Understanding
The Bible |
BY THE AUTHOR
Dr. Clarence E. Mason, Jr.
Philadelphia College of Bible
1970
THE TRANSMITTED SIN NATURE.
Transmission of sin nature
accounts for universality of personal sin.
The law of generation by any living thing is "reproduction 'after
its kind.'" What happened to Adam when he sinned has been transmitted
to all the human race. The whole race is viewed as being present in
Adam, its natural head; when he sinned, they sinned (Rom. 5:12).
Adam became a sinner by sinning. Every other member of the human race,
except Christ, sins because he is a sinner by birth. Thus, with Adam
the sin nature is the effect and his sin was the cause. But with others
the sin nature is the cause and the sins are the effect.
Description of the sin nature.
With respect to the understanding - BLINDNESS
With respect to the conscience - INSENSIBILITY (not extinction)
With respect to the
will - ENMITY, HATRED, HARDNESS OF HEART, AVERSION, OBSTINACY, BONDAGE
It is the corruption, defilement, and pollution of nature, bringing
guilt upon the sinner (Gen. 8:21; Ps. 14:2-3; Rom. 3:9-19; Ps. 51:5;
Jer. 17:5, 9; Jn. 3:6; Eph. 2:3; Gal. 5:17-21).
Theories of imputation
of sin
Read Romans 5:12-21. (For further discussion you may refer to Chafer,
Vol. 2, pp. 299-310.)
Pelagian view:
that Adam's sin affected only himself.
Pelagius (AD~409), a leader in the early church, who held to the
thought that mankind was not affected at all by the fall of Adam
and Eve, except that man had before him the force of a bad example.
Beyond this there is no relationship between the sin of Adam and
our fallen condition. Every human being is born as free from sin
as was Adam.
Answer: The Word of God teaches us that man has a fallen, sinful
nature. "Men do not fall by their first sin. They are
born the fallen sons of Adam." "Men do not become sinful
by sinning; but they sin because by nature they are sinful"
(Rom. 5:12-14; 1 Cor. 15:22).
Semi-Pelagian (or
Arminian) view: that man is not accounted guilty of Adam's sin;
it is not imputed to him; he is however, destitute of original righteousness.
Adam's nature is passed on, but only as an evil tendency. God gives
to each individual at the dawn of consciousness a special gift which
will aid him to be righteous if he cooperates with it. Man is not
guilty at all until he commits sin. If he cooperates with God, he
can be righteous. [This view is also held by the Greek Orthodox
Church]
Answer: Man has sinned in Adam and is therefore guilty before he
commits personal sin.
The Federal Head view
(Cocceius and Turretsin, c. 1660): that God made Adam the representative
of the race and entered into covenant with him as Federal Head of
the race. Thus God immediately creates each soul of Adam's posterity
with a corrupt nature which leads to acts of sin and is itself sin.
The corruption of our nature is not the cause of the imputation
of Adam's sin, but the effect of it. We sinned in our representative,
Adam.
Answer: There is no mention in Scripture of this Covenant of Grace
asserted by the Reformed theology's "Covenant theology"
adherents. The theory also impugns the justice of God in representing
Him as immediately creating each soul with a corrupt nature. We
hold that corruption precedes imputation and accounts for it.
The Mediate Imputation
view (Placeus, 1644): that all men are born physically and morally
depraved; that this depravity is the source of all actual sin and
is itself sin.
The physical depravity has descended by natural propagation from
Adam, and the soul is immediately created by God, but it becomes
actively corrupt as soon as it is united with the body. This native
depravity is the only thing God imputes to man, but merely as the
consequence of Adam's sin and not the penalty therefor.
Hence, Adam's sin is imputed mediately, and not immediately. According
to the Federal theory, imputation is the cause of depravity. According
to this theory, depravity is the cause of imputation. Thus, "all
have sinned" by having a sin nature (Rom. 5:12).
Answer: Depravity is made an arbitrary infliction of God, since
we had no part in originating it. Depravity is therefore our misfortune
and not our fault. Thus, it destroys the Scriptural parallelism
between Adam and Christ.
"Mason's Notes"
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