Theology Lesson #22 - The Transmission and Kinds of Sin

As always in theology, we turn our attention to Scripture for answers to questions concerning our world. In the last lesson, we discussed the origin and nature of sin. We saw that the man and woman sinned against God, and God cursed mankind with sin and death. That explains why the earth itself works against us, why childbearing is so unbearable, why there is tension in marriage (and every relationship), and why snakes are generally disgusting.

In this lesson, we turn our attention to the transmission of the sin nature from one generation to another. Why do all people sin? Why does it just seem to be engrained in everyone? The unbelieving world has put forth a number of answers. Modern psychology answers this question in a number of ways. Some say that we are just a product of our environment (e.g. Skinner). Others say that sin and guilt are a product of collective psychological trauma (e.g. Freud). Others deny that there is a such thing as sin or guilt (e.g. Rogers). Of course, these psychological systems start with the wrong foundation. They presuppose an evolutionary understanding of man that is opposed to the Bible’s presentation of mankind.

The Bible contradicts all of these man-made systems and places the blame squarely at the feet of each individual person. Every person is born with a sin nature, and they choose to act according to that nature. Each one sins. Thereby, they incur death upon themselves not just because of Adam’s sin but also for their own.

 

THE TRANSMISSION OF ADAM’S SIN

How is Adam’s sin and guilt passed down to his descendants?

1.   Biblical Data –

a.   Genesis 5:3 - When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. Genesis 5 is a graveyard to show that sin indeed affects all generations. Nobody is immune from the effects of the Fall.

b.   Psalm 51:5 – Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. David confesses that he was a sinner from the moment of conception. He exited the womb in this precarious state.

c.    1 Cor 15:22 - For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

d.   Eph 2:3 – and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. Every person is, by nature, a child of God’s wrath. That nature must be redeemed and renewed.

e.    Col 3:9-10 - Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.

                                       i.    The nature inherited from Adam is brought out by this term ‘old self)’. The word ‘self’ is ανθροπος (Anthropos), meaning ‘man.’

                                     ii.    The believer in Christ has put off the old self and has put on the new self. This is a statement of fact. Not a command.

                                    iii.    The old self is the unregenerate self that is connected with Adam. “It involves everything a person was in Adam before union with Christ.”[1]

f.     Rom 5:12-21 – This is the most detailed passage on this topic. It is also one of the most debated passages in the book of Romans.

                                      i.    First, the passage in its entirety with just a bit of commentary:

Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin [cf. Rom 6:23], and so death spread to all men, [demonstrated by this:] because all sinned— ¹³ for [from Adam] until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no [written] law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam [the breaking of a plainly stated commandment], who is a type of Him [Christ] who was to come.

[Now we get 5 contrasting statements about Adam’s sin and Christ’s redemption. First:] ¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one [Adam] the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.

[Second:] ¹⁶ The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.

[Third:] ¹⁷ For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

[Fourth:] ¹⁸ So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

[Fifth:] ¹⁹ For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

[Finally, Paul tells us the purpose of the Mosaic Law:] ²⁰ The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

                                     ii.    Observations:

1.   Sin entered the world through one man, Adam.

2.   Sin brought death.

3.   All people sinned.[2]

4.   Death spread to all people.

5.   Verse 13 seems to be an aside to explain a previous point in 4:15 – where there is no law, there is no transgression. If there is no law, you can’t break it! But sin was obviously still in the world from Adam until Moses (cf. 5:14). It just wasn’t the “violating clear commandments” kind of sin like Adam’s (cf. 5:14) and those under the Mosaic Law.[3]

6.   Adam is a type of Jesus Christ.

a.   Adam’s sin killed all ‘in Adam.’
Christ’s gift of life abounds to all ‘in Christ’ by the gracious act of God (v. 15). [Note Paul’s use of ‘many’ instead of ‘all’ because not all in Adam are given the gift of life in Christ.]

b.   Adam’s one sin resulted in condemnation for all ‘in Adam.’
Christ’s gift of justification resulted from many transgressions (v. 16).

c.    Adam’s one transgression made death reign over all ‘in Adam.’
Christ’s gift of righteousness given by the abundance of God’s grace causes all ‘in Christ’ to reign in life (v. 17).

d.   Adam’s one transgression resulted in condemnation to all ‘in Adam.’
Christ’s one act of righteousness resulted in justification of life to all ‘in Christ’ (v. 18). [The ‘all’ here may seem problematic in view of ‘the many’ in verses 15 and 19. However, by this point, Paul’s point of those ‘in Adam’ and ‘in Christ’ is well established, and we understand the contextual limitation on the second all.]

e.    Adam’s disobedience caused all ‘in Adam’ to be made sinners.
Christ’s obedience caused all ‘in Christ’ to be made righteous (v. 19) [Notice Paul’s use of ‘many’ instead of ‘all’ because not all in Adam were made righteous by Christ.]

f.     By this point, we should see how Adam is a type of Christ. We see that Adam somehow stood for all of his descendants, and his one transgression resulted in death for them all. In the same way, Christ stood for His elect, and His atonement resulted in justification of life for them all.

