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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
The Bible says, "Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12). It was through Adam that sin entered the wor...
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Bob Rutz
You will absolutely never, ever, face the consequences of Adams' sin! Ezekiel Chapter 18 consists of seven illustrations of the fact that you will die for your OWN sins, not your own father's sins, much less Adam's sin! Ezekiel 18 is the most extensive exposition in the Bible of the LAW OF SIN AND DEATH, which is, The Soul that sins shall die. Soul in Hebrew is nephesh, which means a living, breathing creature. When a living, breathing man dies, you have a corpse. But God tells us in Romans 8:2 that the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set me FREE from THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH! Jesus is greater than Adam! Adam did NOT get us in so deep as to nullify the Great Price Jesus paid for My sin. Over 30 years, the Lord has been building me up in believing Hebrews 2:14-15, I John 3:8, Revelation 1:18 and 3:7, II Timothy 1:10, John 11:26, and all the other Scriptures teaching that Jesus Christ has paid full price for my sins. For a couple thousand years, good Christians have been dying from the same diseases as everybody else, but His Word in Romans 8:2 says we don't have to. Instead of looking at the corpse of a Christian and re-interpreting the above Scriptures to accommodate his death, where are the believers who have the guts to lay the Scriptures alongside the corpse and turn the funeral into a joyous resurrection party! If, per Hebrews 2:14-15 Jesus has removed Satan's power to kill me (but if he slips up and you see the chance for a martyr's crown, grab it!), and if the Author of Life in Revelation 1:18 and 3:7 is the same Jesus Christ yesterday, today, and forever who never turned down a request for healing or resurrection in the four Gospels, you will never catch me telling Him "Thank you very much, Jesus, for dying for me to give me eternal life. I appreciate all that, but in spite of all these Scriptures, I choose to die this physical death because I don't believe you really got your job done. I'm going to go right ahead and die because I have to pay for my own sins." The only reason you are going to die for your own sins is if you don't have a Savior Who died for you! I'm 82. Anyone care to join me hanging around until the Lord comes to get us, even if it takes another ten or twenty years?
Shantkumar S. Kunjam
Romans 5:12 says, "..., because all sinned." This is true for two reasons. 1. We were all there when Adam sinned. In Hebrews 7:9-10 we find that Levi paid tithes in Abraham because he was present in Abraham. So all humanity was present in Adam when Adam sinned. 2. When we were born we were not freshly created. We came out of our parents inheriting all their assets and liabilities, including the sinfulness and the curses of sins. In Genesis 5:1 & 2 we read that Adam was created in the likeness of God, but in v. 3 it says that Seth was born in the likeness and image of Adam. But the message of the Bible seams to be that out of this old humanity of Adam's descent, God is creating a new humanity in Jesus Christ. Without trespassing human freedom and without the human knowledge God has selected and calling the chosen ones to be the part of this new humanity, rest are discarded like old garments. Of course, majority of us will question God for this seemingly unjustified God's decision. But our questioning is not justified. Because those who were not selected by God have willingly rejected God's offer of salvation in Jesus Christ but those receiving salvation know that it is God's grace that they are saved. The children born of unredeemed parents are born condemned until they are born again in Jesus Christ. And the children born to redeemed parents are covered by God's grace active in parents until they reach the age of decision making. 1 Corinthians 7:14. So friends, those who are condemned are not condemned because of Adam's sin, but because all have sinned and are sinning in Adam, because, as it can be deduced from Hebrews 7:9-10, Adam is still living in them who have not died in Jesus Christ. So the ground of condemnation will be who is living in any person, Adam or Jesus?
