In this first Sunday of Lent, I want to look at what Original Sin is and how it differs from actual sin. To start, we have to look at Free Will, so let's start in Genesis:
1. God created man in his own image (1:26-27).
2. God created man very good (1:31).
3. God endued man with free will, the ability choose life or death (2:16-17).
4. Adam (man) chose death (3).
5. All of Adam's descendants are created in Adam's image (5:3).
6. This spiritual death is ingrained in the nature of all Adam's descendants (5:3).
So, there's this spiritual death, along with physical death, that is genetically passed down to all mankind. This death is also filled with selfish desire and sin: emnity against God and self-worship. Here is what Christ has to say about this original sin in the Gospel of Matthew:
1. Sins do not come from outside the body and then contaminate the spirit (15:11).
2. Sins come from the dead soul we are born with and come out of us (15:11).
3. In the heart is emnity against God. This is original sin from out of a dead soul (15:18).
4. From this emnity comes actual sins, such as evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders (15:19).
Paul gives us an overall view of the situation in Romans 5:
1. Through Adam, sin entered into the world (5:12).
2. This self-centeredness and rejection of God causes death (5:12).
3. All in the image of Adam (all humanity) are in this condition (5:14).
4. However, God has bestowed upon humanity a gift of grace in the from of Jesus Christ (5:15).
5. Jesus Christ is a second Adam, but instead of breeding emnity and death in the human soul, he removes the emnity and breathes life into the dead soul, making it alive (5:17).
6. So, Adam transfers spiritual death to his descendants, but Jesus Christ transfers spiritual life to all who put their faith in him.
All of this fits in with the whole gospel as expressed best in Ephesians 2:
1. Everyone, saved and unsaved, began dead in sins (2:1).
2. God is rich in mercy and makes us alive (2:5).
3. This grace from God is a free gift (2:8).
From all this we must know these important truths:
1. God is not the author of sin. He is not responsible for it, and therefore he is not responsible for the death that accompanies it.
2. God is responsible for the rescue of sinners from this state.
Keep these things in mind this lenten season.
