The Legacy of Adam

 

I read recently where it was said, "There is not one of us who have not received something they did not want and wish they could send it back. (Chickenpox, mumps, wrinkles, hair lost, audits for the internal revenue services and worst of all the legacy of Adam.)."

The whole writing appeared to try and prove the non-Scriptural term for "sinful nature." That is, we should believe there is such an entity that exists simply because no one has to teach a toddler to sin, that it's something that is "innate" in all of us. And since we have this visible proof that even toddlers sin, it had to be something inherited from Adam.

Never in my life have I ever approached God and ask, "Why did you give me a sinful nature? Why did you make me this way? Will you please take it back?"

I would like to make it clear that I respect this gentleman very much. I hold no animosity, bitterness, or malice towards this person. I would not go so far as to cut off a relationship with any person, or shut them out of my life, even with the press of the "Delete" key simply because there is disagreement. I am thankful for my immediate family, those brothers and sisters here in my own home church, my pastor, and email friends who can sincerely discuss and do further study as we try to seek God's truth.

Some of us may hold to a certain theology and then find out, with a little more Bible study, that we must change our minds simply because of a truth God has revealed in His word with further insight. All of us have held positions and historic positions where we have had to change our mind in one area or another after further study in the Bible. I believe that the area I have been studying for the past few weeks is one of those occasions where I find it hard to hold to the historic position that is commonly taught in most denominations today, including Baptists. My duty is not to hold to certain theologies simply because I belong to a certain denomination (which happens to be Baptist). There are even Baptist doctrines (teachings) such as Briderism that I do not adhere to. All of us, no matter what denomination we belong to, should not hold to doctrines simply because it is the teaching of that denomination or a particular well-known author, but to study God's word so that we, as individuals, can rightly divide the word. God knows the intentions of my heart, and I have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling in me just as the next born again believer. If a person can say, "Thanks, but No Thanks," I should be afforded the same opportunity, and be able to explain why. It's not to try and prove who is right or who is wrong, but let the Scriptures speak for itself.

So it began that there is not one of us who have not received something they did not want and wish they could send it back, and the biggest one was the legacy of Adam.

There is one thing that we can blame Adam for that is passed upon all men and sure to happen to anyone born, that is physical death. The Bible doesn't tell us it was a "spiritual death" passed upon all men, nor a "sinful nature" that passed upon all men. One will not find it there as long as he owns a Bible. What was passed upon all men is physical death. The Scriptures are very clear about this. "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 (Rom. 5:12)."

When Adam sinned, God had to have Adam and Eve leave the garden so they could no longer eat from the tree of life. Ah! You say he didn't? Where did we get the notion that Adam did not eat from the tree of life? Just because God didn't give Adam and Eve access to it after they sinned, does not mean that they did not partake of it before they disobeyed. The implication that he ate it is more supportive by Scripture than someone simply saying he did not eat of it at all. When God tells you you can eat something, you will eat it. Not just eat, but "freely eat." "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat." (Gen. 2:16). That included the tree of life. Adam needed food to sustain his body (other scriptures in NT to further support this position), and there's just something about that "tree of life" that helped him along, but this is another whole subject at another time.

So what happened when Adam sinned? When Adam sinned, he was kicked out of the garden, out of God's presence and fellowship. It is through Adam death entered the world. ".....as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.." and the Bible says this "death passed upon all men,..." The Webster dictionary defines "pass" as to move, in almost any manner, to go, to proceed from one place to another. Passed is a process of passing. The word passed is like one who travels though town. Physical death will pass upon every human being alive. Adam's one act of disobedience introduced death, but each individual died in his own time as death passed his way. The human race was without death until the first member, Adam, disobeyed God. That disobedience resulted in the curse of death on Adam and all his descendents and why death came into our world and why it reigns. The Bible is clear that the penalty for Adam's sin is physical death. God told Adam that "in the day ye eat thereof ye shall surely die (Gen. 2:1)." The death that Adam was threatened was the death that passed on all men. In fact, the entire human race became subject to death that day, though none, not even Adam, immediately expired.

As one author states, "Adam's death was physical as seen by the fact that the Bible repeatedly represents the cure for Adam's death as yet future for all believers. "For since by man came death by, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all died, even so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15:21-22)." It is a physical death that anticipates a future resurrection. If the death incurred in Adam was something spiritual, then those now in Christ would already be delivered from it. But the Scripture is emphatic; the cure for our corporate death in Adam is yet future. The new birth is not the cure, the new body is."

But what about those who teach that all are born with a dead spirit and how we have inherited a sinful nature?

First, the Bible doesn't say anywhere that a person is born with a dead spirit. A lot of people will misquote Eph. 2:1 by saying, "Everyone is born dead in trespasses and sins." That's not what the Bible says. They have added their own word (born) to support a doctrine the Bible does not teach.

