Introduction. For the past few months, we have been looking at divisions among those calling themselves disciples, in spite of Jesus’ prayer for unity (Jn 17:20-23) and Paul’s command to speak the same thing and have no divisions (1 Cor. 1:10-12). The articles were written to identify the main points of division. Using tools Holy Spirit gave (Acts 15), we can find the truth in the midst of disagreement. Another subject that has created a great chasm between disciples is the belief or denial of inherited sin. Instead of resolving the issue with Scripture, multitudes remain divided.
The doctrines of “original sin” and “inherited sin” have been debated long before the time of Augustine and Pelagius (circa 400 AD). The differences of opinion are on the effects of Adam’s sin on his descendants. Did the sin of Adam so damage the soul that all his offspring are born with “sin damaged” souls? Was the guilt of Adam’s sin transferred from parent to child? Does man still have freedom to choose as Adam did? These are the questions debated to this day
The doctrines of “original sin” and “inherited sin” have been debated long before the time of Augustine and Pelagius (circa 400 AD). The differences of opinion are on the effects of Adam’s sin on his descendants. Did the sin of Adam so damage the soul that all his offspring are born with “sin damaged” souls? Was the guilt of Adam’s sin transferred from parent to child? Does man still have freedom to choose as Adam did? These are the questions debated to this day
The question of the guilt a father’s sin could have on his children was first posed by God through Jeremiah and Ezekiel, summed up in the proverb: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge.” They affirmed that the sins their father’s committed (eating sour grapes) had caused their children to be born in sin (teeth set on edge). The doctrine of inherited sin states exactly the same thing. Adam sinned by eating the forbidden fruit (ate the sour grapes) and that sin has passed down to all his future children (their teeth were set on edge).
Paul’s comparison between the far reaching effects of Adam’s sin and Christ’s death are often cited as proof: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12-19). Yet we must be cautious. Peter himself warned that when reading what “our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,” there “are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (2Pet. 3:14-18).
It is obvious that someone has twisted these scriptures to their own destruction. To avoid Jesus’ rebuke to the Sadducees: “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures” (Mk. 12:24), we must use the same tools He did (logic, inference, and deduction). Just as Jesus used God’s words to Moses to prove the resurrection, we can use God’s words to Adam to find the truth on the effects of Adam’s sin on his children. “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Yet Adam did not die and return to the dust on “the day” he ate it. It was “930 years” later that he died (Gen. 2:17; 5:3). What logic, inference and deduction must be made? There are two deaths! Adam did “die on the day he ate it”, but not by returning to dust.
God and Paul were not speaking of physical death. Adam’s death “on the day you eat it” was the same “death that spread to all men, because all sinned.” Paul then used himself as an example. Just like Adam was alive until the day he ate it, Paul was alive until the day he sinned. “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” (Rom. 7:9). Paul died spiritually when he committed his first sin just as Adam did. After these sins, both Adam and Paul continued to live physically, but they were dead (separated from God) spiritually.
While “returning to dust” came through Adam, spiritual death came through sin. If Paul was “alive apart from the law”, he was not dead by Adam’s sin. Adam brought sin into the world, so he is responsible for both physical and spiritual death. But being responsible is not being the cause.
Paul was using Adam’s sin and Jesus’ death on the cross as examples of how one act could impact every child of Adam. Yet each act did not directly affect either. It only brought opportunity. No one is directly born dead in sin because of Adam’s sin and no one is directly saved from sin by Jesus' death on the cross. Each becomes a sinner and dies when they violate God’s law and each becomes a Christian and is saved when they obey the gospel. Neither is done without our will.
If Paul was alive before the commandment came, so is everyone else. He clearly said, I chose to sin and I died when I made that choice. He also said that when we were baptized into Christ, we died with him and were made free from sin (Rom. 6). How can he teach all are born dead in sin (Rom. 5) and then say he was born alive and died when he sinned (Rom. 7) without contradicting himself? Only by twisting scripture can we say that Adam’s sin makes all guilty and born sinners. “death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Death did not spread to all men because Adam sinned, it spread to all men because all sinned. Paul could not be dead because Adam sinned and be alive until “sin came alive, I died.”
Since only God knows the effects of Adam’s sin on all his offspring, we need to listen to Him. What then did God say to Israel through Jeremiah? “They shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge.’ But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.” (Jer. 31:29-30). We can’t say anymore: “Adam ate the sour grapes (forbidden fruit), and the children’s teeth are on edge (are born sinners). We can’t say it because God said: “Every one shall die for his own iniquity,” and “every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.”
