Q: "Excellent point on original goodness [in the sermon on Feb 14]. How do we balance the two legitimate theological beliefs in original goodness and original sin? Is the problem that sin was, chronologically NOT original?
A: Great question! If I am understanding the question adequately, we are into territory here called theological anthropology - put another way the question might be: “are all humans born into sin?” or are “all humans born into original goodness and then fall into sin?”. Let’s first be clear that the scriptures teach that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23) and that all of us are under the bondage of and will pay the penalty for sin. The key text here is likely Romans 5:12 which reads “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.”
What is interesting is that the early translations we have of the New Testament contain two variations: The Latin translation (which some believe to be a mis-translation) reads of Adam: “IN whom all sinned.” This suggests the notion that you and I and all who have lived were present representatively and genetically in Adam. And thus sin is somehow transmitted biologically from our first parents to us. Psalm 51:5 leans in this direction when the writer says “For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me”.
Now, the Greek translation of Romans 5:12d says that sin spread to everyone BECAUSE everyone sins. In this view, sin is like mimicry - people choose to sin because of the gravitational pull of sin in our world is so strong and it was put in motion because people before us sinned so sin is present. This also explains for those who hold to this, why Jesus was able to be the perfect sacrifice because he never made any choice that resulted in him being tainted by the impact of sin.
But what I think we want to focus on here is actually not so much the nature of the problem because we are clear both on an intuitive level as well as a theological level, that all humans who have ever lived have been subject to the negative impact and effects of sin: death. All of humanity at some point, becomes separated from God.
So whether or not sin is a biological inevitability, (because of the 1st Adam) what the Bible teaches is that salvation is an individual choice that comes through what Paul in I Corinthians 15 calls the 2nd Adam, Jesus. I Corinthians 15:21 “So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.” So I’m not sure that Genesis 1-3 or even Romans 5 can help us solve the problem, but I think I Cor 15 can - the most important part of the sequence: that ultimately, those who belong to Christ will be free from the power and presence of sin for all eternity. " - Pastor Brad
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