Truth Magazine

By Raymond Harris

According to a recent article, since the 17th century about 120 forms of birds have become extinct. Another 500 are said to be critically threatened. Additionally, various groups have formed to save seals, whales, the square-lipped rhinoceros of Africa, the monkey-eating eagle of the Philippines . . . and on and on.

Now, within reason, I have no quarrel with environmentalists-but it seems we have much more pressing problems that could have a much greater effect upon world conditions. I marvel when some get so excited about protecting the snail-darter and the mating ground of some diminishing species of moth and have so little concern for the current deterioration of the home – the human mating ground.

It seems that we humans need to become concerned about our environment and our own ecology. We are told that, in America, a minimum of 100,000 children are physically abused each year. Recently I read that 2,000,000 American couples have used lethal weapons on each other during their marriage. The same article noted that 20% of all police officers killed in the line of duty were killed while answering calls involving family conflict. And, it is now confirmed that, on the average, 13 teenagers kill themselves every day in this country.

And the statistics go on: (1) Fifteen million wives are “battered” by their husbands each year; (2) since 1973 there have been over 15,000,000 (yes, that’s 15 million) abortions; (3) it is reported that in 1982 there were more abortions than births in this country; (4) 38% of all first time marriages fail, and (5) the overall divorce rate is 50%.

Never in our history has our nation faced such dangerous and trying times.

Again, I say, I have no quarrel with nature lovers who want to protect all of God’s creatures. And, I have no quarrel with those who are very, very concerned about nuclear catastrophe.

However, if the current rate of self-destruction continues in American homes, hospitals, highways, and courts, there will be little, if any thing, here if and when the bombs fall.

If we are to save ourselves and our environment, we must turn back to God!

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 23, p. 715
December 6, 1984

By Titus C. Edwards

“A farmer posted a ‘no trespassing’ sign to keep the neighborhood boys from crossing his property. One embittered lad vowed he would get even. One night he stole onto the farm with a sack of Johnson Grass seed and sowed it generously in every field. (Johnson Grass spreads rapidly and is a weed that is almost impossible to destroy.) A few years later the boy married the farmer’s only daughter. In a short time the old man died, and the boy inherited the farm. He spent the rest of his life fighting Johnson Grass.” -Anonymous

I really believe that if we would concentrate on the consequences of our actions, instead of the possible pleasure to be derived from them, it would be very easy to say “no” to temptation. We normally try to block out the consequences of sin while we contemplate committing it. We somehow talk ourselves into believing that maybe it really is not as bad a we have heard or thought before. We convince ourselves that we are different. We can handle it better than others and there will be no problems associated with it. How foolish we are!

We need to learn the valuable lesson well illustrated in the story above. Sin has its consequences! Our sins may well come back to haunt us. The most important consequence of sin is that it separates us from God and will cause us to be lost (Isa. 59:2; Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 6:23). Thankfully our sins will be forgiven as we meet God’s conditions of salvation.

But recognize that some things you do might have consequences associated with them that you have to live with, whether forgiven or not! Mom struck the rock and was not allowed to enter the promised land. I am sure he asked for and received God’s forgiveness for that, but he still had to bear the consequence of that sin. David committed adultery with Bathsheba. I am sure he begged God’s forgiveness for such and will be in heaven, but the child still died and tragedy followed his family just as Nathan said. He had to live with the consequences of his actions!

You can be forgiven of fornication, but you still may have to deal with a child born into this world out of wedlock! You can be forgiven of stealing or vandalism, etc., but may have to serve a prison sentence! You can be forgiven for using drugs or drinking, but you cannot change ruining your mind and body by such, nor bring back the person you killed by drunken driving! (Stories about such could be multiplied, like the 16-year-old boy who was driving while intoxicated, had a wreck and killed his best friend”something you have to live with the rest of your life.”)

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6:7-8). “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. . .” (Hos. 8.7). “Who will render to every man according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6). “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Num. 32:23).

Look up and ahead. Do not be blinded by sin. Think of the consequences of your actions and say no to sin!

