Hello,<\/p>\n
I am a baptized believer. I often use your website, so a big thanks to you all for the great work being done. I have one question about the doctrine of the sin of Adam. Mostly we hear that we do not suffer for the sin of the father. However, Adam sinned and we lost paradise. How is that not the consequence of the first sins? Respectfully, do you have any insights? Many times we are looked at strangely by denominations who seem to see this rather more clearly than ourselves.<\/p>\n\t
“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself<\/em>” (Ezekiel 18:20).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What is typically stated among the denominations is that mankind inherited Adam’s sin or his sinful nature. That is not taught in the Bible, but that doesn’t mean that when someone sins, those not involved in the sin do not experience the consequences of another person’s sins. When a drunken driver plows into the car of a family going down the highway, the family shares in the consequence of the drunk’s sins, even though they are not guilty of that man’s sins. When David committed sin with Bathsheba, the child of that adulterous relationship died as a consequence of David’s sin — not his own sin. “However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die<\/em>” (II Samuel 12:14). Yet, that child was innocent and David looked forward to being with the child in heaven one day. “But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me<\/em>” (II Samuel 12:23). The nature of sin is that its consequences often extend far beyond the sphere of the person committing the sin.<\/p>\n
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned– For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come<\/em>” (Romans 5:12-14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Paul states that one man, Adam, opened the door to sin and death. But Paul does not state in this passage that sin and death are inherited; instead, he describes sin as spreading like a disease. He even states the reason why: “because all sinned.<\/em>” The belief that sin was inherited would require “because all were born.” Further, Paul states everyone is not necessarily guilty of the same sins as Adam. But if sin was inherited, we would be all guilty of the same sin. Further note that verse 13 states that sin is imputed because of law — not inheritance. That is because sin is the breaking of the law (I John 3:4).<\/p>\n
Often the word “imputed” is misunderstood. People treat it as if it means something is passed from one person to another; yet, that is not its definition. Impute means to consider a person as having some attribute even though he does not possess it.<\/p>\n\t
Response:<\/h2>\n
Thank you very much, and especially for the meaning of “imputed.”<\/p>\n
All the best.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Hello, I am a baptized believer. I often use your website, so a big thanks to you all for the great work being done. I have one question about the doctrine of the sin of Adam. Mostly we hear that we do not suffer for the sin of the father. However, Adam sinned and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[1196,113],"class_list":["post-50780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-inherited-sins","tag-original-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19792,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-jesus-be-sinless-when-he-was-born-of-mary\/","url_meta":{"origin":50780,"position":0},"title":"How could Jesus be sinless when he was born of Mary?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As Mary was the mother of Jesus, she was also, like all of us, a descendant of Adam and Eve. Even though Mary was a virgin, she was in human flesh as Adam and Eve and of sin nature. How can it be said Jesus was without sin after\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39449,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/total-hereditary-depravity-and-ezekiel-1820\/","url_meta":{"origin":50780,"position":1},"title":"Total Hereditary Depravity and Ezekiel 18:20","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 25, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bryan Sharp \"The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself\" (Ezekiel 18:20). Guilt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33561,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-christ-die-for-sinners-if-we-dont-inherit-sin-from-adam\/","url_meta":{"origin":50780,"position":2},"title":"How could Christ die for sinners if we don’t inherit sin from Adam?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I came across your website doing a bit of research regarding sin and the choices we make. I am a little confused by your statement that we are not born sinners. I am under the understanding that sin has been passed on through Adam and Eve, e.g. irrational\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21808,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-men-born-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":50780,"position":3},"title":"Aren’t men born sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm just emailing about a little something I found in an article of yours. It's answering a question about where the Word talks about\u00a0all men being equal. Not to be picky, but it says in the article we are all born without sin, which isn't true. One of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45587,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-jesus-bear-our-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":50780,"position":4},"title":"How could Jesus bear our sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I need help answering a question. I know I can always count on you to help me out. \"The soul that sins dies. The son does not bear the iniquity of the father, and the father does not bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1593,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-proof-is-there-that-mary-was-born-without-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":50780,"position":5},"title":"What proof is there that Mary was born without sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What proof is there that Mary was born without sin? Answer: Every person in the world is born without sin. Catholicism and most forms of Protestantism teach that Adam and Eve's fall brought sin into the world and that sin is passed down from generation to generation. 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