hypocrites and backsliders: lesson 018

Hypocrites and Backsliders:Lesson 018

Blame it on the Woman: How The First Sin in Genesis Produced

Hypocrites and Backsliders

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Genesis 3 Exegesis• This passage provides the foundation for the

doctrine of original sin, for from this point on all human beings were born sinners.

• Our individual, personal sins are the result of that sin nature.

• A clear way to understand this is to recognize that as an apple tree can only bear apples, and nothing else; likewise, a sinner can only procreate sinners.

• If I inherited life from Adam, I also inherited a sin nature from him--since Adam's sin, life and a sin nature have been inseparable.

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Genesis 3 Exegesis• Being born a sinner brings with it the penalty

of eternal banishment, and the only way into eternal life is through the spiritual birth that Jesus explained to Nicodemus.

• Do you see how foundational this is to the Gospel?

• If humanity were not automatically all lost, then Christ would not have needed to die on the cross; in fact could not have saved us by doing so.

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Genesis 3 Exegesis• The root of sin is selfishness. • This can be expressed many ways, but when

distilled it comes back to Satan's five "I wills" (Isa 14:13-14)

• Eve said: "I will be wise, I will satisfy my appetite (flesh), I will make something of myself."

• She put herself before God. • That is selfishness; it is also disobedience; the

former is the root of sin, the latter the sin.

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Genesis 3 Exegesis• So, what does God say? You’re dead! I told

you so!• No, they know they are dead, that’s why they

covered themselves and hid.• He goes straight to the consequences of

their death - Condemnation through Procreation.

• Not their condemnation, but that of every human to come from the mating of male and female.

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Genesis 3 Exegesis• Genesis 3.16. God addresses the woman.• I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing: • Greatly multiply translates a Hebrew intensive

construction: “I will very much increase, make worse your pain.”

• Pain translates a word meaning “trouble, difficulty, labor.”

• Childbearing is literally “conception.”

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Genesis 3 Exegesis• The focus is not upon conception but rather upon

the state of pregnancy, and so, “I will make your pregnancies painful,” or “… increase your pain in pregnancy.”

• In pain you shall bring forth children: the word pain is the same as above but the reference is to labor pains that accompany childbirth.

• The pain of pregnancy and childbirth is representative and remindful of the transmission of The Sin and The Death.

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Genesis 3 Exegesis

• Skip ahead to Genesis 3.20.

• The man called his wife’s name Eve:

• Eve is the English representation of Hebrew chawah and, as the tev note says, “sounds similar to the Hebrew word for ‘living,’ which is rendered in this context as ‘human beings.’ ”

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Genesis 3 Exegesis• Because she was the mother of all living is a popular

explanation of Eve’s Hebrew name. • All living refers here to all the descendants of Adam and

Eve, or “all human beings” (tev). • Mother of all living is used figuratively, since Eve obviously

did not give birth to “all human beings.” • However, the emphasis is that all human beings trace their

ancestry back to her and Adam.• “she was the ancestral mother of all people,”

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Genetic Sin and Genetic Death

• Eve as the Mother of all human beings is reported here to emphasize that what they have done will have genetic repercussions.

• Now let’s look at the explanation of those genetic repercussions:

• Romans 5:12 Because of this, even as through one man the sin did enter into the world, and through the sin the death; and thus to all men the death did pass through, for that all did sin;

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• Romans 5:12 “Through one man”• Sin is personified as invading the world of

humanity from the outside. • And as the federal head of the human race,

the first man Adam brought sin upon mankind genetically through the sin nature.

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• Adam’s sin is genetically transferred

(Ingressive Aorist tense) to the rest of the

human race by physical birth, thereby

implicating us all in his original sin.

• As his descendants, we inherit his

transgression by procreation.

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• By genetic propagation, all men have sinned (Constative Aorist tense) against the Lord.

• And as a result of this genetically transmitted sin nature, all men have sinned against Him behaviorally, as exact imitators of their forefather, Adam the first.

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• By the Fall a fundamental change took place in the structure of Adam whereby he became a sinner, one constitutionally unable to please God; and the family likeness which we all share is no merely superficial one but extends to our inward character also.

• We have been " constituted sinners ". • How did this come about? • "By the disobedience of one", says Paul.

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• It is birth that counts. • So I am a sinner because I am born in

Adam. • It is a matter not of my behavior but of my

heredity, my parentage. • I am not a sinner because I sin, but I sin

because I come from the wrong “Family”. • I sin because I am a sinner.

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• So we are all involved in Adam's sin, and by being born "in Adam " we receive from him all that he became as a result of his sin-that is to say, the Adam-nature which is the nature of a sinner.

