In my last post, I discussed the sin of Adam and Even in the garden and how that has affected us. We call this concept, "Federal Headship". Whether we like it or not, Adam represented all of mankind in the garden and the sin that was committed has now been spread to all mankind. Not only has sin spread to all of us, but so has the consequence of sin before a Holy and Just God. Paul discusses this representation of Adam on behalf of all men in Romans 5. That consequence is death. God is Holy and Just and Righteous and the punishment for sin is death (Romans 3:23, Genesis 2:17). That may sound harsh to our minds and emotions, but keep in mind we are human and creatures of an infinite Creator. His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are far better than ours. He makes the rules and His rules are ALWAYS right....So, if death is the punishment for sin, then it must be a just and fair punishment. When the bible mentions death, it not only mentions a physical death, but also a spiritual death. We see over and over in the Bible that people are blind, spiritually dead, have hardened hearts, wicked thoughts, etc. Just as David says in Psalm 51, we are all born in sin and iniquity because of what took place in the garden. This is called, "Original Sin". In fact, sin is so prevalent in us it infects our thoughts, emotions, words, actions, and ultimately our heart. Think about it for a moment....How long can you go without sinning? If you really think hard about it, you can't go very long! Even when you try not to sin! That struggle is discussed in Romans 7. We are wretched sinners who continually rebel agains the Creator who made us! Sin is so deep in us it has made us fully incapable of doing anything truly good. In theology, this is called "Total Depravity". We are utterly incapable of saving ourselves from our sin. The Bible states that we are "dead in our sins and trespasses" (Ephesians 2) and we need a "new heart", because our old heart is "stone", which is dead (Ezekiel 36)! We are also told that our natural man, which is who we were before salvation, is hostile towards God, and we do not even seek him (Romans 3)! Those are tough words, but they are true words. The reality is we are Sinners, totally incapable of saving ourselves due to are horrible state, which has been ruined by sin and its effects. As Jesus stated, we need a new birth, so we can seek God. Next post we will discuss the idea of being born again, which in theological terms is called, Regeneration! Read up on the passages below
Read: Genesis 3 Romans 3 Romans 5 Ephesians 2
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AuthorJoe Burrows Archives
May 2017
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