There is coming a day when there will be no more death, with the exception of the second death where all those condemned will spend eternity. But, for those who will dwell in the eternal city of God and who are members of the ongoing human race there will be no more death. By a necessary implication we can affirm that there will also be no more sin. Wherever there is sin there is death, for "the wages of sin is death." (Rom. 6: 23) If there is a time coming when there is no more death, there must be no more sin. Sin will be impossible. In the previous chapter we saw how God will ensure that sin, either indwelling sin or overt transgression, will one day no longer be possible. But, what about "original sin"? Consider this question in light of three statements in the Apocalypse: 1) there will "be no death" (Rev. 2: 4), 2) "there will be no more curse" (Rev. 22: 3), "behold I make all things new." (Rev. 21: 5).
For those who believe that there will no longer be a self propagating human race after Christ comes, or after the millennial reign, the problem of original sin is no problem. With the end of the human race being what it was originally constituted, there is of course no one being born, and thus no one being born in sin or guilty of the sin of Adam. But, in the earlier chapters we took the position, in agreement with Seiss, that the human race will continue throughout the ages to come. If that is true, then we must address the question as to whether people will continue to be born in sin, whether they will be "shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin" (Psa. 51: 5).
When Paul affirms in Romans chapter five that "all die" as a result of being condemned by Adam's sin, does he not mean all his offspring? If that is so, then it seems that the human race, if it continues on indefinitely generation after generation will not be free of sin, and if not free of sin, then not free from death. One of two things must ensue at this point. Either original sin must be eliminated, no longer being reckoned or imputed to men, or the idea of an ongoing human race must be denied. Here we see how eschatology (doctrine of last things) effects both hamartiology (doctrine of sin) and soteriology (doctrine of salvation).
I believe that when it is affirmed by the apostle that "in Adam all die" (Rom. 5 and I Cor. 15: 22), he means all that Adam represented, which would include every human being born of his seed up until the time when he "makes all things new" and when "there is no more curse" and "death no more." Further, the fact that Christ was not born with original sin shows that not all the seed of Adam are condemned by the sin of Adam. Adam did not represent Christ. This shows that God is at liberty to impute or not impute the sin of Adam whenever it pleases him. Some believe that original sin is accounted to children when born through the human father's seed, and Christ not having a human biological father did not have original sin reckoned to his account. Both ideas seem to be true.
Further, a good case can be made for the proposition that Christ sacrificial death for sin actually canceled man's debt of original sin. The only thing remaining relates to the time when this cancellation will occur, when God will no longer account humans sinners at birth. That seems to occur following the millennial age when all things are made new and there is no longer curse or death. If the human race, as a race, is "redeemed," then this must include the eradication or non imputation of the sin of Adam.
Some bible scholars think that John 1: 29 affirms that Christ atoned for original sin so that no one is condemned for it any longer. That text reads as follows: "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (nkjv) The word "sin" is singular and not plural (sins) and may well indeed be "the sin of the world" of the text.
Surely "original sin" is a "curse" reckoned against the entire human race. But, a day is coming when there will be "no more curse," therefore there will no longer be any imputation of the sin of Adam. So also will other consequences of sin be no more. Women will no longer bear children in pain and travail. They will no longer be dominated by men. Men will no longer toil the ground or work by the sweat of their faces, the ground no longer being cursed.
If all things are to be made new, why would this exclude the human race as a race? Surely making the human race new would involve the elimination of original sin.
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