Post by b***@juno.comPost by b***@juno.com[Paul argues that just as death spread to us from Adam, so does Jesus'
salvation. That does not require us to be guilty of Adam's specific
sinful action, just that the results spread to all of us and leave us
in a situation where we require God's grace.
But if a baby is not guilty of inherited sin, it has no sin at all,
and thus would not need to be saved by Christ. Sin means you are
guilty of something. Babies are guilty of Adam's sin, and later in
their life they add their own sins to the pile.
An infant is guilty of Adam's sin. Original sin has been imputed down
into Adam's posterity. This is all true but why has no one here
provided the Scriptural evidence for it? The case to be made
supporting this fact is an easy one for the scriptures provide verse
after verse alluding to it. My aim here is to provide an introduction
to the evidence. Those who wish to argue contrary to the fact must
argue against the Scriptures themselves, not what I am about to write
concerning them....
Gen. 5:3 When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became
the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and
named him Seth.
Might as well start at the beginning, ehy? Here we are given a
distinguishing factor. Adam's posterity is not after the image of
God, but after the image of Adam. Adam now
has fallen. When the fountain has become polluted, all that streams
forth from that fountain will also be polluted. "A bad tree cannot
bring forth good fruit, can it?" The placement of Gen 5:3 is very
important for it follows Genesis 4. It is not until after the lengthy
obituary list, revealing that sin has spread to the race because Adam
can only begat mortals. Adam not only inaugurated the process of
physical death, but spiritual death as well and he only
is able to propagate that which is "after his kind" (Gen 1:21, 24,
25). Those who come after Adam have inherited his fallen nature which
incorporates within it corruption and death (1 Cor 15:49-50; cp v.
22).
It is interesting to note that almost all translation incorrectly
interpret Ps 14 (which, BTW, is the only Ps repeated nearly verbatim
in Ps 53).
NASB: Ps. 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They
are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who
does good.
KJV: Psa. 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They
are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth
good.
KJV: Psa. 53:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none
that doeth good.
ASV: Psa. 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They
are corrupt, they have done abominable works; There is none that doeth
good.
But this is not what the Hebrew text actually presents. The Hebrew
literally reads:
"The Fool, in his heart, said, 'No God.'" The point isn't atheism.
The point is a resolve not to align ones self with God. It is a
declaration of non-allegiance to the Creator. But this is not the
point of our discussion. The point is the radical change in number.
Note that "The Fool" is singular. It is a reference directly to
Adam. Immediately following, the number becomes plural, "they," i.e.
Adam's posterity. It is a corporate event.
In both the Psalms and Proverbs, the "fool" is not one who is lacking
in intellectual understanding. It is not intellectual unbelief that
marks the "fool," it is the enmity of one who has rebelled against the
Sovereign Omnipotent of creation. "They" which are described in the
remainder of both Ps 14 and Ps 53 are the children of Adam. ALL have
become rebels. All are, by scriptures declaration, "fools." Paul
exhibits this in Rom 3 where he combines several OT text to read:
Rom. 3:11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for
God;
Rom. 3:12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good, There is not even one. "
Rom. 3:13 " Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they
keep deceiving," " The poison of asps is under their lips";
It is interesting that Paul notes the "poison of asps." As most know,
a new born asp is born with poison already available to it. It does
not need for poison to first develop within its body nor run down to
the store to purchase poison, it inherits it from its parent.
Likewise the children of men. They inherit the corruption of Adam.
One of the most referenced verses in this connection (and not
incorrectly I might add), is:
Ps. 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my
mother conceived me.
But this verse hardly stands alone in its testimony.
Gen. 8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said
to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man,
for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never
again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
Job 14:1 "Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of
turmoil.
Job 14:4 "Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one!
Job 17:14 If I call to the pit, 'You are my father'; To the worm, 'my
mother and my sister';
This is an interesting verse because the "worm" is in the Hebrew
actually a grub which is bred in and lives upon putrefaction.
Existence commences in an impure state. It is now the nature of all
men born of Adam. Only the earthy, the sensual, the devilish
propensity now
is inclined in men. Why else did the Messiah have to born of a
"virgin?" Luke 1:35 declares that it would be born only of the woman
so that it might then be "that holy thing." It the Messiah had come
forth from man's productivity, it too would have inherited the
corruption, both physical and spiritual.
Prov. 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod
of discipline will remove it far from him.
Prov. 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, But a child who gets his
own way brings shame to his mother.
Again, "foolishness" is not an intellectual failure, it is a positive
principle of evil. It does not indicate idiocy but innate sinful
rebelliousness.
Lam. 3:27 It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his
youth.
The discipline of the parent is the order of God's government.
Corporately that discipline comes from local, state and federal
governments. But it all starts in the home. Correction is required
because the nature of the child is naturally rebellious.
Is. 48:8 ".....and you have been called a rebel from womb."
By nature, ever son and daughter of Adam is a "child of
disobedience" (Eph 2:2). It is an internal disposition which leads to
external acts. It is the inclination of man that is now ruined and
unless one is "born again", i.e. "born from above", the sad fact of
reality is that none can "see the kingdom of God." This is Paul's
scope in the Rom 3 passage quoted above. This is why he terms the
corruption of the nature of man as the "old man." This nature is
coeval with our beings. Our very "hearts" are "deceitful above all
things" and that from the first moment of existence.
Total depravity is the doctrinal distinction. Scripture almost
assumes it to the degree that it assume the existence of God Himself.
Those who argue against it do so from the "vain imaginations" of their
own mines for Scriptures have declared the fact from the beginning.