "the wages of sin is death."
Gen 2:17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
In the beginning God set the rules. If you break them, you die. Death was setup as the just punishment for sin. When Adam sins, he is cursed by God and punished with the just punishment of death.
Gen 3:17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.
18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;
19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."
This introduces death, for the very first time, into a creation that God had called "very good." Since God calls death an enemy in 1 Corinthians 15:26, we know that a creation He calls "very good" would not have included death. Furthermore, Romans 5 tells us that death came as a result of one man's sin:
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
This verse is usually held up as support for "original sin" but let me challenge that concept. It doesn't say "sin spread to all men" ... but rather it says "death spread to all men." I see this verse as supporting "original death." This makes sense since God didn't curse the world with sin, he cursed it with death! Therefore death, not sin, is perpetual and spreads to all. Thusly, death (or more specifically, our fear of death) becomes the causal agent for the sin nature.
Hbr 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
Jhn 8:34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
Rom 8:15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
1Jo 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
Jhn 3:18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
20 "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
21 "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."
Sin is the bastard offspring of Man and Satan - his lie combined with our selfishness. As a result of man's sin, death came into the world - the just punishment for sin. We of course are incapable of living sinless lives, and therefore we deserve that judgement. Our fear of punishment enslaves us to sin. For example, the hungry man will steal to eat as he is a slave to his flesh out of his fear of death.
2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Before we get too excited about things, however, we must remember that Adam sinned in the garden prior to death and prior to having any "sin nature." I guess that is the "nature" of beings who have a free will. Free will is the ability to choose the wrong choice.
Same question here...if Adam was sinless...where did lust come in? Wasn't it already there? The desire to disobey God...Gen 1 and 2 point to a sinless holy nature. And so also Romans 5.
The corrupt sin nature is described in Romans 3 and David says he was conceived in sin.
So also Jeremiah stating that the heart is wicked.
in Christ,
Bob
The same text says that "THROUGH one man SIN ENTERED" just as much as it says "DEATH SPREAD TO ALL MEN." Indwelling sin (Rom. 7:18) does not originate EXTERNAL to fallen man's nature but comes "THROUGH ONE MAN" and SPREADS by birth. Where there is no sin there is no death and death involves more than final separation between man's material and immaterial self. It is the SEPARATION spiritually between man and God. It is the principle of the laws of conservation NOW at work in the human nature.
The same text says that "THROUGH one man SIN ENTERED" just as much as it says "DEATH SPREAD TO ALL MEN." The cause is stated first, followed by the consequence. Indwelling sin (Rom. 7:18) does not originate EXTERNAL to fallen man's nature but comes "THROUGH ONE MAN" (cause) and SPREADS by birth (consequence) ending in death. Where there is no sin there is no death and death involves more than final separation between man's material and immaterial self. It is the SEPARATION spiritually between man and God. It is the principle of the laws of conservation NOW at work in the human nature.
ok...this is interesting! Have not seen it laid out like this!
So are you saying that Adam had sin in him already...because he lusted after what God told him not too?
Indeed, sin did enter through Adam, but sin is not perpetual or spread, but rather it is individual.
Eze 18:20 "The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.
Also note that Romans 5:13-14 makes it clear that those between Adam and Moses (when The Law was given) died despite not committing the same sin as Adam - eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and despite their sin not being imputed to them. This is because they inherited death, not sin. (again, the curse was death, not sin)
Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Note how it says through the offense of one many be "dead"... it doesn't say "many be sinners" it says many be dead.
You are not dealing with Romans 5:12 correctly. The cause is first stated that "THROUGH one man sin entered into the world" not merely entered into Adam. Moreover "death THROUGH sin" entered the world not merely entered into Adam.
Furthermore, how can "death" be spread to all men without its cause "sin"? You have "death" being spread unrelated to sin. Paul claims that the indwelling "law of sin" is inseparable from "death" (Rom. 7:18,24) - "this body OF DEATH...the law of sin"
Moreover, if this sin producing death in Romans 5:12a is limited only to "one man" (Adam) than how can Paul say it is by "by ONE MAN"S DISOBEDIENCE many were made sinners" or by "the offence OF ONE judgement came upon ALL"????
Does not your interpetation teach the very opposite? Does not your intepretation demand that by individual disobedience that individual is made a sinner rather by the disobedience of Adam? Does not your interpretation demand that by your own offence judgement came upon you rather than by the offence of Adam?
Indeed, sin is the cause.... and the consequence is death. That consequence is then what is perpetuated by The Curse.
Because death was a part of a perpetual curse God proclaims over all of creation - the just consequence of Adam's sin. Until Jesus, none were without sin, so the consequence was just for all men.
If you take this verse out of the context and isolate it from the rest of chapter 5, sure you could make it mean that.
But in context, we can see that "made sinners" makes sense with Hebrews 2 in that the fear of death makes us slaves to sin.
Just like Adam didn't need the sin nature to choose to sin, we are not sinners until we sin. Our fear of death makes us slaves to sin.
Yes and no.
