Original Sin

Introduction

Secular psychology has debated for years now whether we are who we are because of Nature or Nurture. In 1869, a cousin of Charles Darwin, Sir Francis Galton began to study the influence of heredity or the traits passed down to us from our parents by nature. Most of his study involved analyzing twins and looking for similar inherited character traits. His studies were not truly accurate because he did not conduct blind studies of twins separated at birth, but he concluded that heredity has more influence on our lives that our circumstances. His work would begin what was called eugenics which was used by the Nazis to develop a super human race. It became the basis for Margret Sangers Planned Parenthood as it sought to abort African American babies. In secular hands, concepts like this can tend towards abuses.

Earlier philosophers like Jean-Jacque Rousseau and John Lock believed that we are born a tabula rasa which means a blank slate. Therefore, all of our character traits were trained into us by the influences and circumstances of our lives. We call this nurture. The real answer is that it is both nature and nurture.

Christianity has its own debate about nature vs nurture and has been wrestling with this question for thousands of years longer than secular psychologists. Our passage today is going to look at the entrance of sin into the world but it asks the question:

Are people sinners by nature or are they sinners because they merely do bad things?

Back in the 5th century a British Monk named Pelagius denied the doctrine of original sin. His view was essentially that of Jacque Rousseau that we are born a blank slate with no natural inclinations toward sin. We sin merely because we choose to sin and are influenced to sin. A theological version of a belief in nurture. To Pelagius Adam was simply the first sinner and everyone else just follows his example. His view led to a form of self-salvation because if you were born a blank slate then you could accomplish perfection on your own.

By experience and biblical theology, we know that Pelagius was wrong. Have you ever noticed that babies don’t have to be taught to be selfish or angry? Children don’t have to be taught to lie. We don’t have classes where we say “Jonny, you don’t want to get in trouble for hitting your sister. So here is what you do, when your mommy asks you if you hit her you lie and tell her you didn’t.” There is something within us that inclines us towards sinning.

The Entrance of Sin

Romans 5:12 “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:”

In our postmodern, biblically illiterate culture, I do not want to assume everyone knows and understands the story of man’s fall into sin. So lets go back to Gen 3:1-21 and read the story of mankind’s fall. In the beginning, Adam and Eve were created morally neutral, innocent with no inclination toward or against sin. Satan latches onto that truth when he says then your eyes shall be opened knowing good and evil. God’s original command in

Genesis 2:16–17 “And the Lord God 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.”

Satan temps Eve by appealing to her natural desires which also were neutral at the time. In Genesis 3:6 “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 unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” He appeals to her desires for:

the desire of the flesh- good for food

the desire of her eyes- pleasant to the eyes

the desire to live life to its fullest- desired to make one wise

Eve gives of the fruit to her husband and he chooses to eat as well. The rest of the text looks at the consequences for their sins:

knowledge of evil

shame

blame

warfare between Satan and mankind

pain in childbirth

strained relationships in the home

hard labor

sorrow

death

Paul is referencing this story when he says that by one man, sin entered into the world.

The Inheritance of a Sin nature

Romans 5:12 “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:”

The key phrase in this passage is that death because of Adam’s sin passed upon all men. The phrase literally means pierced through. meaning of the word illustrated with paper men

Going back to Pelagius, the question is do we sin like Adam did or do we suffer because of Adam’s sin? Theologians have coined a term called the federal view of sin to explain the impact of Adam’s sin on our lives. To understand what we mean by this let me give you an illustration:

Imagine for a moment that Donald Trump decided to declare war on Panama. Donald Trump is our federally elected representative in the government. As president, he is what we would call our federal head. Decisions he makes are decisions we as a country make. So if Donald Trump decides to go to war against Panama, America has decided to go to war with Panama. His decision is our decision. As well, the consequences of that decision is felt by all Americans. Some will die in a war, others will struggle to make ends meet because their spouse is overseas. If our country were attacked in retaliation, war would be on our door steps. We all suffer because our federal head made a decision to go to war.

Another illustration. Fathers are biblically the head of the home and they often have to make decisions. Some decisions are not always easy to make. But let’s say a Father decides to take all of their life savings to buy a new car and then next week, he looses his job. He made a decision that affected his entire family. Now they may not how they will buy food for dinner or pay the mortgage. The whole family suffers the consequences because they are part of that family.

Martyn Lloyd Jones comments on this passage

The Message of Romans a. Adam and Christ Are Introduced (12–14)

God has always dealt with mankind through a head and representative. The whole story of the human race can be summed up in terms of what has happened because of Adam, and what has happened and will yet happen because of Christ

Evidence for the Federal view in the passage

Explain these points in more detail.

In vs 17-18, one man’s sin brought death and judgment upon all.

In vs 15-21, the contrast is between being in Adam or being in Christ.

The argument of vs 13-14 is that we know that sin was in the world before the law because death was in the world.

Romans 2:12 “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;” Romans 2:14 “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:” Man has a moral law written on their hearts.

So we as descendents of Adam inherit by nature something from our father Adam.

The Inherited Consequences

So what is it that we inherit from Adam? Our text gives us two answers:

Romans 5:12 “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:”

death- the first consequence of sin mentioned is that we all die. Back in Genesis 3:19 “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” God promised that Adam would eventually physically die. Just one chapter later in Romans, Paul reminds believers that Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Revelations 20:13-15 speaks of another death that all unsaved people will face.

Just like the father who made a decision to buy a car at the wrong time and his kids suffer the consequences. We suffer death. But it doesn’t seem fair does it that we should be judged for the sin of Adam. Really we aren’t because there is something else that we inherit from Adam.

an inclination toward sin- Romans 5:12 “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:” Because Adam sinned in the garden, now we all sin. Every single person on the face of the earth makes a choice to sin at some point. And notice that literal word for. The consequence of Adam’s sin, death, is ours not just because Adam sinned, but because we all sin. Every one of us is born with a sin nature that craves to sin. It stands in rebellion to God and does not seek after God. So we are judged because we all choose sin ourselves as well as the sin that Adam committed as our federal head.

Later in the text, we will see other aspects of the consequences of our sin. So to go back to our first question, are people sinners by nature or are they sinners because they do bad things? Is it nature or nurture? The answer is both. We inherit an inclination toward sin from Adam and because of that we choose to sin in the circumstances of our lives. We sin by nature and face many influences and temptations every day to sin.

Conclusion

This truth is not all just doom and gloom because the other side of the equation is that in Christ we can receive salvation. How can His death so long ago benefit us today? It does so in the same way that Adam’s sin influences us. In Adam we inherit an inclination toward sin and because we sin, we will all be condemned. In Christ, we inherit salvation and eternal life. Christ’s death was on our behalf. He died also as our federal head; so that we can inherit good consequences. This contrast will be expanded on in our next message.

The application this morning is two fold:

for the believer, these are some truths we are to believe because the bible teaches them. By faith, we acknowledge them to be true.

But for the unbeliever, you have a sin nature constantly pulling you in the wrong directions. Have you ever noticed how often you do things you regret later? That sin nature will lead to death physically and spiritually. But you have a free choice to accept or reject, God’s offer of salvation. Today, you can place your faith in Christ and thus escape death and hell that we have all earned. What does Christ’s death 2000 years ago have to do with you today? It offers you a way out. Will you take it today?