Inherited Sin

Inherited Sin

There is a prominent teaching in the religious world today that mankind is a fallen creature. What is meant by this is that since sin entered the garden through the sin of Adam and Eve, it has caused man to become inherently sinful – that all men since the time of Adam have inherited a “sinful nature.” This is one of the basic foundational doctrines of Calvinism and many other denominational groups. This concept is very flawed, as it directly contradicts clear Biblical teachings. For instance Ezekiel 18:20 states, “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…”

If men inherited the sins of Adam, then sin would not be their fault. They would not be able to keep from it. If this were true, then why should they be condemned? Why would God punish someone for doing something from which they had no choice? I can see where some could point out a deficiency with this idea and conclude the religion of God as mere foolish inconsistency. This perceived concept of inherited sin has caused many to turn away from God and His Word.

I called this a “perceived” concept, because that is exactly what it is. The Word of God in no way teaches this concept. It does tell us that all have sinned; (Rom. 3:23) and that there is no one righteous.(Rom 3:10-11) But in this we see it was because of choice. Notice what Paul said about the ancient gentiles: they once knew God, but they willfully rejected Him. (Rom 1:21) They knew the difference between right and wrong. (Rom 1:32) Yet, they intentionally forgot God so that they could feel justified in their sins. (Rom 1:28) Because of this willful rejection God “gave them up…” (Rom 1:24, 28) while allowing their sins to bring about their natural consequences. (Rom 1:27).

Sin comes about because men and women willfully choose it. Those who cannot understand the concepts of right and wrong, obedience and disobedience, lawful and unlawful – very young  children and infants or mentally handicapped persons – are not accountable for their sinful actions, because they do not have the capacity to understand that they are doing wrong. Everyone else, though, is accountable. Even those who are ignorant of some of the Laws of God, are not ignorant of the weightier moral matters. E.g. lying, stealing, murder, etc.

With the sin of Adam and Eve, in Genesis 3:6, we see that they chose sin – they chose rebellion against God. Notice that with Eve, “she saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise…” She had an opportunity to sin in that she saw the tree and in doing so (and in listening to the serpent) she developed an unlawful desire for its fruit, thus she was tempted.  At this time, she was faced with a choice and  she was in no way compelled by the serpent or by her “nature” to act on this unlawful desire.  She chose to do so. The Bible says that she, “took of the fruit thereof, and did eat…” Again we see that temptation, plus her choice to act upon it is what resulted in her sin.

Her husband, Adam, was faced with the exact choice.  He accepted the fruit when she gave it to Him and ate from it. He was tempted when he saw her with the fruit, perhaps he saw her eat from it and desired to share with her the “wisdom” which the fruit would grant them. He was not compelled to eat from it by either the serpent or by his “nature.” He knew that it was wrong, because he had been expressly forbidden to eat fruit  from that very tree. His choice in that moment of weakness was the same as Eve’s – he gave into temptation and sinned – “he did eat…” The result of their sin was death – spiritual death at the moment of sin and later physical death.

SIN IS AWAYS A CHOICE…

 

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Attention All Editors!

Last week, we pointed out that God does not need editors to clarify what He meant when He said what He said. Tragically, we live in a time when individuals think they have the right to read what the Bible says or to hear someone show what the Bible says and then say, “Well, I just do not believe that is the way it should be.” They have become, perhaps unwittingly, editors of the Bible. Look at the following paragraphs to see four truths about editors of His word.

Editors cause religious division. When the church began there was perfect unity. The reason for this was because, “. . . they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching . . .” (Acts 2:42). On the day of Pentecost there was unanimous agreement in the church on what one had to do to be saved. This was because every Christian followed the apostles’ doctrine. On the next day, and the one after that and the next and the next and the next, there was perfect unity for they continued following the apostles’ doctrine. It was only when men sought to “edit” the teaching from the apostles that division occurred.

Editors’ “Bibles” have fewer or more pages than the one the apostles gave. When the revelation of the will of God was complete, there was no provision made to alter it in any way. When individuals come to the Bible to edit it, they do so by either adding additional thoughts or subtracting from the thoughts found in the divine book. The end result is one that has more information than God gave or less than what He revealed. Any such “Bible” that has more than God originally gave has too much in it. Any which has less than what God gave has too little in it!

Editors cause compromise and results in “dumbing down” the truth which God gave. Editors exist because they want a more popular belief for one’s own use or one that will be more popular with those around them. The spirit of compromise is one which asks each side to give up a little so a common ground can be found. Since God has affirmed He will not move from what He has taught, there can be no common ground found. He owns all the ground and simply asks us to come and stand beside Him on that ground.

Editors face severe judgment. What the Holy Spirit affirmed about the book of Revelation on the last page of the Bible has application to the entire Bible. “If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life . . .” (Rev. 22:18-19). We must not edit the Bible; our task is to follow it!

