First, what is sin?
In Genesis 2:16-17, we read:
"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
God gave a command to Adam. It had a directive (thou shalt not eat) and a result (thou shalt surely die). Yet, Adam disobeyed. In Genesis 3:17-19, we see:
"And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return."
Now, notice something here. Because of Adam's actions, the ground is cursed (with such as the sorrow required to make use of it, the difficulty of using it, the physical efforts involved in working it). Also, Adam is further cursed with physical death (going back to the dust). But, didn't God say that "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die"? Did God lie? Was God confused?
God forbid! Adam DID die on that very day wherein he ate of the tree!
His spirit died. That part of us that made us a living part of the spiritual family of God died when Adam turned from God.
You see, up until this point, Adam and Eve had three distinct parts that made up the whole of their persons:
When they sinned, God cursed the physical body to return to dust. In other words, he made them mortal and base. Their spiritual side died upon sinning. They were no longer a part of the family of God. They could not approach God directly--they could only be approached by God, and that would be at a cost.
Their souls, once capable of "free will", of independent choice between flesh and spirit, now only had one option left. They would from this point on follow the leadings of the flesh, seeing how there was not a spiritual part left to give them a choice.
God, acting on their behalf, performed the function of a High Priest, and sacrificed an animal, giving them the skins thereof:
God forbid! Adam DID die on that very day wherein he ate of the tree!
His spirit died. That part of us that made us a living part of the spiritual family of God died when Adam turned from God.
You see, up until this point, Adam and Eve had three distinct parts that made up the whole of their persons:
- physical
- soul
- spiritual
When they sinned, God cursed the physical body to return to dust. In other words, he made them mortal and base. Their spiritual side died upon sinning. They were no longer a part of the family of God. They could not approach God directly--they could only be approached by God, and that would be at a cost.
Their souls, once capable of "free will", of independent choice between flesh and spirit, now only had one option left. They would from this point on follow the leadings of the flesh, seeing how there was not a spiritual part left to give them a choice.
God, acting on their behalf, performed the function of a High Priest, and sacrificed an animal, giving them the skins thereof:
"Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them."
Gen. 3:21
Gen. 3:21
Why would we assume this was a sacrifice? Hebrews 9:22 tells us:
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."
Blood is the currency that sin requires as a payment against debt. Animal sacrifices were sufficient to sort of "pay the interest" on the debt, but they would never be able to clear the debt itself. So, these animals were quite possibly the way God was able to overlook the sinful natures of Adam and Eve for the short term.
So, we now know what sin is (disobedience to God). Now, we must find out when we first sin.
In Numbers 14:18, we see the following passage:
So, we now know what sin is (disobedience to God). Now, we must find out when we first sin.
In Numbers 14:18, we see the following passage:
"The LORD [is] longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation]."
This seems to show that a sin nature is passed on from father to son. But, in Ezekiel 18:20, we read:
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."
This would seem to say that the sin is NOT passed on from father to child. So, is this a contradiction?
God forbid!
The sin nature is passed on from generation to generation. When the spirit of Adam and Eve died, it was gone. There was nothing left to be passed on, because it existed no more. The iniquity is visited upon the children from the father. However, each soul is responsible for their own iniquity. As we saw above, "the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him". This isn't just double speak, but it is as accurate of a description as one can get. The sinful nature is passed on, but the actual sinfulness is a product of the flesh and soul of each individual person. The mechanism to sin is inherited--the sin is created brand new in each person.
So, the final piece of the puzzle come from John 3:3:
God forbid!
The sin nature is passed on from generation to generation. When the spirit of Adam and Eve died, it was gone. There was nothing left to be passed on, because it existed no more. The iniquity is visited upon the children from the father. However, each soul is responsible for their own iniquity. As we saw above, "the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him". This isn't just double speak, but it is as accurate of a description as one can get. The sinful nature is passed on, but the actual sinfulness is a product of the flesh and soul of each individual person. The mechanism to sin is inherited--the sin is created brand new in each person.
So, the final piece of the puzzle come from John 3:3:
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Remember, the spirit side of Adam and Eve died the day they ate of the tree of knowledge. It was gone, and was not passed down to their children. Without a spirit that is righteous before God, we cannot be in the presence of God.
Thus, Jesus explained to Nicodemus:
Thus, Jesus explained to Nicodemus:
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."
John 3:5-7
John 3:5-7
We must be born of water (physical birth) and of the Spirit (spiritual rebirth by the Holy Spirit, which can only be done after the debt of sin is removed from us.) Otherwise, we cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
So, we can see where sin starts now. Because we are spiritually dead, even at conception, we are inherently sinful even at conception. Because we have the sinful nature visited upon us, we are sinful by nature even at conception. Because we are predisposed to sin due to having only our flesh as the source of our lusts, we are creating sin from the first moments that we can be sinful.
In short, we are sinful creatures from the moment the spark of life takes place. This is completely in agreement with Romans 3:23:
So, we can see where sin starts now. Because we are spiritually dead, even at conception, we are inherently sinful even at conception. Because we have the sinful nature visited upon us, we are sinful by nature even at conception. Because we are predisposed to sin due to having only our flesh as the source of our lusts, we are creating sin from the first moments that we can be sinful.
In short, we are sinful creatures from the moment the spark of life takes place. This is completely in agreement with Romans 3:23:
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
Likewise, Romans 5:12:
"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:"
This also ends several false doctrines found in Christianity today:
Grace and Peace....
- Age of accountability - no such thing, we are sinful from moment number one.
- Free Will - nope, that requires a set of options. Sinners can only choose to follow their sinful flesh until God makes changes in His called people.
- Babies (abortion) - are sinful at conception. Aborted babies are people that are going to hell. Don't blame God - if you don't want to take responsibility for your sinful nature, blame Adam and Eve.
- Mentally Ill - unless a person confesses Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as their savior, they WILL go to hell.
- Backsliding/Loosing Salvation - you can't lose what you had no part in gaining. God the Father/Son/Holy Ghost did ALL the work to bring each Christian into their family. Each Christian was at war with God until God made saving changes in their lives.
- Works Required For Salvation - balogna! Never did a branch graft itself into a vine. However, a living branch that has been grafted into the vine CAN produce good fruit.
- Christian Choice - yes, now that we have our old flesh and our new spirit, we once again have free choice. But, we are instructed to follow Jesus. So, any other choice is sin. That sin won't cost us our salvation, but it will break our fellowship with Jesus and our Father.
Grace and Peace....
