No other problem in theology has caused as
much trouble as “Original Sin.” The source of this trouble comes from today’s
passage in Paul’s letter to the Romans:
(Rom
5:12-21 NIV) Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and
death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--
{13} for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not
taken into account when there is no law. {14} Nevertheless, death
reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not
sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
{15} But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the
trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came
by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! {16} Again,
the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment
followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many
trespasses and brought justification. {17} For if, by the trespass of
the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who
receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness
reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. {18} Consequently, just
as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result
of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
{19} For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made
sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made
righteous. {20} The law was added so that the trespass might increase.
But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, {21} so that,
just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness
to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let’s understand the essence of Paul’s
argument about sin. It is found in its shortest form here:
(1
Cor 15:56 NIV) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
Let’s expand the argument just a little:
·
If
you sin, a holy, utterly righteous God can have nothing to do with you. That’s
called death, for God is the source of life.
·
“Sin”
means to break God’s law. It’s not illegal to drive at 100 miles per hour
unless there is a speed limit.
·
Everyone
dies, even those who never had the Law; even those who never had a chance to
break whatever law they might have known. (E.G. -- why do aborted babies die,
in this argument?)
How, then, is this possible? For clearly we
all die, and just as clearly by this argument we are all sinners. How then, do
the innocent unborn die? How then do those who never knew a Law die?
The answer, says Paul, lies in the “original
sin” -- the sin that Adam committed in the Garden of Eden.
“Wait a minute,” says Blodgett. “I never met
this guy Adam, and I’m certainly not going to take any responsibility for his
stupidity and sinfulness. I have enough problems of my own, thank you.”
It’s tempting just to say, “Yes, and that’s
why you need Jesus, Bill.” But the Scripture is clear: there is something
that Adam had to do with it. Before we examine the various explanations of
this passage, we need to examine some preliminary thoughts:
·
First,
sin may be thought of (this comes from Martin Luther) in two parts: the
intention, or disposition towards sin, and the actual sin itself. As our Lord
taught, these are inseparable in adults.
Yet we can easily distinguish them. What Paul is talking about here is the
disposition, not the actual sins.
·
In
telling this story, Paul is using the ideas and metaphors of his time -- some
of them implicitly, as we shall see.
·
Language
itself carries a difficulty: the better the wine, the more often it is
described by metaphor rather than alcohol content. And this is deep red wine.
In Adam’s Fall, We Sinned All
Paul makes it abundantly clear that, somehow,
we became sinners because of Adam’s original transgression. That is to say,
God regards us as sinners because of Adam’s transgression. This is another
example of imputation. Let’s look at some of the theories behind this
thought:
Solidarity. Americans are extremely prone to
think of themselves as individuals first, and then members (interchangeable
parts in their view) of some other groups. This is relatively rare in the
world. Most of Paul’s contemporaries would have seen themselves as members of
a group first (and variegated ones at that). We see an example of this in
Joshua, chapter 7. The nation of Israel is punished in battle for the sin of
one man, Achan, and his theft from God at Jericho.
In some sense, we still have a little of this
today. Law is most commonly enforced not by policemen and prosecutors but by
social pressure. It is not just the fear of getting a ticket, but the fear of
what other people will think, that guides our driving.
Ancestry. This is a very Jewish concept: It
holds that the sins of your ancestors somehow bind you (as do the good things)
to their consequences. An example of this argument is made in the book of
Hebrews (written, please recall, to the Jews):
(Heb
7:1-10 NIV) This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He
met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, {2} and
Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means "king of
righteousness"; then also, "king of Salem" means "king of
peace." {3} Without father or mother, without genealogy, without
beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest
forever. {4} Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham
gave him a tenth of the plunder! {5} Now the law requires the
descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people--that
is, their brothers--even though their brothers are descended from Abraham.
{6} This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he
collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. {7} And
without doubt the lesser person is blessed by the greater. {8} In the
one case, the tenth is collected by men who die; but in the other case, by him
who is declared to be living. {9} One might even say that Levi, who
collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, {10} because when
Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.