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 23, p. 712
December 6, 1984

By Mike Willis

That America is faced with a misunderstanding regarding the nature and consequences of sin is an understatement. Christians need to guard themselves against becoming a victim to society’s definition of sin lest sin be minimized in their eyes. What better source to learn a biblical doctrine of sin can be found than the opening chapters of Genesis?

The record of the beginning of sin is related in Genesis 2-3. Most of us can recite the story from memory. After God created Adam and Eve, He placed them in the Garden of Eden to dress and keep it (Gen. 2:15). He commanded them, “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” (Gen. 2:16-17). Sometime later, the devil appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent, deceived her and persuaded her to eat of the forbidden fruit. She persuaded Adam to eat of the fruit. God appeared to them in the Garden, pronounced the curses upon Adam and Eve, and excluded them from the Garden and access to the tree of life.

From this account in Genesis, we can learn many lessons. Please consider the following:

What Is Sin?

We can learn what sin is from the Genesis account. Society has lost any meaningful understanding of sin.(1) Some explain sin as being (1) a violation of society’s code of ethics, (2) a violation of one’s personal code of ethics, or (3) a violation of rules taught to him by his parents. However, sin is none of these. Sin is the violation of the word of God. John wrote, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (1 Jn. 3:4). (The violation of conscience is sin [Rom. 14:23; Jas. 4:17] because it violates God’s word which demands the maintaining of a pure conscience.)

As the first two created beings, Adam and Eve were not influenced by society to believe that eating a particular fruit was wrong. Their parents had not pounded these ideas into their heads. Rather, their disobedience was considered a sin simply because they violated what God said.

I cannot see anything wrong with eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It would seem that to eat that fruit would be no different from eating any other fruit, such as an apple or an orange. What made the eating of one right and the eating of the other wrong was that God said, “Thou shalt not. . . .” Sin is the violation of God’s law!

The Cause of Sin

Even as modern man has lost sight of the definition of sin, he has also lost sight of its causes. We are told that sin is caused by the following:

1. Environment. B.F. Skinner, renowned psychologist, wrote, “We shall not solve the problems of alcoholism and juvenile delinquency by increasing a sense of responsibility. It is the environment which is ‘responsible’ for the objectionable behavior, and it is the environment, not some attribute of the individual, which must be changed” (Beyond Freedom and Dignity, p. 122). This concept has influenced many social programs in our country. Billions of dollars of federal money have been poured into ghetto areas to change the environment in the hopes of helping mankind. A couple of decades later, these projects look as bad as they did before money was poured into them. Changing the environment did not change the sinners.

What was wrong with Adam and Eve’s environment which might have caused their sin? They lived in Paradise. Every physical, emotional, and social need was provided for by God. Yet, they sinned. Environment neither caused nor prevented their sin!

2. Education. Some think that sin is caused by a poor education. A man with a fifth grade education, who reads poorly, commits a crime in some ghetto section of the city. Court appointed attorneys have argued that his poor education contributed to his poverty and forced him to steal. If we could but educate these people, thus enabling them to earn a better living, they would not steal. Hence, those in prison can receive a college education at state expense, as a means of preventing recurrence of crime. Has this worked? The man who robbed a liquor store of $200 with a gun is now able to rob a bank of $200,000 with a computer!

Was a lack of education the cause of Adam and Eve’s sin? Did Adam and Eve sin against God because they did not know better? The biblical account demonstrates that both Adam and Eve were aware and understood God’s law. Eve repeated God’s law to Stan when he tempted her (Gen. 3:2). Hence, sin was not caused by a poor education.

3. Heredity. Others have argued that sin occurs because man inherited a sinful nature. The Westminster Confession of Faith states that man inherited a sinful nature from Adam and then adds, “From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions” (Chap. VI, No. 4). This does not explain Adam and Eve’s sin. They were children of God (Lk. 3:38). Did they inherit a corrupt nature from God? Even the Calvinists state that Adam and Eve did not have a corrupt nature. Hence, one is not a sinner because of inheritance.

What is the cause of sin? The cause of sin is man’s willful choice to disobey God. Man has been created with free will, the ability to choose to do good or evil. Sin occurs because and when man, of his own volition, chooses to violate and transgress one of God’s commandments.