Nils Jansma
Why do I face the consequences of Adam's sin when I did not eat the fruit? Without going into a lot of details, the reason why is because we inherited our sin nature through genetics. Apparently, Adam and Eve’s (A & E) genetics changed along with their eyes being opened. (Genesis 3:7) It’s my opinion that eating of the forbidden fruit provided A & E with sinful selfish survival instincts that would be needed for their continued existence outside of God’s care and supervision. This situation caused everyone to inherit a genetic sin-nature and thereby live a life of sin even though they did not sin like A&E. However, God made a gracious provision for their redemption through Jesus. (Romans 5:14) God did not have to do this. He could have just followed through with the original consequence of A&E’s sin of disobedience and executed them just as He executed many of their descendants with Noah’s Flood. If He did that, none of us would be here to complain about the “consequences of Adam’s sin.” So, in the world that followed A & E’s sin, we should thank God that we are as we are in order to deal with the evil that has resulted and not be entirely victimized by it. In other words, even if we had not inherited a sin nature we would still be forced to sin on our own because of having to deal with the Devil alone. It is very likely that Satan would deceive others into a life of sin which would adversely affect all those living at that time. In this way, the pressures of survival would have forced others into a life of sin in self-defense or die. However, under that arrangement, every one’s sin would be their own and not because of an inherited sin nature. The consequence for them would be death forever just as it was for A&E. There would be no basis for a resurrection and no hope of ever living again. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22) It is because we inherited a sin-nature from Adam, that Jesus can become a second Adam and recover that which was lost by a single act of righteousness. (Romans 5:18) For that reason and many others, I thank God that I can blame my sin-nature on A&E which Christ took upon himself on the cross. So, in the end, the arrangement God has provided allows us to escape the consequences of Adam’s sin as well as our own and provides us the hope of everlasting life. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57)
Jesse Brawner
In Genesis 3:22-24 God removed Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden away from The Tree of Life. They began to die physically and since no one can eat of The Tree of Life any longer, we die physically. But our own sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2) spiritually. Ezekiel chapter 18 tells us that "the person who sins will die; the son shall not inherit the father's sin nor the father bear the son's sin. In Matthew 18:1-7 Jesus says for us to enter The Kingdom of Heaven we must become like little children. Babies are not born with sin and when they die they go to Heaven. For a person to be saved they must believe (John 3:16), must confess Jesus before men (Luke 8 & 9), repent (Luke 13:3) and be baptized (Mark 16:16). Babies can not obey Jesus until they grow up and understand what Jesus says to do to be saved, after they commit sin.
Myron Robertson
At least one previous answer pointed to Rom 5:12 to prove that you are not suffering the consequences of Adam's sin where that verse, if properly translated proves that you are suffering the consequences of Adam's sin. In that verse the Greek words "eph ho," which are properly translated as "on which," is translated in every English translation as "because" making the verse say, "You are mortal because you sin," instead of, "You are mortal causing you to sin." In my opinion it is clear that because we are mortal FROM CONCEPTION we are suffering the consequences of Adam's sin. We don't need Paul's words here or in the discourse in 1 Cor 15 which make this point absolutely clear. Other answers pointed to Ezekiel 18 which states multiple times that no one is ever punished for his father or son's sins. How do we reconcile this obvious contradiction? You can't unless you study much deeper into the matter than just a few texts, and we do not have space here to resolve the matter, but we can get a beginning. We will first look at the law of redemption because it is here that we will find the most important clues. This law is scattered throughout scripture but the most complete statement of the law in one place is Lev 25, but is not very helpful yet because it deals with this from a civil standpoint, not criminal. Ex 22:3 tells us that anyone stealing anything must make restitution. By sinning in any way we steal something from God, at the very least the total devotion that he demands of us, so restitution is necessary. If they do not possess property (or if the property is not enough to pay the full restitution) they must be sold into bond-servitude (different from slavery) until the full restitution is paid. Ex 21:3, 4 tell us that if he has a wife and/or minor children they will go into bondage with him. Thus, when Adam sinned he was sold to the earth (Gen 3:17 where the phrase "Cursed is the ground for your sake," is redemption terminology -- the redeemer takes on the curse of your sin "for your sake.") So Adam went into bondage and all his children born after him face that same penalty until such time as the restitution is paid in full or until the year of Jubilee, whichever comes first.) Now, all of these things are shadows of some greater reality (Col 2:17). We do not know how or when the Jubilee will be declared; many think it will be the second coming, but if you study Biblical Jubilee and the doctrine of the second coming, at best this will declare a "Sabbath Year; there is still payment to come after starting with the Great White Throne judgment immediately upon the end of that Sabbath millennium. Christians will claim this as a Jubillee only for themselves, but that is a major violation of Jubilee law. This law says that when Adam goes out in a Jubilee ALL of his children go out with him because he already had his wife when he went into bondage. Or we could change perspective. Adam was already God's son and heir when he was given his wife (Lk 3:38.) Therefore, when Adam comes out of his bondage he is restored to his Father's estate with ALL of the children he had during his bondage (1 Cor 15:22) which says, "For as in Adam ALL die, so in Christ ALL will be made alive." It is the same ALL in both cases or the scriptures have just lied. The matter is not simple, and a simplistic approach to Bible study that ignores or severely limits any text which does not support our beliefs or understanding simply cannot be tolerated. Only doctrines which agree with EVERY word that proceeds from the mouth of God are true and can remain.
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