The Body and Blood of Christ

[Anthony Pritchard]

The Body and Blood of Christ

The doctrine of the Incarnation stands at the center of the Christian faith. It is the mystery of the eternal Son of God taking real human flesh, becoming truly man while remaining truly God. Because of this, any teaching that distorts the nature of Christ’s humanity strikes at the very heart of Christianity itself.

Two errors have recently resurfaced. The first claims that Jesus did not receive DNA from Mary. The second claims that Jesus possessed a human body and human brain before the Incarnation, even before Abraham existed. Both ideas are built on false premises, bad biology, and worse Christology. Nothing, not one verse, word, letter, or vowel in Scripture teaches either of these claims.

Christ Took Real Human Flesh From Mary

Scripture is explicit. Paul writes, “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). Made of a woman means biologically derived from her. Luke declares, “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:42). A surrogate mother does not produce the fruit of her own womb. Mary was the real biological mother of Jesus.

Jesus was “made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3). He cannot be the seed of David unless He receives real human flesh from David’s line, and that comes through Mary. To deny this is to deny the plain teaching of Scripture.

Biologically, the conceived child has its own blood, not the mother’s. Jesus did not share Mary’s blood, and sin is not transmitted by DNA or blood chemistry. Sin is not a molecule. Holiness is not a chromosome. The argument that Jesus avoided Mary’s DNA in order to remain sinless assumes a biological mechanism Scripture does not teach and biology does not support.

Modern biology also observes a phenomenon called maternal–fetal microchimerism, where a small number of cells can migrate between mother and child during pregnancy. This does not change the fact that the child has its own blood, its own circulatory system, and its own genetic identity. It does not replace or alter the child’s genome. It does not transmit moral nature, guilt, or spiritual condition. It simply shows that pregnancy involves complex biological interactions. None of this supports the claim that Jesus avoided Mary’s DNA, and none of it suggests that sin is carried in blood or chromosomes. Salvation is spiritual, not biological.

Jesus was sinless because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, because He was the eternal Son, and because He took real human flesh without sin. His sinlessness does not depend on avoiding Mary’s DNA.

The Heresy of a Pre Incarnate Human Body

The second error is even more serious. It claims that Jesus had a human body and human brain before the Incarnation, even when He appeared to Abraham or wrestled with Jacob. This is not biblical Christology. It is a direct denial of the Incarnation and a direct denial of the eternal deity of Christ.

God is a Spirit (John 4:24). Before the Incarnation, Christ had no physical body and no human brain. His human nature began at conception, not in eternity. To claim that the body and brain of Jesus existed before Mary is to claim that Christ’s humanity is eternal. That would make Him a created being. This is not Christian doctrine.

Theophanies are not the Incarnation. When the Son appeared to Abraham or Jacob, He did not take on permanent human nature. Those appearances were manifestations, not flesh. John writes, “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Not appeared in flesh. Not used flesh temporarily. Not brought flesh from eternity. He became flesh in the virgin conception.

Hebrews confirms this. “He also Himself likewise took part of the same” (Hebrews 2:14). He took human nature at the Incarnation, not before it. “A body You prepared for Me” (Hebrews 10:5). Prepared in Mary, not imported from eternity.

Human nature begins at conception. The eternal Son existed before Abraham. His human nature did not.

Sin Is Inherited Covenantally, Not Biologically

How do we inherit Adam’s guilt? Scripture never teaches that sin is transmitted by chromosomes, blood chemistry, DNA, ovum, sperm, or genetics. Sin is not a molecule. Sin is a nature, and that nature is inherited covenantally because Adam was the federal head of humanity.

“By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men” (Romans 5:12). Paul does not say sin passed through chromosomes or blood. He says death passed because Adam represented the entire human race. This is federal headship, not biology.

“By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation” (Romans 5:18). Condemnation is a legal status, not a biological trait. You inherit Adam’s guilt the same way you inherit citizenship, family name, or legal standing. It is a forensic reality, not a chemical one.

David writes, “In sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). He is not saying his DNA was sinful or his blood was corrupt. He is saying he was born into Adam’s fallen nature.

