"Original Sin" And Eternal Punishment

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< > N.B. 1. It is well in passing to notice that the Bible attributes to the flesh sins which we would put down to the soul.36 It is therefore impossible not to have wrong desires; but Jas. 1,14-15 states quite plainly that it is not the presence of wrong desires that kills a man but the yielding to them. Rom. 7,8-11 makes an identical statement, and both together state that the soul is born with a living spirit, which only dies after the commission of deliberate sin, thus agreeing with Ezek. 18, and 1 Tim. 2,14. It cannot be too often emphasised that temptation is not sin—Christ had temptation but not sin—and that temptation does not kill, but only sin. N.B. 2. 2 Cor. 5,1-11; 7,1 show how important is purity of the flesh; for, when once anything wrong has entered the brain or the members, it is there for as long as the flesh lasts, and can be handed on to one's children. Heredity is indeed a dread physical fact when once sin has entered the flesh. We may inherit father's desire for drink or Aunt Mary's proneness to bad temper as well as mother's levelheadedness or Uncle Tom's courage! And with the solicitations of our fallen flesh the soul will have to strive, as did Eve, with those of Satan. It was for this reason that, once sin had entered Adam's flesh, God decided that nothing less than its destruction and the provision of new and perfect flesh in the Resurrection would meet the case. The Christian can by the power of God be kept free from fleshly sin, but he cannot be immune from fleshly temptation, till the day when the hour of groaning is — end of page 27 — over, the redemption of the body is his, and he knows the spotless clothing of his "house from heaven". N.B. 3. Incidentally the statement "The soul that sinneth it shall die" proves that the soul is not born dead in sin; for a dead soul cannot die but is already dead. Only the living can die. N.B. 4. The passage in Ps. 51,5, "Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me", only states the same truth. All that David got from his mother was his flesh; his soul and spirit were God's work. Were it not for doctrinal bias we should understand from this verse that it was his mother who was in sin at his conception, not David. Suppose the verse read "in bitterness, or joy, did my mother conceive me!" we should unhesitatingly refer the bitterness or joy to his mother not to David, as is grammatically correct: "in sin" is an adverbial phrase qualifying the verb, not the object. Many scholars have pointed out that the fact that, when asked by Samuel to bring out his sons, Jesse did not produce David, valiant and spiritual though he already was,37 and that his brethren, like those of Jesus, never seem to have been his close associates but rather to have despised him,38 seems to show that there was some slur on his birth. If this be so David is a fitting type of Christ who also, though untruly, lay under this imputation of being "born of fornication",39 since Mary could not produce His father, and everybody knew it! Whether this be so or not, it remains the fact that all David got from his mother was his flesh, and that in any view of the case that flesh was sinful. N.B. 5. So weak is this theory that even Ps. 58,3 is brought in to support it, "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies". The Psalmist is here speaking in a highly poetic vein—even the "wickedest" little child must wait for a few years before it knows the difference between right and wrong and begins deliberately to tell lies! (Isa. 7,15-16)—and is contrasting those, who seem to delight in evil from an early age, with those who on the contrary like Samuel, David, and John the Baptist, so — end of page 28 — far from going astray from the womb, were filled with the Holy Ghost and spake the words of God to all Israel. N.B. 6. In the consideration therefore of the two "Born in Sin" theories B and C (see page 25), it must be kept in mind that children are not born in the condition of death and sin so often attributed to them. They come into the world with a pure soul which is alive to God through the spirit which He has given them: and they have the added advantage of a personal Angel with instant access to God.40 So lovingly and thoroughly has The Almighty provided for every little one; for all are dear to Him and He is not willing that any should perish. So far as its flesh is concerned, every child will indeed find that this is a source of temptation to it: but this is to be regarded as a blessing which is to make it hate evil and love good. Rom. 7,7-25 and Jas. 1,14-15 describe in detail the process by which the soul having at last become aware of evil, is, like Eve, solicited by it and deceived, not forced, into thinking that it is making a good bargain by selling itself to sin,41 and then experiences the death of the spirit, having chosen to live without God. God sent Satan into Eden, not to cause the Fall, but to prevent it, by provoking the necessity for constant victory over temptation. N.B. 7. St. Paul in Rom. 7 & 8 draws a very clear distinction between the mind of the flesh and the mind of the soul, and represents the soul that has once sold itself to "sin in the flesh" as not responsible for its actual actions, but after its initial surrender, a helpless captive obliged to obey a tyrannous Master, and needing a Saviour to set it free. Thus the will, though not the actions, of a sinner is free: although obliged to do evil the sinner is not obliged to want to do it. And if, and when, the soul looks upon sin as a hateful monster, it can be set free by The Lord. It is only when not only the actions but also the will of the sinner are evil, that the case is hopeless, and even God can do nothing for him except keep him eternally helpless and harmless in Hell. It is the will of man that is the battleground: his actions can be forced by God, Satan or man: but his will—never! N.B. 8. Finally therefore we are to remember that a man can undergo two changes of nature. When born he is a human being — end of page 29 — fit for the kingdom of Heaven and alive to God. When he sins he becomes "dead in trespasses and sins" and suffers the first change to that of a deliberate sinner, dead to God and deservedly under His wrath. Eph. 2,1-3 does not speak of men as "dead in sin", but as "dead in trespasses and sins wherein they walked". It was the sins in which they, not Adam, walked which killed them and changed their nature from that of a lamb in the Arms of Jesus to that of the ass of Exod. 13,13, doomed to destruction. Upon the new birth he suffers yet another change and becomes, not what he was at birth a son of man and a servant of God, but, marvellously, a son of God and a partaker of the Divine Nature. Thus a man may experience 3 natures, that of a pure son of man, that of a dead enemy of God, that of a living son of God.42 These two "Born in Sin" theories, however, mislead by attributing to man at birth the nature which he only possesses after he has sinned and become dead in actual trespasses and sins which he has committed,43 not in a sin which someone else committed centuries before! < >
The Disastrous Effects Of The Doctrine Of Original Sin \| By His Stripes We Are Healed \| The Book Of Revelation \| The Second Coming Of Christ \| The Baptism And Gifts Of The Holy Spirit \| The Comforter Is Come