Yes, it does demand that by individual disobedience that individual is made a sinner. But no, God has already judged the world in Genesis 3 and cursed the world with death. That curse has never been lifted. So we are born UNDER ADAM'S JUDGEMENT. We are not guilty of Adam's sin, but only of our own sin (otherwise Jesus would have been guilty of sin). However, death is here as a result of Adam's sin, and it has not been destroyed yet. That death (or rather our fear of it) influences us to sin.
You have missed his point entirely. He is proving the exact opposite. Because the law of Moses did not exist, and yet INFANTS (and mentally disabled) who could not have possibly died due to WILLFUL SIN (like Adam's sin) proves that their death can only be attributed to "ONE MAN'S SIN many were made sinners"
"by ONE MAN's DISOBEDIENCE MANY WERE MADE SINNERS" - v. 19
These don't die because of sin, they die because of death.
If they died because of Adam's sin, there would quite literally be no salvation for infants or mentally disabled persons.
They would be guilty of Adams sin with no ability to believe in Christ and be saved. Furthermore, Jesus would also be guilty of Adam's sin and therefore would not have been a sinless and pure sacrifice.
Lets look at v19:
Rom 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
So it is comparing two conditions as similar
1: one mans disobedience many made sinners
2: one mans obedience many made righteous
So these are similar. So in option 2, by Jesus' obedience many are made righteous - let me ask you - does this apply broadly to everyone or is righteousness applied on an individual basis for those who believe?
So you would agree that in option 2, Jesus' obedience must coincide with individual faith in order for righteous to come?
Now look at verse 16:
Rom 5:16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
Notice how this is comparing two DISSIMILAR conditions:
1. global judgement by 1 transgression
2. global justification of many transgressions
If we are all guilty of Adam's sin, then only 1 transgression would need to be justified for all to be saved.
This contradicts your interpretation of Ezekiel 18 where you demand death cannot be perpetuated apart from personal sin. This contradicts the parallel statement of Paul in Romans 12 where he makes them inseparable "sin entered....death by sin" and yet you have death WITHOUT sin being spread to all men.
Again this contradicts your interpretation of Ezek. 18 where you argue death cannot be separated from sin and is the result of sin. Yet you have infants dying without any connection to sin. The death of infants cannot be attributed to personal individual sin by the infant and death is the consequence of CONDEMNATION for sin. Paul says "IN ADAM all die" (1 Cor. 15:21).
I did not provide any meaning! I simply quoted it and that was sufficient for you to admit that it did "mean that" by simple assertion of it!
Notice you say "in the context" but then defend your view by jumping out of the context to another context!
However, in context it refers back to verse 12 and makes perfect sense that Adam acted as a representative for ALL humanity coming from his loins. Likewise, Christ is called the "second" Adam and acts as a representative for all who are "in him" from his spiritual loins (born again).
Your theory must reject the substitutionary representative role of Jesus Christ for his people. Hence, Christ could not die "FOR YOU" on Calvary according to your view any more than "by one man's disobedience many were made sinners."
Death has no existence where sin has no existence because fear is the consequence of condemnation by sin.
Second, our nature at birth is not like Adam's prefallen nature. The death of infants proves that. You admit that death is the just penalty for sin (Rom. 3:23) in your interpretation of Romans 5:12 but then turn around and try to assert that death can be administered without sin (death of infants) and all others who die before they commit "willful" sin.
There are loads of scripture that teach infants are born with a sin nature (Job. 14:1-4; 15:15; Psa. 51, 55, etc.).
This is a straw man. I didn't say death cannot be perpetrated apart from personal sin (in fact, I claimed the opposite). I said death came as a result of Adams sin and I implied it is now a perpetual curse that does not consider sin in it's execution of judgement.
However, our guilt (whether or not we deserve the death that is already affecting us) is determined individually. Ezekiel speaks to individual responsibility or guilt for sin, and that the guilt is not inherited, but is individual.
Jesus was the first (and only) to not be guilty of his own sin when he inherited and then experienced death.
This was the first and only misapplication of the justice of The Curse,
1Cr 15:21 For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
We know that "all" will not be made alive, some will die and go to hell. Some will not believe.
So the comparison is not the idea of guilt, which your claim that "in adam all die" means that all are guilty of Adam's sin. The comparison is that a man is the cause of both life and death. Just as Adam was the instigator of death, Christ is the instigator of life. Guilt is not a consideration in these verses, but rather it's talking about the human origination of both death and life.
I don't care for the game of tennis. But did you know that scripture says Moses served in Pharoah's courts? I didn't know there was tennis in the Bible!! Pull a verse out of context and then apply your own contextual meaning and you can inflict many unintended meanings on scripture. This is why it is important not to isolate verses from their context.
Yikes - once again you are seriously pulling scriptures out of their context. 1 Cor 15 isn't talking about anything coming from Jesus' spiritual loins, but rather is a reference to the immortal bodies we are given after our resurrection.
1Cr 15:39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.
40 There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
45 So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
This is another straw man argument. I have never said this, nor does it even make sense. What difference does it make to the substitutionary representative role of Jesus Christ
There is no imputing sin where there is no law.