(emphasis added). The argument is very
oriental, very Jewish. You see that Melchizedek is without genealogy --
therefore he is ever living (i.e., Christ). Levi was held to be in the body of
Abraham. It is a strange (to us) way of looking at it -- but the ancients
would have held it to be binding.
Literal descent. This argument
appealed to many in the Middle Ages. It simply holds that, like inheriting red
hair and blue eyes, we inherit this disposition to sin from our single
ancestor, Adam. It has a number of problems, but these were not evident to
them, without the evidence we have today. To name but a few:
·
There
are serious difficulties with this and biological evolution.
·
Do
recall that the sons of Adam went out and found wives (who presumably, by this
argument, did not have this genetic defect).
Adam as representative. This is a modern
argument. It holds that Adam somehow represents us; he is the archtypical
man. He thus, metaphorically, stands in our place, and God therefore seeing
sin in Adam sees sin in us.
(My only difficulty with this theory, other
than in its roots as a way to be a Christian and an evolutionist at the same
time, is that I never elected Adam to anything.)
Hendershot’s “Demonstration Experiment”
Theory.
Held by no reasonable scholar, and evidently the invention of your humble
servant, it holds that Adam is a demonstration experiment. All the variables
of heredity and environment have been neutralized; the Law reduces to one
command; the consequences of obedience wonderfully great; the consequences of
sin very terrible -- and still Adam sins, thus demonstrating that humans
inherently are sinners.
There are the theories. All of them have
their proponents; all of them have their flaws. There are two important
results of this work, however:
·
By
any and all of these theories, God imputes sin to each and every one of us.
This is called “original sin.”
·
By
any and all of these theories, just as God imputes sin to us through Adam, He
imputes righteousness to us through Jesus Christ. This is the important
point.
Do you see the last one? Let’s walk through
it:
·
Is
it by solidarity with Adam that we are sinners? How much more is our
solidarity through Jesus Christ, who has made us into the church, God’s own
family?
·
Is
it by ancestry? How much more are we holy through our father, God Almighty?
·
Is
it by literal descent? Who is it that has regenerated you into a new creature?
A creature holy and blameless before God, yet!
·
If
Adam is your representative (without election) how much more is Christ your
representative? Christ, whom you selected!
·
And
if Adam is the demonstration experiment which shows that all are sinners (a
sample of one), just how many resurrections do you need to show you the path to
eternal life?
Finally, there is one last argument for the
imputation of sin: If you do not acquire this sinful nature by imputation, how
do you expect God the consistent to impute righteousness to you by way of Jesus
Christ?
Comparison and Contrast
But the argument does not end there. It is
not sufficient for Paul to say, in effect, “you became a sinner through Adam,
you became holy through Christ.” That would put the two on an equal footing,
and that is not possible. He now goes on to comparison and contrast:
·
Because
of one man’s sin, many people died. But because of one man’s death, many will
be justified.
·
Judgment
started because of one sin, for a holy God cannot tolerate even one
sin. But the gift of God -- salvation through Jesus Christ -- was given after
many sins. So we see how the love of God exceeds the righteousness of God.
·
Death
is through one man -- and that means physical death, primarily. But eternal
life is also through the gift of one man -- and that mean both physical and
spiritual life.
(1 Cor
15:22-23 NIV) For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
{23} But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he
comes, those who belong to him.
·
One
sin alone brought us under condemnation; one act of righteousness brought many
to justification.
·
The
disobedience of one man brought all of us to sin; the obedience of one brought
many of us to righteousness.
·
And
finally, the law was sent to correct this sinfulness -- and the result was that
sin abounded all the more, for the more law, the more sin (the traffic ticket
principle). But now, because the Law is abolished, grace abounds.
And consider then the result: I am now
·
justified
·
forgiven
·
alive
forever
·
not
condemned
·
righteous
·
living
in the grace of God.