It is not spiritually possible for a man to die for the iniquity of another. What Adam did could have no spiritual affect on his children. Is it possible I have misunderstood and take this too far? Not after reading what God said through Ezekiel.
Conclusion. Sin is a choice that everyone makes, not a condition at birth. God revealed that Adam brought sin into the world by a single act. God revealed that Jesus’ brought salvation into the world by a single act. But although the magnitude of these two acts affected every child of Adam, it is only by choice and free will. Only when the commandment comes to each living soul does sin come alive and we die. “Death passed to all men” only “because all sinned,” and only because “all have sinned.” (Rom. 6:23). In the same way salvation comes to all men, only when we all believe and obey the gospel. By our own choice we live and by our own choice we die.
Paul’s comparison between the far reaching effects of Adam’s sin and Christ’s death are often cited as proof: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12-19). Yet we must be cautious. Peter himself warned that when reading what “our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,” there “are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (2Pet. 3:14-18).
It is obvious that someone has twisted these scriptures to their own destruction. To avoid Jesus’ rebuke to the Sadducees: “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures” (Mk. 12:24), we must use the same tools He did (logic, inference, and deduction). Just as Jesus used God’s words to Moses to prove the resurrection, we can use God’s words to Adam to find the truth on the effects of Adam’s sin on his children. “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Yet Adam did not die and return to the dust on “the day” he ate it. It was “930 years” later that he died (Gen. 2:17; 5:3). What logic, inference and deduction must be made? There are two deaths! Adam did “die on the day he ate it”, but not by returning to dust.
God and Paul were not speaking of physical death. Adam’s death “on the day you eat it” was the same “death that spread to all men, because all sinned.” Paul then used himself as an example. Just like Adam was alive until the day he ate it, Paul was alive until the day he sinned. “I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.” (Rom. 7:9). Paul died spiritually when he committed his first sin just as Adam did. After these sins, both Adam and Paul continued to live physically, but they were dead (separated from God) spiritually.
While “returning to dust” came through Adam, spiritual death came through sin. If Paul was “alive apart from the law”, he was not dead by Adam’s sin. Adam brought sin into the world, so he is responsible for both physical and spiritual death. But being responsible is not being the cause.
Paul was using Adam’s sin and Jesus’ death on the cross as examples of how one act could impact every child of Adam. Yet each act did not directly affect either. It only brought opportunity. No one is directly born dead in sin because of Adam’s sin and no one is directly saved from sin by Jesus' death on the cross. Each becomes a sinner and dies when they violate God’s law and each becomes a Christian and is saved when they obey the gospel. Neither is done without our will.
- “Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.” (Rom. 5:18-19)
If Paul was alive before the commandment came, so is everyone else. He clearly said, I chose to sin and I died when I made that choice. He also said that when we were baptized into Christ, we died with him and were made free from sin (Rom. 6). How can he teach all are born dead in sin (Rom. 5) and then say he was born alive and died when he sinned (Rom. 7) without contradicting himself? Only by twisting scripture can we say that Adam’s sin makes all guilty and born sinners. “death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Death did not spread to all men because Adam sinned, it spread to all men because all sinned. Paul could not be dead because Adam sinned and be alive until “sin came alive, I died.”
Since only God knows the effects of Adam’s sin on all his offspring, we need to listen to Him. What then did God say to Israel through Jeremiah? “They shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge.’ But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.” (Jer. 31:29-30). We can’t say anymore: “Adam ate the sour grapes (forbidden fruit), and the children’s teeth are on edge (are born sinners). We can’t say it because God said: “Every one shall die for his own iniquity,” and “every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.”
It is not spiritually possible for a man to die for the iniquity of another. What Adam did could have no spiritual affect on his children. Is it possible I have misunderstood and take this too far? Not after reading what God said through Ezekiel.
- “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children's teeth are set on edge?’ 3 ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.”
- “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” (Ezek 18:20)
Conclusion. Sin is a choice that everyone makes, not a condition at birth. God revealed that Adam brought sin into the world by a single act. God revealed that Jesus’ brought salvation into the world by a single act. But although the magnitude of these two acts affected every child of Adam, it is only by choice and free will. Only when the commandment comes to each living soul does sin come alive and we die. “Death passed to all men” only “because all sinned,” and only because “all have sinned.” (Rom. 6:23). In the same way salvation comes to all men, only when we all believe and obey the gospel. By our own choice we live and by our own choice we die.