Doctrine of Sin

HUMANITY’S TRAGIC SIN AND FALL

A. The temptation that led to the FALL

According to Genesis 3:1 Satan, working through the serpent, enticed Eve to disobey God and partake of the forbidden fruit.

Genesis 3:1 NKJV

1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

Stedman investigated the Tempter of the garden, Satan. He pointed out that Satan is

crafty, an angel of light, and that he is the ruler of this world. Yet he is limited, due to the limited tactics that he employs.

Genesis 3:4–5 NKJV

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The book of James contains THE TACTICS THAT SATAN EMPLOYED

James 1:14 NKJV

14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

First, he aroused desire by asking Eve a loaded question. Then he planted a “seed of doubt”, causing her to question God’s goodness. Then he denied the truth that God had declared and lastly, he distorted the truth. Satan told Eve that her eyes would become open and she would be like God, but he did not tell her that only God in His complete holiness is able to relate all things to Himself.

James 1:15 NKJV

15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Genesis 3:6 NKJV

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Secondly, the mind brings logic to the situation. She rationalizes the facts. Yet evil desire tainted the facts, which led to the mind and the emotions come together to move the will, and it brought forth sin.

James 1:15 NKJV

15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Lastly, the third step according to James. Sin brings forth death. The death that came to the first family was more than the ending of life. It brought a vivid feeling of awareness. This awareness brought forth shame, guilt, fear, blame shifting, defensiveness, and loss of freedom.

B. The trial and sentence that followed the fall

Adam the sinner, after a brief and futile attempt to hide, now confesses to his crime. At this point the Righteous Judge sets up His court there in Eden and the trial begins.

A threefold sentence is soon passed down:

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. (Genesis 3:14)

1. Upon the serpent

Genesis 3:14 NKJV

14 So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.

Isaiah indicates that this judgment will continue to be binding upon the serpent even during the Millennium:

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

(Isaiah 65:25)

2. Upon Satan

Genesis 3:15 NKJV

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

At first glance this verse would merely seem to predict the natural hatred of man for snakes.

But for centuries devout Bible students have seen a far more precious and profound truth underlying these words. For in this verse they claim to see no less than a thrilling prediction of the cross and the resurrection, of the Savior's great victory over Satan.

Theologically, then, verse 15 may be translated as follows: And there will be an intense hatred between Satan and Christ. Eventually Christ shall crush the head of Satan, while suffering a heel wound in the process.

Romans 16:20 NKJV

20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Isaiah 53:5 NKJV

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

3. Upon Adam and Eve

Adam and Eve would experience a sevenfold sentence because of their sin.

a. Shame

Genesis 3:7 NKJV

7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

b. Fear

Genesis 3:8–10 NKJV

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

c. Discord

Genesis 3:12–13 NKJV

12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 13 And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

The love for God (the love in their heart is misdirected toward self)

d. Death

Physical Death

Genesis 5:5 NKJV

5 So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.

Psalm 90:10 NKJV

10 The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Spiritual Death

John 6:53 NKJV

53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

Romans 6:23 NKJV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2:1–3 NKJV

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

e. Suffering

Genesis 3:16 NKJV

16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”

f. Weariness in Labor

Genesis 3:17–19 NKJV

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”

g. Separation

Genesis 3:22–24 NKJV

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

1 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV

14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Blindness (Eph. 4.17-19

Ephesians 4:17–19 NKJV

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Darkness

Foolishness (Proverbs)

The Will

Rebellion

• When you put restraints on a sinful man, he becomes more rebellious

Perverseness

(Romans 1) – sin twists the will. When you give yourself to sin and willfully chooses, at what point can he stop choosing to sin? He cannot, because his will is twisted.

Spirit of disobedience – a reflection of the will itself

The Affections/Emotions

Hardens the heart

Moral insensibility (Ps. 51)

Summary of the Biblical Doctrine of Sin

1. Sin is a specific kind of evil – moral evil. It is a transgression of God’s law, and therefore you are guilty before God.

2. Sin has an absolute character.

3. Sin always has relation to God and His will.

4. Sin includes both guilt (including both liability and responsibility) and pollution.

5. Sin has its seat in the heart.

6. Sin does not consist exclusively in overt acts. Sin is as much a condition of the heart as an action of the will.

Doctrine of Inability

(Included in depravity)

Fallen man in that natural state of depravity does not have the capacity to change that condition or to do anything spiritually good.

3 Basic Views

Pelagianism – (Natural Ability)

Pelagian called on people to change their lifestyle. His conviction was that man has the will to change, because deep within the heart there is the will to do good. Pelagian holds to natural ability. Any sinner has the capacity within themselves to choose not to sin anymore. Also, there is no relationship between Adam and the rest of the human race. Adam’s sin didn’t condemn anyone else.

Semi-Pelagianism – (Partial Ability)

Catholic view. The Fall of Adam was the fall of the whole human race, but not all of you (as in, all of who you are) fell. The will was not affected by the fall and by sin. Man takes the first step, and then God’s grace meets you.

Augustinianism – (Inability)

Augustine recognized the heresy in Pelagian’s view and responded. His view is that man is unable to choose his condition or to alter his will. Augustine held to the natural transmission of sin through childbirth.