7.   THE LAW made transgressions increase, so that sin would reign all the more.
GRACE thus abounded all the more, and reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

                                    iii.    It should be rather apparent by now that the Bible teaches the transmission of Adam’s sin nature and guilt (‘all died’) to all his descendants.

                                    iv.    How is this sin and guilt transmitted through the generations? There are nearly as many views as there are commentators. However, the most consistent theologians hold to one of the following two views.

1.   Federal Headship

a.   This view asserts that the action of a representative (Adam) is imputed to all members under him. A head of state can act for a nation. A father can act for his family. Adam represented all people, so his sin and guilt are imputed to his descendants.

b.   Pro: The parallels made with Jesus seem to affirm federal headship (Rom 5:18, 19; 1 Cor 15:22).  

c.    History: This view was promoted by Johannes Cocceius (1603-69) and is a popular position of Covenant Theologians.

d.   Objection: Deuteronomy 24:16 says that “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.” And Ezekiel 18:20 says, “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”

2.   The Seminal View

a.   This view states that all humanity was physically present in Adam when he sinned. All people were present in Adam in seed form. Adam’s descendants were in his loins participating in his sin. Thus, both guilt and nature occurred from Adam’s sin.

b.   Pro: Hebrews 7:9-10 makes the argument that Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek since he was still in Abraham’s loins.

c.    Con: There is no direct statement like Hebrews 7:9-10 which asserts we all sinned in Adam’s loins.

d.   Con: There is no direct parallel between those in Adam and those in Christ. Christ’s elect cannot be said to be ‘in his loins’ in His ministry or cross-work.

e.    History: Augustine held this view.[4]

2.   Thus, the Bible teaches that every person is born with a sin nature and with guilt inherited from Adam, and that justification only comes as a gift by grace for all who believe ‘into’ Jesus Christ.

 

Having seen that all are born with sin natures, we need to understand how pervasive sin is in the unredeemed person.

 

 

TOTAL DEPRAVITY

1.   Definition - Total depravity emphasizes the devastation caused by sin on every human being in regard to the pollution and corruption of all aspects of their being and personhood, including making the will unable to truly desire or please God. This is the first point of TULIP in the Acronym for Calvinist theology.[5]
Gen 6:4; Matt 7:11; Tit 1:15; Eph 4:18

2.   Total depravity does NOT mean that unsaved people always act as badly as possible. Nor does it mean that unsaved people cannot do relative acts of kindness. Even Hitler, Stalin, and Mao did not act out their depravity totally. Imagine a world leader whose totally depraved nature was completely loosed!

3.   There are several checks on depravity: the conscience; the family unit; the government; the church.

 

 

ARE SOME SINS WORSE THAN OTHERS?

 

1.   All sins make a person guilty and are worthy of God’s wrath.

2.   Breaking any command is an assault on the Lawgiver (cf. Jas 2:10-11).

3.   “In terms of our legal standing before God, any one sin, even what may seem to be a very small one, makes us legally guilty before God and therefore worthy of eternal punishment.”[6]

4.   Some sins are considered greater than others.

a.   Ezekiel 8:13 – You will see still greater abominations that they commit.

b.   John 19:11 – Jesus said those who delivered Him to Pilate committed the greater sin.

c.   Matthew 11:20-24 - The Jewish cities that heard the kingdom message will fare worse on judgment day than Gentile cities who did not.

d.   Luke 12:47-48 – Jesus said a servant who knows his master’s will but does not do it will be treated more harshly than one who did not know the Master’s will.

e.   James 3:1 – Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

 

 

THE UNPARDONABLE SIN

 

Matthew 12:31-32 – Therefore, I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whosever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

 

1.   See the context. In Matthew 12:1-21, Jesus answered the accusation that He had acted unlawfully on the Sabbath. In Matthew 12:22-24, the Pharisees attributed the casting out of demons by Jesus to Satan. Jesus answers this accusation in 12:25-28. In verses 25-26, Jesus shows the illogical nature that such a strategy by Satan would have. In verse 27, He points out that Jewish exorcists also cast out demons. Why did the Jewish leaders accept these exorcists but not Jesus? In verse 28, He says that He casts out demons by the Holy Spirit to show that kingdom had really come upon the people.

