The Doctrine of Original Sin (Part 3)

The Doctrine of Original Sin (Part 3)

The Biblical Perspective of Original Sin     

The Biblical perspective of Original Sin can be seen throughout the Bible. The truth that Adam’s fall caused devastating consequences for himself and his descendants is taught in both the Old and New Testaments. David said, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5).[1] David is not suggesting that the sexual relationship between his mother and father wherein which he was conceived was a sinful act. Moreover, the Apostle Paul's understanding of Original Sin can be seen in Romans 5:12-21. 

 "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord". [2]

When the Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man...”, he meant that sin began with the first man Adam and that Adam was the cause of all men becoming sinners. The Apostle Paul again wrote, "For as in Adam all die…” (1 Corinthians 15:22). The essence of what David is saying in Psalm 51 is the same thing that Paul is saying in Romans 5:12, specifically that the natural depravity of the parents is spread to or inherited by their offspring. The connection between parents and offspring is both natural and spiritual from the time of conception. “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies” (Psalm 58:3).[3] David and Paul were both inspired by the Holy Spirit, as was Moses, and are in agreement that sin entered the world (the human race) through the first man Adam. It entered through his disobedience and thereby passed to all men. Arthur Pink put it well, Death, penal death, has been passed on all men because all sinned in Adam. That "all have sinned" cannot signify as men's own personal transgressions is clear because the manifest design of Romans 5:12 is to show that Adam's sin is the cause of death; because physical death (apart of the sin's wages) is far more extensive than personal transgression-as appears from so many dying in infancy.[4]

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK…

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[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ps 51:5. [2]The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ro 5:12–21. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Ps 58:3. [4] Pink, A. W.; Gleanings From the Scriptures, Man's Total Depravity; c. 1969 by (The Moody Bible Institute; 8th printing 1978), p 49.