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Home Bible Study

The Three C’s of Home Bible Study

At certain points in the life of a Christian, he may be asked the question, “Have you ever had someone aggressively question you about your faith?” Or, perhaps the question, “Have you ever been involved in a home Bible study and the person or persons became angry over the fact that what you were teaching them was contrary to what they believed to be true?” My friends and brethren what are we to do when situations like this arise in our lives? How do you handle this situation because if we are truly evangelistic in nature, these two questions will be asked several times over. Therefore, let us study some principles from the Word of God.

Now, the Word of God tells us to, stay “calm ”. No one will ever win a shouting match because our emotions can cause us to react strangely at times. Thus, we are to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding .” (Prov. 3:5) In addition, we are to, “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asked you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” (I Peter 3:15).

Second, we are to stay “caring ”. One can easily read for themselves from the Scriptures that a soul is very precious and valuable. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26) Thus, since God sent His Son to die on the cross so that all people may receive salvation (John 3:16), shouldn’t we likewise care enough about that soul to teach them about God and how precious their soul is to us all?

Then, the third principle is to stay “confident ”. One of the greatest and shortest verses in all of God’s Word says to, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (I Thessalonians 5:21). Now, when we wield the Word of God, we must be conscious of the fact that we hold the means by which God chose to reveal Himself to His creation (II Timothy 3:16). Thus, we have the answers to the vital questions of life at our fingertips because God tells us that if when we have His words, we have everything we need in order to be in Heaven with Him when our life on earth is no more.

Therefore, since Christians have been commanded to teach the world about Christ (Matthew 29:19‐20) we must be calm, ready, caring, and confident to take the word to them. We are not to keep the “good news” to ourselves, but to present it to the world. For we must, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (1 Tim. 4:16)

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Long Winded Preaching

The story is told of a congregation who was having trouble with the preacher preaching too long. They and the preacher decided that they would buy a gavel and after one hour, someone would tap on the pew to signal that time was up.  The first night a young boy manned the gavel, but after one hour, the boy was too embarrassed to use it so the preacher continued to preach on.  The congregation looked sternly at the boy.  He became so angry that he tried to hit the pew with a loud knock; however, as he came down with the gavel, he hit the person on the head sitting in front of him.  The wounded member, as he was falling over in his seat said, “Hit me again, I can still hear him!”

All humor aside, it is alarming how people sometimes can’t seem to sit in worship for an hour or so in a comfortable, air conditioned building, yet they have no problem sitting on hard bleachers under a hot sun or in the bitter cold to watch a three and a half hour football game.  It just depends on where your heart is (cf. Matt. 6:21).  The Israelites stood from daylight until midday while Ezra read aloud to them from the
Law of Moses (Neh. 8:1-8).  They wanted to hear it. While in Troas, Paul preached until midnight (Acts 20:7).  This was important.

In the spirit of Matthew 26:40, imagine Jesus saying to you, “What, could you not worship me one hour?” Friends, where would you rather be?

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Born a Christian?

Perhaps there has been no more recognized figure in denominationalism than Billy Graham.  For the past half century, Graham has preached over the radio and television airwaves.  He is famous for his “Crusades” wherein stadiums are rented and filled with people wanting to hear him preach.  Over the past 30+ years he has had access to the highest elected office of our land, the Presidency.  In the book Decision Points, George W. Bush recalls one of Graham’s visits with his family.  George H. W. Bush asked Graham whether or not a “conversion experience” was necessary in order to become a Christian.  Graham’s answer was that some people are just born Christians, no conversion necessary.

The answer flies in the face of what Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:3 “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Jesus explained that he was not talking about physical birth.  This new birth consists of being born out of water and spirit.  Jesus has reference to baptism, what Paul referred to as the “washing of regeneration” (Titus 3:5).  No one can see the kingdom of God without having gone through this process.  Individuals simply are not born Christians, regardless what Billy Graham says.

Jesus also said, “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (John 6:45).  Christianity is a taught, heard, and learned religion.  If someone were simply born a Christian, there would be no need for such a process.  Jesus would have been wrong to say what he said.

Someone might object and say, “Oh, but what about Hebrews 8:11: ‘And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest’?”  This passage is contrasting the situation under the Old Covenant with the New Covenant.  Men were physically born into the Old Covenant as citizens of the nation of Israel.  They had to be taught to “Know the Lord.”  However, those who are born again do not need to be taught to know the Lord, because they have already been taught to know the Lord prior to conversion.  Upon entering the kingdom they already have God’s word in their hearts and minds.

There are no cases in the New Testament where an individual is born a Christian.  You can search until the proverbial cows come home, and you will not find it.  The New Testament teaches that individuals are converted by hearing of God’s word (Romans 10:17), believing it (Hebrews 11:6), and being obedient to it (Hebrews 5:9).  Billy Graham’s message of salvation does not come from the Bible, but from John Calvin’s theology.  Calvin believed that God personally predestined all individuals to either heaven or hell, and that there is nothing anyone can do to change it.  Graham’s answer is consistent with Calvinism, but not with the Bible.  Let’s believe the Bible and relegate Graham’s opinions (along with all human opinion on this subject) to obscurity.

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