This is why Jesus could take real human flesh from Mary without inheriting sin. Sin is not transmitted by blood, DNA, or chromosomes. A conceived child has its own blood, not the mother’s. Jesus did not share Mary’s blood, and sin is not transmitted by DNA or blood chemistry.

Jesus enters humanity through Mary. Jesus receives real human flesh from Mary. Jesus receives real human nature. Jesus does not receive Adam’s guilt. Jesus does not receive a fallen nature. Jesus is sinless because He is the eternal Son, not because He avoided Mary’s DNA.

“That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Holiness is not a chromosome. Holiness is the nature of the eternal Son united to real human flesh.

The Blood of Christ and the Logic of Atonement

Christ’s blood was sinless because His human nature was unfallen and He was the eternal Son. “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22) refers to sacrificial death, not to sin being physically located in blood. Blood represents life poured out (Leviticus 17:11). It does not represent sin molecules.

The power is in the Person, not the plasma.

The logic of atonement is simple.

Sin deserves death.
A substitute must die.
Death is expressed by the shedding of blood.
Therefore remission requires blood.

This is sacrificial logic, not biological logic.

Hebrews makes the point explicit. “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead” (Hebrews 9:16 to 17). The death of the testator is what gives the covenant its power. It is the death of Christ, the Testator, that secures salvation.

Conclusion

The biblical doctrine is simple.

The Son is eternal.
His human nature began at conception.
He took real human flesh from Mary.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
He was fully God and fully man.
He was sinless because He is the eternal Son, not because He avoided Mary’s DNA.
The Word became flesh. He did not import flesh from eternity.

Nothing in Scripture teaches that Jesus avoided Mary’s DNA. Nothing teaches that He had a human body or human brain before the Incarnation. These claims match ancient heresies: Docetism, Gnosticism, Nestorianism, and Arian distortions. None of them are biblical. None of them are orthodox. None of them are Baptist. None of them are Christian.

This entire heresy is of human invention, of human reasoning apart from revealed Scripture. It is not the faith once delivered unto the saints.

© A.K. Pritchard 2026 – Free to use with proper attribution.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

Thanks for this. I was thinking I might have to do something similar and I really have no time at present with my church's plant happening this Lord's day. You have done a very good work!
The only comment I will make is that I don't think the word "heresy" should be used on a discussion forum. Obviously it calls into question the salvation of the "heretic," which is against forum rules. It conjures up in my mind the burning of the Lollard and Marian martyrs.

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

Thanks for this. I was thinking I might have to do something similar and I really have no time at present with my church's plant happening this Lord's day. You have done a very good work!
The only comment I will make is that I don't think the word "heresy" should be used on a discussion forum. Obviously it calls into question the salvation of the "heretic," which is against forum rules. It conjures up in my mind the burning of the Lollard and Marian martyrs.

Thanks. The teaching is what I am calling out, not the person. I take care to not attack the persons, just the doctrines. I appreciate your pastoral caution, and I will keep it in mind going forward.

 

[David Lamb]

The Body and Blood of Christ

The doctrine of the Incarnation stands at the center of the Christian faith. It is the mystery of the eternal Son of God taking real human flesh, becoming truly man while remaining truly God. Because of this, any teaching that distorts the nature of Christ’s humanity strikes at the very heart of Christianity itself.

Two errors have recently resurfaced. The first claims that Jesus did not receive DNA from Mary. The second claims that Jesus possessed a human body and human brain before the Incarnation, even before Abraham existed. Both ideas are built on false premises, bad biology, and worse Christology. Nothing, not one verse, word, letter, or vowel in Scripture teaches either of these claims.

Christ Took Real Human Flesh From Mary

Scripture is explicit. Paul writes, “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). Made of a woman means biologically derived from her. Luke declares, “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:42). A surrogate mother does not produce the fruit of her own womb. Mary was the real biological mother of Jesus.

Jesus was “made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3). He cannot be the seed of David unless He receives real human flesh from David’s line, and that comes through Mary. To deny this is to deny the plain teaching of Scripture.

Biologically, the conceived child has its own blood, not the mother’s. Jesus did not share Mary’s blood, and sin is not transmitted by DNA or blood chemistry. Sin is not a molecule. Holiness is not a chromosome. The argument that Jesus avoided Mary’s DNA in order to remain sinless assumes a biological mechanism Scripture does not teach and biology does not support.

