ORIGINAL SIN NATURE and FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM

 

Topics discussed:

·        Original Sin Nature

·        Imputed Sin

·        Federal Headship of Adam and Christ

·        Passages that are often Mistaken as Rejecting Original Sin and Federal Headship of Adam

ALL THE CHILDREN OF ADAM ARE BORN AS A SINNER

DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN: Original sin refers to the sinful nature[1] with which all the children of Adam are born. We are not sinners because we sin; rather, we sin because we are sinners. “The original sin that we are all born with manifests itself throughout our lives in actual sins--the actions, thoughts, and feelings we have that violate God's moral commands.”[2]

SCRIPTURAL PROOFS:

Psalms 58:3: “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.”

Job 15:14: “What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?”

Psalm 51:5: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

Psalms 143:2: “Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.”

Romans 5:12, 15-19: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. ¹⁵….. For if many died through one man's trespass …¹⁷For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man¹⁸Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. ¹⁹For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”

Romans 3:10-18: “None is righteous, no, not one; ¹¹ no one understands; no one seeks for God. ¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” ¹³ “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” ¹⁴ “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” ¹⁵“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ in their paths are ruin and misery, ¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.” ¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

Ephesians 2:1-3: “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ²in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE SINNED IN ADAM (IMPUTED SIN)

DOCTRINE OF IMPUTED SIN: “The guilt of Adam's sin is credited not just to Adam himself, but to us all. We are regarded as having sinned in Adam, and hence as deserving of the same punishment. This is imputed sin.”[3]

SCRIPTURAL PROOFS:

Romans 5:12: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”

Sin (and death) came into the world through one man	Conclusion: Paul seems to be equating the "because all sinned" with "through one man sin entered into the world."[4]
“death spread to all men because all sinned”

Romans 5:13, 14: “for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.”

·       Personal sin was prevalent in the world even before Moses. But Paul adds that these personal sins were not the ultimate reason people died[5], because, “sin is not counted where there is no law”.

·       “People died even though their own individual sins against the Mosaic law were not the reason for dying; they weren't counted. Instead, the reason all died is because all sinned in Adam. Adam's sin was imputed to them.”[6]

Romans 5:15: “For if many died through one man's trespass”

Romans 5:16: “For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation”

Romans 5:17: “For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man”

Romans 5:18: “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men”

Romans 5:19: “For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”

·       This verse provides us with a direct statement of imputation. Paul here says that we are made sinners by the sin of Adam. Due to his disobedience, we are regarded as sinners.[7]

1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all die”

 

ADAM REPRESENTED HUMAN RACE (FEDERAL HEADSHIP)

DOCTRINE OF FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM: Adam was the federal head of mankind in that he represented the whole mankind. We were “in him,” in his seed. When he fell, we fell “in him.”[8]

SCRIPTURAL PROOFS: Same passages which are mentioned in “Imputed Sin”.

EXPLANATION:

“When Adam stood in Eden as a responsible being before God, he stood there as a federal head, as the legal representative of all his posterity. Hence, when Adam sinned, all for whom he was standing are accounted as having sinned; when he fell, all whom he represented fell; when he died, they died…… “For as in Adam all die”[9] (1 Corinthians 15:22).

JESUS REPRESENTED US ON THE CROSS:

“Christians have no problem with Jesus representing us on the cross, but they often reject the idea of Adam representing us in the garden, but to reject one is to reject the other. Is it fair for Jesus, who committed no sin, to become sin for us and represent us on the cross? Think about it. That is exactly what happened, yet those who deny that Adam represented us in the Garden readily accept that Jesus represented us on the cross. They are inconsistent.”[10]

Isaiah 53:4, 5: “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

Romans 5:18: “one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”

Romans 5:19: “by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”

·       A person who believes in Christ is imputed with the perfect obedience of Christ. Bible teaches that God justifies us solely on the basis of Christ’s perfect obedience (and not on the basis of our “righteous” works).

1 Corinthians 15:22: “in Christ shall all be made alive.”

PASSAGES THAT ARE OFTEN MISTAKEN AS REJECTING THE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN AND FEDERAL HEADSHIP OF ADAM

Deuteronomy 24:16: ““Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.”

Ezekiel 18:4: “Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.”

Ezekiel 18:20: “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”

2 Chronicles 25:3, 4: “And as soon as the royal power was firmly his, he killed his servants who had struck down the king his father. ⁴But he did not put their children to death, according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the Lord commanded, “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor children die because of their fathers, but each one shall die for his own sin.””

·       Ezekiel 16:4, 20; 2 Chronicles 25:3, 4 is recounting Deuteronomy 24:16.

·       Deuteronomy 24:16 is dealing with legal matters as context 24:6-19 shows. Deuteronomy 24 is talking about how things should be in civil society. And in the context of society (in the court), sons should not be punished (put to death) for the sins of their fathers. So, this passage(s) isn't dealing with imputation and sin nature but is about actual sins committed by each individual and is dealing with capital punishment as it relates to civil society.

·       Therefore, these passages do not contradict the biblical principles of federal headship of Adam and Christ as well as the original sin nature of Adam’s descendants.

REFERENCES & RECOMMENDED ARTICLES:

Monergism: https://www.monergism.com/adam-and-federal-headship

CARM: https://carm.org/women-in-ministry/is-adam-our-federal-head/

Desiring God: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-biblical-evidence-for-original -sin

Desiring God: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-biblical-evidence-for-the-imputation-of-adams-sin

Desiring God: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-difference-between-original-sin-and-imputed-sin

 

 

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[1] Therefore, Original Sin Nature is the correct term.

[2] Desiring God, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-difference-between-original-sin-and-imputed-sin

[3]Desiring God, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-difference-between-original-sin-and-imputed-sin

[4]Desiring God, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-biblical-evidence-for-the-imputation-of-adams-sin

[5]Ibid.

[6]John Piper, "Adam, Christ, and Justification: Part 2"

[7]Desiring God, https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-biblical-evidence-for-the-imputation-of-adams-sin

[8]CARM, https://carm.org/women-in-ministry/is-adam-our-federal-head/

[9] A. W. Pink. The Adamic Covenant. https://www.monergism.com/adam-and-federal-headship

[10] CARM, https://carm.org/women-in-ministry/is-adam-our-federal-head/