N.B. 1. It is well in passing to notice that the Bible attributes to the flesh sins which we would put down to the soul.36 It is therefore impossible not to have wrong desires; but Jas. 1,14-15 states quite plainly that it is not the presence of wrong desires that kills a man but the yielding to them. Rom. 7,8-11 makes an identical statement, and both together state that the soul is born with a living spirit, which only dies after the commission of deliberate sin, thus agreeing with Ezek. 18, and 1 Tim. 2,14. It cannot be too often emphasised that temptation is not sin—Christ had temptation but not sin—and that temptation does not kill, but only sin.

N.B. 2. 2 Cor. 5,1-11; 7,1 show how important is purity of the flesh; for, when once anything wrong has entered the brain or the members, it is there for as long as the flesh lasts, and can be handed on to one's children. Heredity is indeed a dread physical fact when once sin has entered the flesh. We may inherit father's desire for drink or Aunt Mary's proneness to bad temper as well as mother's levelheadedness or Uncle Tom's courage! And with the solicitations of our fallen flesh the soul will have to strive, as did Eve, with those of Satan.

It was for this reason that, once sin had entered Adam's flesh, God decided that nothing less than its destruction and the provision of new and perfect flesh in the Resurrection would meet the case. The Christian can by the power of God be kept free from fleshly sin, but he cannot be immune from fleshly temptation, till the day when the hour of groaning is

— end of page 27 —

over, the redemption of the body is his, and he knows the spotless clothing of his "house from heaven".

N.B. 3. Incidentally the statement "The soul that sinneth it shall die" proves that the soul is not born dead in sin; for a dead soul cannot die but is already dead. Only the living can die.

N.B. 4. The passage in Ps. 51,5, "Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me", only states the same truth. All that David got from his mother was his flesh; his soul and spirit were God's work. Were it not for doctrinal bias we should understand from this verse that it was his mother who was in sin at his conception, not David. Suppose the verse read "in bitterness, or joy, did my mother conceive me!" we should unhesitatingly refer the bitterness or joy to his mother not to David, as is grammatically correct: "in sin" is an adverbial phrase qualifying the verb, not the object.