Modern biology also observes a phenomenon called maternal–fetal microchimerism, where a small number of cells can migrate between mother and child during pregnancy. This does not change the fact that the child has its own blood, its own circulatory system, and its own genetic identity. It does not replace or alter the child’s genome. It does not transmit moral nature, guilt, or spiritual condition. It simply shows that pregnancy involves complex biological interactions. None of this supports the claim that Jesus avoided Mary’s DNA, and none of it suggests that sin is carried in blood or chromosomes. Salvation is spiritual, not biological.

Jesus was sinless because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, because He was the eternal Son, and because He took real human flesh without sin. His sinlessness does not depend on avoiding Mary’s DNA.

The Heresy of a Pre Incarnate Human Body

The second error is even more serious. It claims that Jesus had a human body and human brain before the Incarnation, even when He appeared to Abraham or wrestled with Jacob. This is not biblical Christology. It is a direct denial of the Incarnation and a direct denial of the eternal deity of Christ.

God is a Spirit (John 4:24). Before the Incarnation, Christ had no physical body and no human brain. His human nature began at conception, not in eternity. To claim that the body and brain of Jesus existed before Mary is to claim that Christ’s humanity is eternal. That would make Him a created being. This is not Christian doctrine.

Theophanies are not the Incarnation. When the Son appeared to Abraham or Jacob, He did not take on permanent human nature. Those appearances were manifestations, not flesh. John writes, “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Not appeared in flesh. Not used flesh temporarily. Not brought flesh from eternity. He became flesh in the virgin conception.

Hebrews confirms this. “He also Himself likewise took part of the same” (Hebrews 2:14). He took human nature at the Incarnation, not before it. “A body You prepared for Me” (Hebrews 10:5). Prepared in Mary, not imported from eternity.

Human nature begins at conception. The eternal Son existed before Abraham. His human nature did not.

Sin Is Inherited Covenantally, Not Biologically

How do we inherit Adam’s guilt? Scripture never teaches that sin is transmitted by chromosomes, blood chemistry, DNA, ovum, sperm, or genetics. Sin is not a molecule. Sin is a nature, and that nature is inherited covenantally because Adam was the federal head of humanity.

“By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men” (Romans 5:12). Paul does not say sin passed through chromosomes or blood. He says death passed because Adam represented the entire human race. This is federal headship, not biology.

“By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation” (Romans 5:18). Condemnation is a legal status, not a biological trait. You inherit Adam’s guilt the same way you inherit citizenship, family name, or legal standing. It is a forensic reality, not a chemical one.

David writes, “In sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). He is not saying his DNA was sinful or his blood was corrupt. He is saying he was born into Adam’s fallen nature.

This is why Jesus could take real human flesh from Mary without inheriting sin. Sin is not transmitted by blood, DNA, or chromosomes. A conceived child has its own blood, not the mother’s. Jesus did not share Mary’s blood, and sin is not transmitted by DNA or blood chemistry.

Jesus enters humanity through Mary. Jesus receives real human flesh from Mary. Jesus receives real human nature. Jesus does not receive Adam’s guilt. Jesus does not receive a fallen nature. Jesus is sinless because He is the eternal Son, not because He avoided Mary’s DNA.

“That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Holiness is not a chromosome. Holiness is the nature of the eternal Son united to real human flesh.

The Blood of Christ and the Logic of Atonement

Christ’s blood was sinless because His human nature was unfallen and He was the eternal Son. “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22) refers to sacrificial death, not to sin being physically located in blood. Blood represents life poured out (Leviticus 17:11). It does not represent sin molecules.

The power is in the Person, not the plasma.

The logic of atonement is simple.

Sin deserves death.
A substitute must die.
Death is expressed by the shedding of blood.
Therefore remission requires blood.

This is sacrificial logic, not biological logic.

Hebrews makes the point explicit. “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead” (Hebrews 9:16 to 17). The death of the testator is what gives the covenant its power. It is the death of Christ, the Testator, that secures salvation.

Conclusion

The biblical doctrine is simple.

