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God
created man in His image and that image, of course, is
holy. However, since God created man as intelligent being
with freedom of choice, it was necessary that he be
situated as to give opportunity for the exercise of this
freedom; for it would be impossible to voluntary act right
without the possibility to voluntarily act wrong.
Disobedience
to God's commands is sin. For now we want to learn of its
beginning and the problem it causes. In Gen 2:16-47 we
read--And the Lord commanded the man, saying, of every
tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die. Then in the third chapter we learn that the
serpent being more subtil than any beast of the field,
denied God's statement and tempted Eve. Gen 3:4-5--And the
serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; For
God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing
good and evil. Then in that tragic verse six, we learn the
sad story. And when the woman 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 took of the fruit
thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with
her; and he did eat. This act produced spiritual death or
separation from God.
THE
EFFECTS OF SIN
Beside
separating Adam and Eve from God the scriptures teach us
also that this one act of disobedience engulfed or plunged
the whole human race into sin. Rom 5:12 says==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.
ALL
MANKIND AFTER ADAM BORN WITH DEPRAVED NATURE
We
learn in Gen 5:3--And Adam lived an hundred and thirty
years and begat a son in his own likeness, after his
image, therefore all of Adam's sons, as well as all man
since have been born with this fallen Adam image or
depraved nature. Now, even we are not personally
responsible for this inherited nature, we are responsible
for our individual acts; therefore guilt comes from sinful
acts we have done and not from Adam. We are not
accountable for his sin nor do we inherit any guilt from
his sin; and rightly so. However, because of his fall we
were all born with this depraved nature. That all men are
naturally depraved is the clear teaching of the scripture.
Gen 6:5 says--And God saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of man's
heart is evil from his youth....David said in Psa
51:5--Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my
mother conceived me. In the New Testament Paul tells us in
Eph 2:3--Among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature
the children of wrath even as others. So we see by the
scripture that this Adamic nature, or bent toward evil we
would call it, that we all inherited; accounts for the
universality of sin. Gal 3:22 says--But the scripture hath
concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of
Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
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