• We derive our existence from him, and because his life became a sinful life, a sinful nature, therefore the nature which we derive from him is also sinful.

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• If we view the sentence beginning with verse 12, recaptured (as to essence) in verse 18a, and completed in verse 18b, the apostle states, � 笛 ust as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, since all sinned; that is, as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all men, so also one act of righteousness resulted for all men in justification issuing in life.�

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• You cannot help being “In Adam,” for this came by your first birth over which you had no control. “

• But you can help staying “In Adam,” for you can experience a second birth - new birth from above - that will put you “In Christ.”

• This is why Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7).

• Many make the mistake of missing the importance of “birth”.

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• It is true that most witnessing tracts and training try to convince a man he is a sinner, with the favorite verse Romans 3:23, where it says that "all have sinned"; but this use of the verse is not justified by the Scriptures.

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• Those who so use it are in danger of arguing the wrong way, for the teaching of Romans is not that we are sinners because we commit sins, but that we sin because we are sinners.

• We are sinners by constitution rather than by action.

• As Romans 5:19 expresses it: " Through the one man's disobedience the many were made (or 'constituted') sinners.

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• They then make the logical mistake of making “your personal sins” the issue in salvation.

• The only 2 relevant aspects of “personal sins” in salvation are:

• 1. The unbeliever can recognize he is a sinner by birth because he is a sinner in actions.

• 2. Christ paid the penalty for all personal sins on the cross, so they are not an issue in salvation.

• Hence, they are not the subject of “Repentance”, for example, nor in our Salvation Security.

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• Paul has now brought this around full circle in explaining the “How” of Romans 3:23.

• 23 for all did sin, and are come short of the glory of God (YLT)

• “Come short of the Glory of God” is the emphasis of the verse -

• “short of the glory of God” = you can’t have ‘face to face’ with God because you are not like Him

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• And Paul has explained the “Why” of Romans 3:11

• “There is no Jew or Gentile who understands, there is no Jew or Gentile who seeks for God.”

• Because it is not about Abraham, or Law, or conscience or creation wonder (The first 3 chapters of Romans), but about our Genetics!

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• When Adam sinned, we all sinned. • Adam was the seminal head of the whole human

race. • One decision affected a whole lot of people

everyone ever born. • If we had been there, we would have done the

same thing. (R.B. Thieme, Jr.) • Sin and death come from the first Adam, and

righteousness and life from the Last Adam. (K. Lamb)

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• Sin originated in the angelic world, with Satan (the Adversary, represented in the Garden of Eden by the serpent); and in man it was introduced through Adam.

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• “Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord, my God, mine Holy One? Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity” (Habakkuk 1:12, 13).

• This is the very definition of “Spiritual Death”!

• God cannot look at you - you are not like HIM.

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• Paul compared the manner in which The Death entered the world, through the sin, and the manner in which it spread to everyone, also through The Death.

• The Death is universal; it is part of every individual born alive into this world.

• The Death is the absence of Spiritual Life. • Its natural consequence is Physical Death -

physical death to show us where the problem lies: in our Flesh, in the Dust.

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• Romans 5:12 “And through the sin the death”• Solidarity in guilt implies solidarity in death, here,

as in I Cor. 15:22, with emphasis on physical death as the evidence of spiritual death.

• Sin and death cannot be separated, as is clear from Gen. 2:17; 3:17-19; Rom. 1:32; I Cor. 15:22.

• In Adam all sinned; in Adam all died. • The process of dying, and this not only for Adam

but for the race, began the moment Adam sinned.

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• Romans 5:12 “And through the sin the death”

• Because God decreed certain death as the punishment for sin Genesis 2:16-17 (YLT) 16 And Jehovah God layeth a charge on the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden eating thou dost eat; 17 and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it dying thou dost die.”

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• “That is, when death entered the species, it went throughout the species, affecting every cell of everyone.

• The reason why death affects all, Paul says, is that all sinned genetically in Adam.

• Here Adam is looked upon as the federal head of the race, and that when he sinned, all of humanity sinned in him.” (Wuest)

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• It is not our sins which stop us from inheriting the Kingdom of God, but our flesh and blood (1 Cor. 15:50).

• 1 Corinthians 15:50 (YLT) 50 And this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood the reign of God is not able to inherit, nor doth the corruption inherit the incorruption.

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• Since infants die, and therefore the effect of sin is present in their case, it is but natural to assume that the cause is also present.

• (Obviously, it cannot be “personal sins” for babies who die at birth.)