The Son is eternal.
His human nature began at conception.
He took real human flesh from Mary.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
He was fully God and fully man.
He was sinless because He is the eternal Son, not because He avoided Mary’s DNA.
The Word became flesh. He did not import flesh from eternity.

Nothing in Scripture teaches that Jesus avoided Mary’s DNA. Nothing teaches that He had a human body or human brain before the Incarnation. These claims match ancient heresies: Docetism, Gnosticism, Nestorianism, and Arian distortions. None of them are biblical. None of them are orthodox. None of them are Baptist. None of them are Christian.

This entire heresy is of human invention, of human reasoning apart from revealed Scripture. It is not the faith once delivered unto the saints.

© A.K. Pritchard 2026 – Free to use with proper attribution.

I so agree. The Bible gives us all we need to know about the Saviour's incarnation. He would be born of a virgin, so not as the result of a man and woman coming intimately together. The Holy Spirit would bring this about. Arguing, as some do, about where His DNA came from, or suggesting that He already had a body before His incarnation is pointless.

 

[Armchair Apologist]

The Body and Blood of Christ

The doctrine of the Incarnation stands at the center of the Christian faith. It is the mystery of the eternal Son of God taking real human flesh, becoming truly man while remaining truly God. Because of this, any teaching that distorts the nature of Christ’s humanity strikes at the very heart of Christianity itself.

Two errors have recently resurfaced. The first claims that Jesus did not receive DNA from Mary. The second claims that Jesus possessed a human body and human brain before the Incarnation, even before Abraham existed. Both ideas are built on false premises, bad biology, and worse Christology. Nothing, not one verse, word, letter, or vowel in Scripture teaches either of these claims.

Christ Took Real Human Flesh From Mary

Scripture is explicit. Paul writes, “God sent forth His Son, made of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). Made of a woman means biologically derived from her. Luke declares, “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb” (Luke 1:42). A surrogate mother does not produce the fruit of her own womb. Mary was the real biological mother of Jesus.

Jesus was “made of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:3). He cannot be the seed of David unless He receives real human flesh from David’s line, and that comes through Mary. To deny this is to deny the plain teaching of Scripture.

Biologically, the conceived child has its own blood, not the mother’s. Jesus did not share Mary’s blood, and sin is not transmitted by DNA or blood chemistry. Sin is not a molecule. Holiness is not a chromosome. The argument that Jesus avoided Mary’s DNA in order to remain sinless assumes a biological mechanism Scripture does not teach and biology does not support.

Modern biology also observes a phenomenon called maternal–fetal microchimerism, where a small number of cells can migrate between mother and child during pregnancy. This does not change the fact that the child has its own blood, its own circulatory system, and its own genetic identity. It does not replace or alter the child’s genome. It does not transmit moral nature, guilt, or spiritual condition. It simply shows that pregnancy involves complex biological interactions. None of this supports the claim that Jesus avoided Mary’s DNA, and none of it suggests that sin is carried in blood or chromosomes. Salvation is spiritual, not biological.

Jesus was sinless because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, because He was the eternal Son, and because He took real human flesh without sin. His sinlessness does not depend on avoiding Mary’s DNA.

The Heresy of a Pre Incarnate Human Body

The second error is even more serious. It claims that Jesus had a human body and human brain before the Incarnation, even when He appeared to Abraham or wrestled with Jacob. This is not biblical Christology. It is a direct denial of the Incarnation and a direct denial of the eternal deity of Christ.

God is a Spirit (John 4:24). Before the Incarnation, Christ had no physical body and no human brain. His human nature began at conception, not in eternity. To claim that the body and brain of Jesus existed before Mary is to claim that Christ’s humanity is eternal. That would make Him a created being. This is not Christian doctrine.

Theophanies are not the Incarnation. When the Son appeared to Abraham or Jacob, He did not take on permanent human nature. Those appearances were manifestations, not flesh. John writes, “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Not appeared in flesh. Not used flesh temporarily. Not brought flesh from eternity. He became flesh in the virgin conception.

Hebrews confirms this. “He also Himself likewise took part of the same” (Hebrews 2:14). He took human nature at the Incarnation, not before it. “A body You prepared for Me” (Hebrews 10:5). Prepared in Mary, not imported from eternity.

