Study of Denomintions 04/11/2010

A Study of Denominations
Cont. from last week

Many will then cite Psalm 51:5:
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

When we look at the evidence we have seen above from Jesus' words in the Gospels, we get the strong impression from the whole of the Scriptures that children do not inherit sin proper. Since we know that the sum of God's word is true (Psalm 119:160) and without contradiction, we must consider the context of the passage and see whether there are some mitigating circumstances. Psalm 51 represents a psalm, a form of poetry, and a psalm which was written by David after his sin with Bathsheba had been made known (cf. 2 Samuel 12). His great grief, no doubt, led to the use of hyperbole, thinking himself so sinful that he was born that way. As we will see, many other passages that are not written in poetry declare children to be without sin. It is also possible to read "in iniquity" and "in sin" in Psalm 51:5 as David saying that he was born in a sinful world, not that he him self actively had sin against him from birth.

NOTE: Most if not all references to or in the Psalms are hyperboles to make a point, which is made clear by reading the context.

It is also argued when people read the declarations of Paul in Romans 3:10 and 3:23 that because "all" are not righteous and "all" have sinned, therefore, children are also a part of this group:
as it is written, "There is none righteous, no, not one."

for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.

Do these verses teach that children are sinners? Let us examine the passage that Paul quotes in Romans 3:10ff, Psalm 53:1-3:
The fool hath said in his heart, "There is no God." Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek after God. Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

We see here that not only do none do good, none even know God. Do children "know" God? Can children understand fully the precepts of the Lord, especially infants? By no means! They are not capable of understanding such things. Therefore, are we to believe that God includes them in the category of those who choose to not do God's will nor to know Him?

We can understand, then, that Paul uses a bit of hyperbole to make his point. The "all" of Romans 3:10 and 3:23 refers to all people who are capable of knowing good from evil, and not every creature. This is comparable to Matthew's use of "all" in Matthew 3:5:
Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan.

Shall we believe from this that every single inhabitant of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordan river area came to John? That is not the intent; the point is to show that a large number of people came out to see John. We use the term in the same way today. Therefore, considering the evidence in Matthew 18:1-4 and Mark 9:35-37 , we can see that Paul is not referring to every single human ever but all who are capable of knowing good from evil.

Romans 5:12-17 is often used to try to show that we have inherited sin from Adam:
Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned or until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come. But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many. And not as through one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment came of one unto condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses unto justification. For if, by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.

While this passage in Paul’s Justification Section may give the impression that we inherit sin from Adam, when we read it closely, we see that Paul says no such thing. The text never says directly that anyone inherits actual sin from Adam; it does say that sin entered the world because of the transgression, and that death (spiritual not physical?) was its consequence, but never that we actually inherited sin. Yes, we die (spiritual not physical?) because sin entered the world through Adam, but that does not mean that we actually inherit Adam's sin. We can read this passage consistently with the rest of Scripture: sin is not only present but also permeates the world, death (spiritual not physical?) is present in the world, and the climate of sin will compel all capable persons to sin, but sin is not inherited, i.e. one does not “have to” sin.