February 25, 2010

The Curse of Adam

Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden of Eden

Calvinism teaches that man is born totally depraved, separated from God, and unable to come to Him apart from a divine operation of the Holy Spirit upon his heart. Why is man allegedly in such a state? It is because of Adam’s sin.

The basic idea is this: God created Adam and Eve in the beginning. Later, these two sinned (Genesis 3). Because of Adam’s sin, all of his descendants are cursed, having inherited the guilt of Adam’s sin. One key verse for this doctrine is Romans 5:12 – “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”

What we need to remember is that the Bible speaks of two different types of death – physical death (the separation of the spirit from the body) and spiritual death (the separation of man from God). Adam suffered both of these. One was a punishment for his sin. The other was a consequence of his sin.
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November 10, 2009

What Have You Done?

Cain and Abel

“What have you done?” Children often hear this question from their parents. They quickly learn that this question means three things: (1) they did something wrong, (2) they were caught, and (3) there are consequences to follow.

Our heavenly Father asked this question twice in the early chapters of the Bible with the same kind of meaning. The first came after Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the forbidden fruit. He asked Eve, “What is this you have done?” (Genesis 3:13). Following that, Cain sinned when he murdered his brother Abel. When God confronted Cain, He asked, “What have you done?” (Genesis 4:10).

There are lessons for us today from this question.
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October 1, 2005

The Soul Who Sins Will Die

Ezekiel 18:4

God’s word teaches us that we are individually accountable before Him: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). This passage shows us that judgment is certain. We “must” stand before Christ in judgment. This is not something that could happen but something that will happen. Reward or punishment will be meted out to “each one…according to what he has done.” When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we will stand there and be judged alone. We will not have any family, friends, or church to lean upon. We are accountable as individuals and will be judged as individuals.

An Old Testament passage that discusses this idea is Ezekiel 18. It is true that the law has changed and that we are no longer governed by the Old Testament (Hebrews 8:8-13). However, even though the law may be different, our responsibility before God in judgment is not. Therefore this passage presents helpful points for us to consider today. It also provides a good outline for our study.
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