Human nature begins at conception. The eternal Son existed before Abraham. His human nature did not.

Sin Is Inherited Covenantally, Not Biologically

How do we inherit Adam’s guilt? Scripture never teaches that sin is transmitted by chromosomes, blood chemistry, DNA, ovum, sperm, or genetics. Sin is not a molecule. Sin is a nature, and that nature is inherited covenantally because Adam was the federal head of humanity.

“By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men” (Romans 5:12). Paul does not say sin passed through chromosomes or blood. He says death passed because Adam represented the entire human race. This is federal headship, not biology.

“By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation” (Romans 5:18). Condemnation is a legal status, not a biological trait. You inherit Adam’s guilt the same way you inherit citizenship, family name, or legal standing. It is a forensic reality, not a chemical one.

David writes, “In sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). He is not saying his DNA was sinful or his blood was corrupt. He is saying he was born into Adam’s fallen nature.

This is why Jesus could take real human flesh from Mary without inheriting sin. Sin is not transmitted by blood, DNA, or chromosomes. A conceived child has its own blood, not the mother’s. Jesus did not share Mary’s blood, and sin is not transmitted by DNA or blood chemistry.

Jesus enters humanity through Mary. Jesus receives real human flesh from Mary. Jesus receives real human nature. Jesus does not receive Adam’s guilt. Jesus does not receive a fallen nature. Jesus is sinless because He is the eternal Son, not because He avoided Mary’s DNA.

“That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). Holiness is not a chromosome. Holiness is the nature of the eternal Son united to real human flesh.

The Blood of Christ and the Logic of Atonement

Christ’s blood was sinless because His human nature was unfallen and He was the eternal Son. “Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22) refers to sacrificial death, not to sin being physically located in blood. Blood represents life poured out (Leviticus 17:11). It does not represent sin molecules.

The power is in the Person, not the plasma.

The logic of atonement is simple.

Sin deserves death.
A substitute must die.
Death is expressed by the shedding of blood.
Therefore remission requires blood.

This is sacrificial logic, not biological logic.

Hebrews makes the point explicit. “For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead” (Hebrews 9:16 to 17). The death of the testator is what gives the covenant its power. It is the death of Christ, the Testator, that secures salvation.

Conclusion

The biblical doctrine is simple.

The Son is eternal.
His human nature began at conception.
He took real human flesh from Mary.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.
He was fully God and fully man.
He was sinless because He is the eternal Son, not because He avoided Mary’s DNA.
The Word became flesh. He did not import flesh from eternity.

Nothing in Scripture teaches that Jesus avoided Mary’s DNA. Nothing teaches that He had a human body or human brain before the Incarnation. These claims match ancient heresies: Docetism, Gnosticism, Nestorianism, and Arian distortions. None of them are biblical. None of them are orthodox. None of them are Baptist. None of them are Christian.

This entire heresy is of human invention, of human reasoning apart from revealed Scripture. It is not the faith once delivered unto the saints.

© A.K. Pritchard 2026 – Free to use with proper attribution.

I fully agree. The only reason I brought up "Jesus's DNA" was to stress Jesus's humanity, that he was "truly God" and this was precipitated by something that Cathode had stated. There are some yayhoos out there (I believe some Ron Wyatt afficianados) who try to say that Jesus had only 23 Chromosomes because he was born without a father and believing such a thing, you are denying the true humanity of Jesus! This was my primary point but was then speculating further on what a hypothetical "DNA test" might say about his lineage. All the other stuff - imputation of sin and so forth is not biological but spiritual. I guess we could debate whether the Creation or Traducian theory would be correct but therein would be the proper context in which to discuss the inheritance of our Adamic nature. I would be in the Traducian camp myself.

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

The only reason I brought up "Jesus's DNA"

I believe another member posted a thread regarding the DNA of Mary and Christ "JESUS body has received No DNA from Mary" in Other Christian Denominations, and that precipitated this thread.

 

[Armchair Apologist]

I believe another member posted a thread regarding the DNA of Mary and Christ "JESUS body has received No DNA from Mary" in Other Christian Denominations, and that precipitated this thread.