What Are The Consequences Of Sin?

God told the consequences of sin when He said . for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). That physical death is not intended should be apparent from the fact that Adam and Eve did not die in the day that they ate of the fruit.(2) The death which was intended by the original statement did occur in the day that they ate of the fruit; it was spiritual death. H.C. Leupold wrote:

In this instance the expression beyom, “in the day,” is to be taken very literally and not in the sense “at the time,” a meaning that would not fit here. For the thought actually to be expressed is the instantaneous occurrence of the penalty threatened, which is also again expressed in part by the imperfect with absolute infinitive, “dying thou shalt die””certainly die.” This at once raises the question, “Why was this penalty not carried out as threatened?” We answer: “It was, if the biblical concept of dying is kept in mind, as it unfolds itself ever more clearly from age to age.” Dying is separation from God. That separation occurred the very moment when man by his disobedience broke the bond of love. If physical death ultimately closes the experience, that is not the more serious aspect of the whole affair (p. 128).

That spiritual death is intended by the statement in Genesis 2:17 is confirmed by Paul’s discussion in Romans 5:12-21. Hence, the consequences of sin is death (Rom. 6:23)-separation from God.

The text in Genesis is relevant to some of the modem discussions regarding what happens when a Christian sins. Consider these circumstances: (1) Adam and Eve were children of God by creation (Lk. 3:38) and in spiritual communion with God; (2) The one act of disobedience brought spiritual death; (3) The same consequence for sin came upon Eve, who sinned through the devil deceiving her (1 Tim. 2:14), as came upon Adam who sinned high-handedly.

Some become alarmed when someone intimates that “one sin separates a person from God.” God said, “. . . for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The Lord said that the punishment for sin is “death.” What is “death”? The primary meaning of the word death is “separation.”(3) “. . .For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (i.e., be separated from God).”

When would this separation occur? Is separation from God so ambiguous that one cannot tell when it occurs? Apparently not! God said, “. . . in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (i.e. be separated from God).” If someone quibbles that a person is not separated from God the instant that he sins, surely he will not quibble with the language of the Scripture” in the day.”(4) If it is more acceptable to use this word than “instant,” I am willing to start using it. “In the day that a Christian sins he will surely die.”

Conclusion

We must be careful not to become influenced by the thoughts of our day which minimize the seriousness of sin. Sin is an act of transgression of God’s law. It was so serious that only the death of God in the flesh could atone for it. It occurs when man of his own volition chooses to disobey God. Its consequence is separation from God, spiritual death.

The grace of God has provided a means by which sinful man can be reconciled to God. Jesus gave His precious blood on Calvary in order that forgiveness of sins could be provided for man, while yet maintaining the justice of God. In order to have an adequate appreciation for the the gift of God’s grace, we must understand the seriousness of the problem of sin.

Endnotes

1. Julian Huxley wrote, “Sin and the sense of sin will always be with us, to torture and weigh down; but, as I have said elsewhere in this book, the religion of the future will try to prevent man’s being afflicted with the sense of sin, rather than encourage it and then attempt to cure it” (Religion Without Revelation, p. 146). The success of the movement to do away with sin cannot be denied. Things which were formerly considered sinful are now considered a sickness.

2. The attempts to limit the death to physical death have resulted in a number of interpretations of Genesis 2:17, including the following: (a) “The threat was not fulfilled ” (John Skinner, International Critical Commentary, p. 67); (b) man began to die (became mortal) when he ate of the fruit (Keil and Delitzsch, p. 105; Thomas Whitelow, Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 1, p. 46).

3. The word “death” is used in a number of senses in the Scriptures but in each of them, the idea of separation prevails. When a person dies physically, his spirit is separated from his body; when a person dies to sin (Rom. 6:2), he separates himself from sin; when a person enters hell, the second death, he is eternally separated from God. Hence, the meaning of “death” must be understood as “to be separated from God.”

4. The Hebrew construction is such that it means “the day of” or “the time of” (see Brown, Driver, and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, p. 400). H.C. Leupold used “instantaneous occurrence” and “the very moment” to describe when sin separates from God (op. cit.).