Many scholars have pointed out that the fact that, when asked by Samuel to bring out his sons, Jesse did not produce David, valiant and spiritual though he already was,37 and that his brethren, like those of Jesus, never seem to have been his close associates but rather to have despised him,38 seems to show that there was some slur on his birth. If this be so David is a fitting type of Christ who also, though untruly, lay under this imputation of being "born of fornication",39 since Mary could not produce His father, and everybody knew it!

Whether this be so or not, it remains the fact that all David got from his mother was his flesh, and that in any view of the case that flesh was sinful.

N.B. 5. So weak is this theory that even Ps. 58,3 is brought in to support it, "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies". The Psalmist is here speaking in a highly poetic vein—even the "wickedest" little child must wait for a few years before it knows the difference between right and wrong and begins deliberately to tell lies! (Isa. 7,15-16)—and is contrasting those, who seem to delight in evil from an early age, with those who on the contrary like Samuel, David, and John the Baptist, so

— end of page 28 —

far from going astray from the womb, were filled with the Holy Ghost and spake the words of God to all Israel.

N.B. 6. In the consideration therefore of the two "Born in Sin" theories B and C (see page 25), it must be kept in mind that children are not born in the condition of death and sin so often attributed to them. They come into the world with a pure soul which is alive to God through the spirit which He has given them: and they have the added advantage of a personal Angel with instant access to God.40 So lovingly and thoroughly has The Almighty provided for every little one; for all are dear to Him and He is not willing that any should perish.

So far as its flesh is concerned, every child will indeed find that this is a source of temptation to it: but this is to be regarded as a blessing which is to make it hate evil and love good. Rom. 7,7-25 and Jas. 1,14-15 describe in detail the process by which the soul having at last become aware of evil, is, like Eve, solicited by it and deceived, not forced, into thinking that it is making a good bargain by selling itself to sin,41 and then experiences the death of the spirit, having chosen to live without God. God sent Satan into Eden, not to cause the Fall, but to prevent it, by provoking the necessity for constant victory over temptation.

N.B. 7. St. Paul in Rom. 7 & 8 draws a very clear distinction between the mind of the flesh and the mind of the soul, and represents the soul that has once sold itself to "sin in the flesh" as not responsible for its actual actions, but after its initial surrender, a helpless captive obliged to obey a tyrannous Master, and needing a Saviour to set it free. Thus the will, though not the actions, of a sinner is free: although obliged to do evil the sinner is not obliged to want to do it. And if, and when, the soul looks upon sin as a hateful monster, it can be set free by The Lord. It is only when not only the actions but also the will of the sinner are evil, that the case is hopeless, and even God can do nothing for him except keep him eternally helpless and harmless in Hell. It is the will of man that is the battleground: his actions can be forced by God, Satan or man: but his will—never!

N.B. 8. Finally therefore we are to remember that a man can undergo two changes of nature. When born he is a human being

— end of page 29 —

fit for the kingdom of Heaven and alive to God. When he sins he becomes "dead in trespasses and sins" and suffers the first change to that of a deliberate sinner, dead to God and deservedly under His wrath. Eph. 2,1-3 does not speak of men as "dead in sin", but as "dead in trespasses and sins wherein they walked". It was the sins in which they, not Adam, walked which killed them and changed their nature from that of a lamb in the Arms of Jesus to that of the ass of Exod. 13,13, doomed to destruction.

Upon the new birth he suffers yet another change and becomes, not what he was at birth a son of man and a servant of God, but, marvellously, a son of God and a partaker of the Divine Nature. Thus a man may experience 3 natures, that of a pure son of man, that of a dead enemy of God, that of a living son of God.42

These two "Born in Sin" theories, however, mislead by attributing to man at birth the nature which he only possesses after he has sinned and become dead in actual trespasses and sins which he has committed,43 not in a sin which someone else committed centuries before!

< >