I know of whom you are talking of. He was expressing this in the "DNA of Jesus Part II" thread as well. I tried engaging him but quickly realized the futility of such efforts and washed my hands!

 

[JD731]

The Body and Blood of Christ
How do we inherit Adam’s guilt? Scripture never teaches that sin is transmitted by chromosomes, blood chemistry, DNA, ovum, sperm, or genetics. Sin is not a molecule. Sin is a nature, and that nature is inherited covenantally because Adam was the federal head of humanity.

“By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men” (Romans 5:12). Paul does not say sin passed through chromosomes or blood. He says death passed because Adam represented the entire human race. This is federal headship, not biology.

I heartily agree with your reasoning and would only take issue with this one point and say that sin did not pass upon all men through Adam but death passed upon all men. All men born of Adam are spiritually dead by virtue of being born of him and in his image but it is not a sin to be born. Being dead spiritually means we inherit Adam's nature after his fall, which is bi-partite, body and soul, but in Adams fallen image, without the Spirit of God and consequently no power over sin.

Jesus Christ at his conception and birth is a tri-partite man, soul, body, and Spirit and in the image of God, a trinity. The power over sin is the Spirit who indwells him. God did the preparation work in the first 4000 years of human history to make it possible to renew this tri-partite image in all mankind by first justifying and counting them righteous who would simply believe what he said to them and confirming it by obedience to him.

Jesus on the cross died as Adam died, both spiritually and physically and now offers his Spirit who he poured out at Calvary as he endured the penalty of sin and separtion from God for us and suffered as a man, dying both deaths. We are now reconciled to God through Jesus Christ when we trust God that his death and resurrection is accepted by him for us and he is reconciled to us by it.

The Bible and nature teaches us that we cannot be guilty of personal sins until our conscience can bear witness of good and evil and we choose the evil. Sin is the transgression of the law.

James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Over all a good article and helpful.

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

I heartily agree with your reasoning

I thank you.

and would only take issue with this one point and say that sin did not pass upon all men through Adam but death passed upon all men.

Oops, "Just a little outside" as Bob Eucker would say, if you know American Baseball. Death comes by sin, and sin by one man, Adam: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Romans 5:12. We die because of sin.

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

The Bible and nature teaches us that we cannot be guilty of personal sins until our conscience can bear witness of good and evil and we choose the evil. Sin is the transgression of the law.

Exactly. Paul said, “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Romans 7:9. Those who are incapable of understanding are held innocent; but when understanding comes, then “sin revived, and I died.” Sin is not a particle floating in our blood. Holiness is not a molecule. Holiness is an attribute of the nature of God. Sin is an attribute of our old nature, the old man. Sin does not come by the blood of Adam, but is inherited from our federal head, Adam. Death comes by way of the sin nature we inherit from him.

 

[JD731]

I thank you.

Oops, "Just a little outside" as Bob Eucker would say, if you know American Baseball. Death comes by sin, and sin by one man, Adam: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Romans 5:12. We die because of sin.

That sin came into the world by Adam is definitely my position as well. All have sinned is likewise true. Adam died spiritually because of the one sin, and that is the point. All who are born of Adam are in his bi-partite image and nature at birth. That is what is meant that death passed upon all men Now sin reigns as a sovereign and irresistible king over all of Adams race and the creation and no one can escape because we have no power, absent the Spirit. Before I was saved I was not guilty of eating from the tree of the knowledge good and evil after being forbidden of God but I had plenty of personal sins that condemned me to the same penalty.

Jesus Christ is the only man who ever lived who never sinned and that was because of two reasons. He was not of Adam's race. God was his Father. And #2, he was a tri-partite man and the Spirit of God dwelt in him from his birth making him the image of his Father and gave him power over sin. His being was soul, the human spirit (given by God, not Adam), body, and Spirit of God.

Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (The Spirit is life Ro 8:9)
Joh 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

God has restored the trinitarian image, first by making us in the image of Jesus Christ when we are saved and receive the Spirit, but the image he had on earth and not his glorified image he has now. A new body like unto his glorified body is our hope and expectation at the rapture and explains predestination. We will then be like him for we shall see him as he is.