• Scripture also teaches that all men are under condemnation and therefore need the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

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• Acts 17:26 (YLT) 26 He made also of one blood every nation of men, to dwell upon all the face of the earth—having ordained times before appointed, and the bounds of their dwellings—


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• 1 Corinthians 15:38-39 (YLT) 38 and God doth give to it a body according as He willed, and to each of the seeds its proper body. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another of fishes, and another of birds;

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• 1 Corinthians 15:47-49 (YLT) 47 The first man is out of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord out of heaven; 48 as is the earthy, such are also the earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are also the heavenly; 49 and, according as we did bear the image of the earthy, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly.

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Genetic Sin and Genetic Death• 12 “Because of this, even as through one man the sin did

enter into the world, and through the sin the death; and thus to all men the death did pass through, for that all did sin;

• (17 for if by the offence of the one the death did reign through the one)

• (18 So, then, as through one offence to all men it is to condemnation)

• (19 for as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners)

• 1 Corinthians 15:22 (YLT) 22 for even as in Adam all die

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• Just as through one man [Adam] the sin nature entered into the world and the spiritual death [resulting in separation from God] through the sin nature, and so the spiritual death [separation from God because of a sinful nature] spread throughout all men [by means of human procreation at conception], because all mankind [genetically] sinned when Adam sinned. (Corrected and Amplified translation)

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• Why was Adam responsible for the sinfulness of the race when it was really Eve who sinned first?

• Because Adam was the person in authority over her and therefore responsible for Eve (Gen. 2:18-23).

• 1 Timothy 2:13-14 (YLT) 13 for Adam was first formed, then Eve, 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been deceived, into transgression came,

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• In order for Adam to develop into a responsible and loving companion to God, not a mere automaton or slave, it was necessary that God give him a choice: to accept God’s will -- the way of eternal life; or to reject God’s will -- the way of eternal death.

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• Paul compared the manner in which The Death entered the world, through the sin, and the manner in which it spread to everyone, also through The Death.

• The Death is universal; it is part of every individual born alive into this world.

• The Death is the absence of Spiritual Life. • Its natural consequence is Physical Death.”

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• “That is, when death entered the species, it went throughout the species, affecting every cell of everyone. The reason why death affects all, Paul says, is that all sinned genetically in Adam. Here Adam is looked upon as the federal head of the race, and that when he sinned, all of humanity sinned in him.” (Wuest)

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• 1 Corinthians 15:22 (YLT) 22 for even as in Adam all die, so also in the Christ all shall be made alive,

• 1 Corinthians 15:45 (YLT) 45 so also it hath been written, “The first man Adam became a living creature, the last Adam is for a life-giving spirit,

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• It is Adam’s initial sin that constituted him a sinner in which all human beings participated, and which brings death upon all.

• In other words, we are sinners, not because we have committed acts of sin, but because Adam sinned. (Wuest)

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• 19 for as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners: so also through the obedience of the one, shall the many be constituted righteous. 20 And law came in, that the offence might abound, and where the sin did abound, the grace did overabound, 21 that even as the sin did reign in the death, so also the grace may reign, through righteousness, to life age-during, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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Romans 5:21

• 21 that even as the sin did reign in the death,

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• Romans 7:18 (ESV) 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

• In my FLESH!

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• "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other" (Gal 5:17)

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• 1 Corinthians 15:45 (YLT) 45 so also it hath been written, “The first man Adam became a living creature, the last Adam is for a life-giving spirit,

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• 1 Timothy 2:13-14 (YLT) 13 for Adam was first formed, then Eve, 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman, having been deceived, into transgression came,

• “In Adam sinning, all sinned”. - Nygren: • Paul’s main idea is entirely clear and

beyond doubt: it was through one man, Adam, that all men are sinners and are subject to death.

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• This does not mean that our sinful nature or our many actual sins are unimportant to Paul.

• Nor does it mean that he is indifferent to the importance of individual responsibility.

• It simply means that these things are not why we are dead and “Sinners”.

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• I Cor. 15:22 鄭 s in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

• Rom. 5:15 “By reason of the trespass of the one the many died.”

• He obviously means that the entire human race was included in Adam, so that when Adam sinned, all sinned; when the process of death began to ruin him, it immediately affected the entire race.

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• And thus, at physical birth, every person is physically alive but separated from God.

• God is perfect, man is imperfect. • A perfect God cannot have a relationship

with an imperfect creature.

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• Romans 5:12 (Short form Corrected) • “Just as through one man [Adam] the Sin

Nature entered into the world, and the resultant spiritual death, as evidenced by physical death, is genetically transferred to all men because all sinned when Adam sinned.”

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Romans 5:12

hypocrites and backsliders: lesson 018

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