The Heart of Sin

The question has been asked where did sin originate from. Can we blame it all on Satan or Adam? We need to know what it consists of and how is it spread and how did we come to emulate it in our own lives.

Some see sin as a contagion, as a disease that is spread from father to son or daughter. Is this Scriptural and according to truth? Be careful not to establish your answers on the philosophical notions of theologians, passed down in the form of dogmatism, but rather seek for Scriptural definitions or verses that would enlighten the reader as to it's makeup to back up your arguments.

If you take the position that sin is a contagion like a disease, can you find Scriptural support for how it is passed on and to what it effects? Is it passed on via the spirit of man or is via the flesh of man and or both? Again, try your best to establish your ideas based upon the Word of God.

 

HP: That sure enough sounds spiritual, but is it Biblical?

 

RevM: Ro 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:

HP: That indeed is biblical, and death is indeed is said to be the last enemy, but is death sin?

 

RevM: I dont have a clue how you arrived at that question.

HP: It is getting very late. Sometimes things come clearer after a good nights rest. How about we continue this tomorrow afternoon?

 

HP: Rev Mitchell, and possibly others may not understand why I reacted to his response in the way I did. The reason why is because Rev. Mitchell posted a verse that does not indicate in the least that ‘sin’ is passed on to us via Adam as DMH alluded to, but rather states clearly that it is ‘death’ not ‘sin’, that has come upon all men due to Adam’s sin. Why?, because “all have sinned. ”

I trust it is evident why I would ask Rev. Mitchell if “death is sin.” He is using a verse that sys nothing about the transmission of sin, but rather indicates death is that which is passed on, and the reason why death is passed on is because ‘all have sinned’ not because Adam sinned. Surely Adam sinning greatly increased the influence to sin, and by his example influences his posterity to sin, but no man can pass his personal sin and resulting guilt on to anyone else directly, for sin is the judgment of God upon an individuals actions, and every man is responsible to God for his own actions, not that of another.

Eze 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

 

HP: I believe I understand you, but I see what you deem as a weakness as an absolute necessary element of our moral nature instilled within us by God. I would see us as being created as perfect moral beings, ‘good’ as God stated, in light this possibility of succumbing to temptation. Without this possibility, all morality would be excluded.

 

Can one sin without freedom to do something other than what he does under the very same set of circumstances?

 

HP: Now, IF predestination means that God is 'the cause,' could God predestine the good without predestining the evil, again with predestination as being synonymous with being the cause?

I am asking this to see if in fact we must be thinking about predestination in a wrong manner.

 

HP: Sure He could have, He made rocks didn’t He? Not a bad rock in the bunch.

Seriously, the question is not what He could have done, but rather the question must be asked in light of punishments and rewards. Could God be just by punishing man for a fate not of his own making and in fact predestined by God?

Here again, the problem I am bringing up only is a problem when we understand predestination with God as predetermining the outcome as the Cause of it. If we simply look at predestination, as God foreknowing matters of perfect choice and planning accordingly without determining the outcome of those free choices of man, no such problem exists.

 

HP: Amen Brother. If we as a Church could just keep our requirements and statements to simple and straightforward ones like this, and leave out the dogmas that confuse such simple statements of truth, we might possibly be off to the start of another revival of religion. The wafaring man, though a fool, could understand your post with clarity. No double talk there. Lead on Brother Bob!