 

[Anthony Pritchard]

That sin came into the world by Adam is definitely my position as well. All have sinned is likewise true. Adam died spiritually because of the one sin, and that is the point. All who are born of Adam are in his bi-partite image and nature at birth. That is what is meant that death passed upon all men Now sin reigns as a sovereign and irresistible king over all of Adams race and the creation and no one can escape because we have no power, absent the Spirit. Before I was saved I was not guilty of eating from the tree of the knowledge good and evil after being forbidden of God but I had plenty of personal sins that condemned me to the same penalty.

Jesus Christ is the only man who ever lived who never sinned and that was because of two reasons. He was not of Adam's race. God was his Father. And #2, he was a tri-partite man and the Spirit of God dwelt in him from his birth making him the image of his Father and gave him power over sin. His being was soul, the human spirit (given by God, not Adam), body, and Spirit of God.

Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (The Spirit is life Ro 8:9)
Joh 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

God has restored the trinitarian image, first by making us in the image of Jesus Christ when we are saved and receive the Spirit, but the image he had on earth and not his glorified image he has now. A new body like unto his glorified body is our hope and expectation at the rapture and explains predestination. We will then be like him for we shall see him as he is.

JD, I appreciate the thoughtful reply. We agree on the essential point: sin entered the world through Adam, death followed sin, and all who are born of Adam inherit that sin nature that produces death. Romans 5:12 is the foundation, and Paul’s argument is clear.

Where I stay close to the text is in how Scripture describes the nature of man and the nature of Christ. Adam’s fall brought spiritual death immediately, and physical death as a later consequence, and all his descendants share that condition, that sin nature. That is the sense in which “death passed upon all men.”

Christ’s sinlessness is rooted first in His person, because He is God’s Son, not Adam’s descendant, and second in His nature. He is the image of the Father by eternal identity, not by the Spirit’s indwelling. The Spirit was given to Him without measure, but His holiness is inherent to who He is.

When God saves us, He conforms us to the image of Christ. We receive the Spirit, and we await the glorified body at the resurrection. That is the hope Paul describes in Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 15. We will be like Him when we see Him as He is.

 

[JD731]

JD, I appreciate the thoughtful reply. We agree on the essential point: sin entered the world through Adam, death followed sin, and all who are born of Adam inherit that sin nature that produces death. Romans 5:12 is the foundation, and Paul’s argument is clear.

Where I stay close to the text is in how Scripture describes the nature of man and the nature of Christ. Adam’s fall brought spiritual death immediately, and physical death as a later consequence, and all his descendants share that condition, that sin nature. That is the sense in which “death passed upon all men.”

Christ’s sinlessness is rooted first in His person, because He is God’s Son, not Adam’s descendant, and second in His nature. He is the image of the Father by eternal identity, not by the Spirit’s indwelling. The Spirit was given to Him without measure, but His holiness is inherent to who He is.

When God saves us, He conforms us to the image of Christ. We receive the Spirit, and we await the glorified body at the resurrection. That is the hope Paul describes in Romans 8 and 1 Corinthians 15. We will be like Him when we see Him as He is.

Anthony, sometimes disagreements on a point can be attributed to semantics, how we express ourselves. We are nearly in full agreement and I am not expressing a hostile intent. Jesus Christ in his becoming one of us is likewise as true as your point that he is God's son. He is truly man in every sense of the word and as a man was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Earlier I quoted James 1:13 that said God cannot be tempted with evil. The text says that the Spirit led Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted. This is very instructive as it demonstrates a great truth of how the mighty Spirit interacts in the weakness of the flesh. If Jesus could not be tempted then nothing is proven by this incident.

I am going to take the liberty of quoting one of my favorite Bible passages, and I know you will like it.

Phi 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;
11 And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

[percho]

When it is said, " the sin into the world entered." What is meant by the world?

Also why the definite articles? Are they significant to the understanding, considering the following?

but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and unspotted -- Christ's -- foreknown, indeed, before [of] foundation of world, and manifested in the last times because of you, 1 Peter 1:19,20 YLT with modification. put of instead of the foundation and removed the before world.

What was there before the foundation of the world?

This probably belongs elsewhere but I would not know to title the question.

Is the earth older than the world?