2.   The unpardonable sin, therefore is to disbelieve the clear works of the Holy Spirit through the Christ.

3.   Ignorant criticism of Jesus could be forgiven (v. 32). Slander against the Holy Spirit could note. Vlach has a good note: “Is there any application of the unpardonable sin beyond Jesus’s earthly ministry? The answer could be yes. The main issue with the unpardonable sin is hardened and willful unbelief in spite of the clear testimony of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 6:4–6 refers to those who have “once been enlightened” and have been made “partakers of the Holy Spirit.” Yet, they are warned against falling away from the faith, since “it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.” This passage refers to people who had great knowledge and were partakers of the Holy Spirit. They saw the Holy Spirit work miracles through the apostles (Heb. 2:3–4), but they stopped short of committing to Jesus. They were in danger of not embracing Christ and reaching a point of no return. Even after the era of Jesus and the apostles on earth it is possible for people to know what God’s Word says and continually reject it.”[7]

4.   Berkhof states, “We may be reasonably sure that those who fear that they have committed [the unpardonable sin] and worry about this, and desire the prayers of others for them, have not committed it.”[8]

 

 

THE SIN LEADING TO DEATH

 

1 John 5:16 – If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.

 

1.   Does this refer to a professing believer who demonstrates with habitual sin that he is not an authentic Christian (cf. 1 John 3:6)?

2.   Does this refer to a true believer whose life, like some at Corinth (cf. 1 Cor 11:29-30), brought shame to Christ, and thus God’s discipline resulted in premature death? Cf. also Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor 5:5.

3.   Does this refer to apostasy (cf. 1 John 2:19)? “In the context of 1 John, the sin leading to death includes a persistent, willful rejection of orthodoxy as it relates to the incarnation, sinless life, and atoning death of Jesus Christ…persisting in the refusal to embrace Christ as the sinless and crucified Son of God incarnate will lead to eternal death.”[9]

 

 

After the Enlightenment, western civilization has become increasingly antagonistic to the doctrine of original sin, because…

1.   Society began to blame sin on ignorance. Thus, increasing education and knowledge would show mankind to be inherently (basically) good.

 

2.   Society began to blame sin on upbringing.

3.   Society shifted to moral relativism. Right and wrong are mostly seen as subjective.

4.   Society developed an allergy to talking about sin, because the emphasis has been put upon self-esteem. “To speak of humans as sinners is almost like screaming out a profanity or obscenity at a very formal, dignified, genteel meeting, or even in church. It is forbidden. This general attitude is almost a new type of legalism, the major prohibition of which is, ‘You shall not speak anything negative.’”[10]

 

 

IN CONCLUSION, all people are born “in Adam.” All are born in the likeness and image of Adam. Thus, from the womb, all people are children of wrath and totally depraved. Apart from God’s grace, all of us would commit worse and worse sins, certainly deny the testimony of the Spirit about Christ (the unpardonable sin), and suffer eternal death as the just wages of our sins.

 

Praise God for His wonderful grace, whereby He has justified us (declared us righteous) through the propitiation made by Jesus Christ on the cross. All who believe in Him are saved forever. Redeemed. Purchased. Made heirs with Christ. That will be the topic of the next lessons.

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[1] Vlach, Ibid, 106.

[2] This is the debated portion of the text. When and how did all people sin? We will deal with this more fully below in point ‘iv.’ First, we need to see how the entire passage flows.

[3] BibleRef, https://www.bibleref.com/Romans/5/Romans-5-14.html puts it this way: “Adam's sin was different from the sin of all others who lived after him until the time of Moses and the law. As Paul wrote in the previous verse, sin is not counted against those who do not break God's law (or direct command). From the time of Adam until the time of Moses, God did not give many direct commands to humanity, at large. In that way, those people were not "lawbreakers." Still, sin existed. Every person was born into it, born with a sinful nature. People lied, stole, murdered, committed adultery, did what was wrong. Though they did not sin in a direct violation of God's written command, they still suffered the consequence of Adam's sin, the sin they were born into. They all died. Paul puts it poetically: Death reigned. Adam's sin was unique, in that sense, since he did break God's direct command. Now, strangely, Paul describes Adam as a "type" of the one who was to come, meaning Jesus. He does not mean that Adam and Jesus shared Christ-like qualities. Paul will clarify this comparison in the following verses.”

[4] Anthony Hoekema Created in God’s Image, 166-67 combines the federal and seminal views: “Because Adam was our head and representative when he sinned, the guilt of his sin is reckoned to our account (direct imputation). And because we were in Adam when he sinned, we were involved in his sin, and therefore we have been born with a corrupt nature (realism [seminal view]).”

[5] TULIP stands for (T)otal Depravity; (U)nconditional Election; (L)imited Atonement; (I)rresistible Grace; (P)erseverance of the Saints. This was developed in opposition to Arminianism which would reverse the previous points: Partial Depravity; Conditional Election; Unlimited Atonement; Resistible Grace; Conditional Security. This will be covered in a later lesson. Arminians actually used to believe in Total Depravity (classical Arminians still do).

[6] Grudem, Systematic Theology, 501.

[7] Vlach, Unpublished Class Notes, 109-110.

[8] Berkhoff, Systematic Theology, 110.

[9] Moody Bible Commentary, 1985.

[10] Erickson, Christian Theology, 582.