ORIGINAL SIN

 

ORIGINAL SIN 

Westminster Shorter Catechism 17

Quest: Into what estate did the Fall bring Mankind?

Ans: The Fall brought mankind into a state of sin and misery.

Westminster Shorter Catechism 18

Quest: Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate wherein man fell?

Ans: The sinfulness of that estate wherein man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Original Sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

Introduction

When we looked at how all of mankind sinned when Adam sinned his first sin, we saw that the world is in the state it’s in today because we all sinned in Adam. Death, decay, sin and misery on the planet earth and throughout creation is on account of Adam’s first sin.

We were also reminded of the good news that God has set about redeeming us from our sins and His creation from the effects of man’s sin in Jesus Christ. But the main thing we looked at was how the guilt of Adam’s first sin was transferred to all his offspring, even you and me. We saw that Adam was representing each one of us in the Covenant of Works in the Garden. And as such, his first sin was imputed or credited to us by God, because Adam as our representative broke that Covenant. And we also saw that this meant that each of us has inherited death from Adam.

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What we’re looking at in the following is a subject theologians call Original Sin. A lot of people think Original Sin refers to Adam’s first sin. But this isn’t quite what is meant by the term. Original Sin has more to do with the sinful nature each of us inherits on account of Adam’s first sin, which is to say that God does not call us sinners because we sin. Rather, we sin because we are sinners by nature. We sin because of what we are in Adam. We are sinners. A bird flies because of what it is. It is a flier. A fish swims because of what it is. It is a swimmer. A man sins because of what he is. He is a sinner. Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&As 17 and 18 deal with this.

Original Sin

The result of Adam’s first sin: Adam’s first sin resulted in sin and misery for all Mankind, including you and me. As Romans 5:12,18a,19a says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned … Therefore, as through one man’s offence judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation … By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.”

We see then that our forefather Adam was the man who opened up the gate and let sin and its partner misery enter the world. It was through our Natural Head, Adam, that mankind became the “living dead”, or, as they say about criminals on the way to execution, “Dead Men Walking.”

From God’s side, this meant that God, on account of Adam’s first sin, placed the entire human race under judgment or condemnation. We became cursed of God when Adam sinned. And because we are cursed or condemned, (i.e., are under God’s judgment), we suffer from sin and misery in this life. As the catechism says, “The Fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.”

As sinners, what is our lot in life? Sin and misery! Now, this isn’t to say that human beings in this estate have no enjoyment. Of course they do. As a bird loves to fly and a fish loves to swim, so a sinner loves to sin! Fallen man takes a great deal of pleasure in sinning, doesn’t he? As a pig loves to wallow in the mud, so fallen man loves to wallow in sin. Fallen man loves to roll about in, and be submersed in, sin.

What is sin? Sin is the transgression of God’s Law. So, in Adam, (i.e., those who are outside of Christ), mankind delights in breaking God’s Ten Commandments. To be sure, not all men and women break all Ten Commandments outwardly. But inwardly is another kettle of fish entirely. And that’s what we’re talking about. We’re not so much talking about kettles of fish, but cans of worms.

When Adam first sinned, he opened up a big can of worms. He brought mankind into the realm of dirt, decay, and death. He brought us out of the estate of righteousness and joy. And into an estate of sin and misery.

So, Westminster Shorter Catechism 18 asks, Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate wherein man fell? To which it replies: The sinfulness of that estate wherein man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Original Sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

1.     We inherited the guilt of Adam’s first sin (which we have looked at above).

2.     We have also lost our original righteousness (which we have looked at above).

3.     Our whole nature has been corrupted (which we’ll look at in the following).

4.     Our actual transgressions proceed from our corrupt nature.

So then, it sounds like we’re in a bit of a mess (to understate it!). Our whole nature is corrupt. We are Totally Depraved as the “T” in the T.U.L.I.P. acronym says, which is to say that there is not one aspect or corner of our whole being that has not been corrupted by sin. This means that we ought not to trust ourselves but rather trust the God who made us. And is this not what is meant by Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”? Our mind, our ability of understanding, has been darkened by the Fall. This is what is meant by Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9).

Our heart, our faculty for making decisions, has become corrupted by the Fall. “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5), Every aspect of our heart and mind, our whole being is inclined toward sin. So, we see that Original Sin refers to our corrupt nature in our unregenerate state. When Adam sinned, we fell into an estate of degeneracy, i.e. the estate of sin and misery.

What is Man’s chief end? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Does Man in his unregenerate state do this? Does he glorify God? Does he enjoy God? You’d have to answer “No!” to that, wouldn’t you? But why doesn’t he glorify God and enjoy Him? Well, it’s because of Original Sin, his corrupt nature.

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If you had a pure, clean and clear glass of water and you put a drop of poison in it, would the whole contents of the glass be contaminated? Of course it would. Well, that’s kind of what our nature has become like. To be sure, we might not all be poisoned full strength, like battery acid or whatever. For some unregenerate people do seem less polluted by sin than others. However, the poison of Adam’s first sin has permeated our whole being. None of us, apart from Christ, has escaped that poisoning.

What do we know thus far? The Catechism questions refer to Original Sin and Actual Transgressions, or, if you will, Original Sin and Actual Sin. Well, we know that Original Sin refers to our corrupt nature. For as David the Psalmist says of himself (which is also true for every one of us), “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psa. 51:5). We inherit Original Sin, i.e. a corrupt nature, from the moment of our conception. And this Original Sin springs from our connection with Adam and his first sin. “Adam’s first sin” is simply just another term for the Fall. We all became corrupt in the Fall. This then, is Original Sin. It is our corrupt nature. Actual Sin is what comes out of our own sinful hearts, that which flows from our corrupt nature.