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 23, pp. 706, 728-729
December 6, 1984

By Larry Ray Hafley

The doctrine of original or Adamic sin states that every person is born in sin. Because of Adam’s sin, all men are corrupt and guilty of sin at birth. Note the testimony of the Philadelphia Confession of Faith.

By this sin (eating of the forbidden fruit-LRH) they (Adam and Eve-LRH) fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of the soul and body. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation. From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions (Chapter 6).

Contrary to New Testament Concepts

This doctrine is contrary to at least four New Testament concepts; namely, sin, forgiveness, the death of Christ, and the judgment.

(1) The Concept of Sin. John said that “sin is the transgression of the law.” When one commits sin, he transgresses (goes against, crosses) the law (1 Jn. 3:4). “All unrighteousness is sin” (1 Jn. 5:17). Anything that violates God’s righteousness is sin. One who works apart from or against God’s will and word is guilty of sin. He performs iniquity; he acts without divine authority (Mt. 7:21-23). Sin is the child of lust (Jas. 1:15). When one is drawn away of his own lust and enticed, lust conceives her offspring, sin, and gives it birth. We are separated and alienated from God “by wicked works” (Col. 1:21). It is our sins which are produced by the fulfilling of the desires of the flesh and of the mind (Eph. 2:1-3; Col. 2:13). This is the New Testament’s concept of how one becomes guilty of sin. There is no Scripture which teaches that sin is inherited.

(2) The Concept of Forgiveness. The word of God does not describe the forgiveness of inherited sin. It does not mention forgiveness of the “guilt” of original sin. The New Testament speaks of “your sins” and of “thy sins” (Acts 3:19; 22:16). One is forgiven of his own acts of transgression, iniquity and disobedience. “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 8:12).

“The body of the sins of the flesh” are put off, cut away, when God forgives (Col. 2:11-13). As the sins are those one commits, the forgiveness applies to those sins. If as the doctrine of original sin avers, all men are born guilty of Adam’s sin, why is the Bible devoid of any reference to the forgiveness of it?

(3) The Concept of the Death of Christ. Christ “was delivered for our offences” (Rom. 4:25). “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body” (1 Pet. 2:24). It was “in the body of his flesh through death” that Jesus reconciled us to God (Col. 1:21,22). “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Each individual can consider that Christ died “for me” (Gal. 2:20). Why is that? Because our sins, our guilt, is of our own doing; because forgiveness is of our sins and iniquities (Heb. 8:12; Isa. 59:1,2); the death of Christ was for my sin, my guilt, my salvation; hence, “for me.” The death of Christ and the shedding of His blood is never said to be for the purpose of removing inherited, original sin. However, if original, Adamic sin is universally pervasive, as the creeds of men allow and allege, should we not expect to find a reference that decrees and declares that the death of Christ removes that sin?

(4) The Concept of Judgment. New Testament judgment scenes vary in many respects, but in this one item they are all constant and consistent-man is judged by how he has lived, by what he has done. Contemplate and consider the judgment pictures of Matthew (chapters 5-7, 13 and 25). See the awe and dread of Revelation 20:10-15. Hear the admonition and warning of Galatians 6:7-9, Matthew 16:27 and Revelation 3:23. What is the single fact of all these passages? Individuals are judged by their own works. They are rewarded “according to their works.” Is there a judgment view of one being condemned on account of what Adam did? Is anyone ever renounced for not ridding himself of the depravity he is supposed to have inherited from Adam? No, but if original sin exists to the extent that men claim, is it not strange that not a single, solitary judgment scene features some creatures lost because of it?

Conclusion Of These Concepts

The doctrine of original sin, if true, would be an innate, inherent part of the nature of sin, forgiveness, Christ’s death and the judgment. Yet, the Bible, in discussing these four themes, never once links it to them. There absolutely could not be such an omission if the doctrine of original, Adamic sin were true. Therefore, these four fundamental facts are fatal to the theory.

Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 23, pp. 713, 716
December 6, 1984