The context of Romans 5:12 is referring to Adam. Does the passage say this death Adam experienced was a spiritual death and therefore it is only spiritual death that is passed upon all men? Did God tell Adam that the day he ate of the tree he would be spiritually dead? Some want to say so, but Scriptures don't support that position. Since we know this verse is speaking of a physical death, and we know Adam physically died, then it can mean nothing more than a physical death. God never threatened Adam with spiritual death, that he would be dead in his spirit, and that spiritual death is the death that passed upon all his descendants. If one would insist it is, then Adam experienced two deaths and that's not what the Bible says. It is physical death that passed upon ALL men, the ALL includes Adam by the fact that he too died physically.

If we were to get to the nitty gritty, you would have to agree that "spiritual death" is no where found in the Bible. It's a non-entity, it does not exist. There are scores of Scriptures that speak of the human spirit in the unsaved as alive, functioning, and operative. In the Bible one can read where a person's spirit can be troubled (Gen. 41:8). Can a dead spirit be troubled? I read where a man's spirit can be hardened by God (Deut. 2:30). Can a hardened spirit be dead? A man's spirit can be sorrowful (1 Sam. 1:15). Can a dead spirit be sorrowful? A man's spirit can rejoice (Luke 1:47). Even Christ Himself said, "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." How can something be willing if it is dead or inoperative? If a man's spirit can be willing, and remember Christ said it is, why do we want to teach the exact opposite just to prove someone's idea and then pull about three or four verses out of context just to try and prove that concept? There is no such thing as a dead spirit.

Now some may argue that what they really mean by a dead spirit is that they are separated from God. Well? Why single out the spirit? Is the spirit more separated from God than the body? Is the spirit more separated from God than the soul, in the mind, will, and in the emotions? Why did someone feel it necessary to single out the human spirit? When it comes right down to it, every aspect of our being is separated from God. There would be no point in singling out the spirit and say the spirit is dead but my body is alive. Every part of our being is separated from God as the result of Adam's sin, and no where does the Bible speak of a dead spirit, or a spirit that is spiritually dead. Not one passage and not even one implication of such.

Now not only is it taught that all the unsaved have a dead spirit, but they have inherited a so-called sinful nature from Adam, and to prove this, all we have to do is just observe children. Since a child does not need to learn to be selfish or rude, the only explanation is the sinful nature syndrome since it is something innate in them to act selfishly.

So what about the toddlers? I would agree that no one has to teach a toddler to be selfish or show rude or violent behaviour. So does a toddler sin because he has a sinful nature handed down from Adam? I would have to disagree only because, again, Scripture does not support such a concept.

"Then how does one explain the sinful actions of a toddler?" It is clear that every baby brought into this world is born separated from God. We are all born separated from God. The baby is without the presence of God, without the spirit of God, without the divine life of God inside of his body. When the baby comes into the world it is disadvantaged in that he does not have the resources of the spirit that comes from God to overcome these bodily drives. That's why a toddler sins. The baby is born separated from God and eventually ends up in the lake of fire as an adult because at some point in his life he will come to know and understand the difference, not between right and wrong, but between good and evil (Deut. 1:39); until then sin is not imputed to him (Rom. 5:13; Rom. 4:15)), and he is not dead in his own personal trespasses and sins (plural) until he comes to that understanding, then he's had it.

So the question might be, "What about Adam? Adam had the presence of God but yet he still sinned." This just proves that one does not have to have a sinful nature in order to sin. Sin is done by choice, it is a willful act, even by those with the presence of the Holy Spirit living within the body.

So what is the legacy of Adam? He allowed the first human sin in the world. When Adam sinned he alone was to blame for his own sin, because he consciously acted. The moment he sinned, he took the whole entire human race with him. At that moment he was the entire race. He didn't take the entire race immediately into sin, but into separation from God. When Adam sinned God forsook Adam and all that pertained to him, which included his future descendants. When Adam was driven out of the garden, so were his children. All his descendants are born outside the garden, beyond the presence of God, which Adam had previously enjoyed there. The consequence on Adam and his posterity was not a fault in nature; it was a fault in relationship. All who are born are born separated from God, without the Holy Spirit. Babies are born into separation from God, with the penalty of death. And because of this separation, there are manifold influences to evil. In addition to this, the fall was a fall into Satan's kingdom where he exercises great control and influence over those in his kingdom of darkness.

If one is well versed in Scripture, he would have to admit that there is more Scriptural support for this view. There is no reason to go beyond Scripture where it necessitate creating missing links to defend a nonsense doctrine, that man has mysteriously inherited sin, and born with a dead spirit, a teaching originating with Origen, and Augustine, followed by Calvin. The plain sense of Scripture is profoundly simple and straightforward with no deep, unfathomable mysteries.

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