Actual Sin

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If you’ve ever seen a sewer drain bubble over, you’ll be getting the picture. Actual Sin is what springs from a polluted and poisoned heart. According to Scripture, the unregenerate heart of every human being (apart from Jesus) is like this. Instead of being springs of pure, clear, living water (the kind you see on a Scottish hillside after heavy rain), in the eyes of God we are like overflowing sewers.

But even this Actual Sin can be traced all the way back to Adam’s first sin, i.e. the Fall. So, Original Sin means at least three things,

1.     That we are liable to punishment for Adam’s first Sin, i.e. the Fall.

2.     Fallen Man lacks the desire to do right, i.e. keep God’s Law.

3.     Fallen Man has a positive inclination to do wrong.

What does this mean in practical terms? Well, it means that Fallen Man is under the condemnation of God, which is another way of stating that the unregenerate exist in the estate of sin and misery. And as such, is proof that he is liable to punishment for Adam’s first Sin, i.e. the Fall.

How can fallen man truly be happy when he knows in his heart that he has to die and face the judgment of God? How can fallen man truly be happy when he spends his whole life trying to suppress this knowledge? He tries to deny the fact that he’s fallen. He even tries to deny the fact that Adam ever existed! We see this expressed by the invention of theories such as the Theory of Evolution, which tries to say that we are not descended from Adam, but rather some sub-human creature. The Theory of Evolution, which is an offshoot of Naturalism, even denies the very need of a Designer or Creator.

And there are of course other false religions. They are legion! They invent their own god or gods; idols produced in corrupt hearts. Fallen Man is enslaved by his false gods; idols made in his own image and likeness. Make no mistake, false gods are the product of fallen man’s own corrupt imagination. And all of this is simply on account of Actual Sin, which is the outflow of Original Sin. Therefore, it is all deserving of the punishment of God.

The Lord’s Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2:1 that fallen man is dead in his trespasses and sins. He says that while in this estate or condition we conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh. Then he says in Ephesians 2:3b that we were “fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by NATURE children of wrath.”

So, Fallen Man, by his very nature, is under the condemning wrath of God. He is dead in his trespasses in sins and conducts himself in accordance with his dead nature. This is the estate of sin and misery in which he exists. Then he dies and awaits the Final Judgment. So, we see then, that Fallen Man is indeed liable to punishment for Adam’s first Sin, i.e. the Fall.

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Now, the next thing is that Fallen Man lacks the desire to do right, i.e. keep God’s Law. How should we illustrate this? Take veal. Apparently, veal comes from a calf that is kept motionless in a stall. It eats and drinks, but it cannot exercise itself. It’s kept this way so that its meat will be tender on your plate when it is finally slaughtered. Fallen Man is a bit like a veal calf. But the main difference is that Fallen Man would rather stay in the constricting stall, than step out and worship the God who made him. Fallen Man would rather face the abattoir, the slaughter, i.e. Final Judgment, than serve God.

This is all on account of Original Sin which manifests itself in Actual Sin. Again, Genesis 6:5b, “Every intent of the thoughts of [fallen man’s] heart [is] only evil continually.” Or as Jesus says in Matthew 15:19, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” Or as the Apostle Paul says in Galatians 5:19-21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissentions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like.” I wonder if he missed anything out! But we can see that Paul covers inward corruptions as well as the outward. Most of the works of the flesh can take place in the heart as well as in the street! Scripture makes it very clear then, that Fallen Man lacks the desire to do right, i.e. keep God’s Law.

And finally, Fallen Man has a positive inclination to do wrong. Not only does he lack any desire to do what is right, but also, he has a bias towards what is wrong. And of course, the Scriptures, especially the Ten Commandments, spell out what is right and what is wrong. Jesus refers to this kind of thing in Luke 6:45b-46 where He says, “An evil man out of the treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” Would Jesus ever tell you to do anything contrary to God’s will, as laid out in the Ten Commandments? But these Fallen Men to whom Jesus is speaking are just spewing forth evil from their hearts like a broken sewer pipe! They are not doing what Jesus is saying to them. Rather they are doing what their corrupt nature is saying to them.

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In the Sixties the saying was “Do your own thing, Man!” In the Seventies it was: “If it feels good, do it!” In the Eighties it was: “Everybody’s doing it!” From the Nineties onward and into the 21^st century the heart of Fallen Man has not changed. It is still bent toward doing its “own thing” and not God’s will.

The Bible says that “The carnal mind [i.e. the fallen mind] is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are of the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:7-8). Enmity against God means war with God! And when you are at war you must physically fight against your enemy.

Also, 1 Corinthians 2:14 says that, “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.” To consider the things of the Spirit of God as “foolishness” is to be at war with God! It is to display or manifest a positive inclination to do wrong.

Conclusion

We’ve seen that, as a bird flies because it is a flier, as a fish swims because it is a swimmer, so a man sins because of what he is - a sinner! He is a sinner on account of Original Sin and Actual Sin, i.e., his own actual sin. According to Roderick Lawson Original Sin includes at least three things: “Liability to punishment for Adam’s first Sin, i.e. for the Fall. Lack of desire to do right, i.e. keep God’s Law. A positive inclination to do wrong… Actual Sin springs directly from our own evil hearts.”[1]

We’ve considered something of WSC Q&As 17: Into what estate did the Fall bring Mankind? To which it answers: The Fall brought mankind into a state of sin and misery. And Q&A 18: Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate wherein man fell? To which it replies: The sinfulness of that estate wherein man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called Original Sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

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[1] Roderick Lawson, The Shorter Catechism with Commentary and Scripture Proofs, (Free Church of Scotland Publications Committee, no date), Edinburgh, 16.