“I
Believed, and Therefore Have I Spoken” 2 Cor. 4:13
(Editor's
Note. — We here republish again what we deem to be one of the best, most
comprehensive, clear, and concise articles ever written on the
subject of the inherited sin-state that pertains to mankind since the
transgression in Eden. There has perhaps been more misunderstanding and misteaching
on this subject than on any other fundamental doctrine of Scripture
held by our community. We have quite a few new readers among us
who, we feel, will find the article very helpful; and many who have read
it before will, we think, be glad of the opportunity to peruse it again.
We feel that the article is as needful now as it ever was.)
Importance of the Treatise of Sin
The Origin of Sin in the Flesh
The Attitude of the Deity Toward Sin in the Flesh
The Relation of Jesus to Sin in the Flesh
Necessary for Jesus to Offer Himself
The Teaching of Dr. Thomas and Brother Roberts
The
perfection, beauty, and grandeur of things divine, cause one to hesitate with a
feeling to inability and unworthiness to undertake their exposition. But though
we may be insufficient, we can only be ennobled by a noble work. And though we
may be prompted to leave the work to those more worthy and more able, yet when
we consider those who are less well informed—perhaps because of less favorable
opportunities, we are encouraged in the undertaking. For surely it is
commendable, if not a duty, for those who have more, to share with those who
have less.
It
is perhaps regrettable that it should be necessary to dwell upon any principle
of the Truth, when there are so many interesting advanced phases of Scripture
teaching that
might very profitably receive our attention.
But,
as someone has said, "A thing is never too often repeated which is never
sufficiently learned". It is only too evident that such is the situation
with respect to the subject of this treatise.
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Importance of the Treatise
of Sin
Taking
a restricted view of the matter, the Bible relates to just two subjects. Sin
and Righteousness: sin and its effects; righteousness, its benefits and
rewards. These, in their elaboration, are the theme of the Scriptures.
Therefore, the better informed we are upon these two subjects, the more
complete and satisfactory our knowledge of God's revealed purpose; and the
better qualified we shall be to overcome sin, to live acceptably in the sight
of God, who is the perfection of righteousness and holiness; so that at last we
may receive "a crown of righteousness at the appearing of the Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ".
Today,
humanity at large is often deaf to instruction and impatient of control, so
that, as the coming of the Lord draws near, we have greater need than ever to
be on guard against the manifold allurements of the flesh, whether in example
or in precept. In a word, we should know the character of the enemy we have to
fight, lest we be taken unawares. We should be able to detect danger when we
see it, having our "senses exercised to discern both good and evil",
that we may erect proper safe guards for our own safety, and the protection of
those whose eternal weal may depend somewhat upon us.
We
read that Jesus "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”, that he was
"manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil" (Heb. 9:26;
1 John 3:8). Therefore, to be ignorant of the subject of sin, as defined in the
Scriptures of truth, would be ignorance of the purpose of God as fulfilled in
Christ. The Scriptures will not support us in thinking that those who, for reasons
of sentiment or policy, refuse to face the truth of these vital subjects, are
the people for God's eternal purpose.
If
our information as to these matters has been incomplete or incorrect, or if we,
after having known the truth, have let it slip away, "through the sleight
of men", now, "today", let us retrieve it that our faith may not
be faulty in a Fundamental Principle.
Let us put a true estimate upon "the corruption that is in the
world through lust". Let us hold fast the truth concerning the offering of
the Lamb of God upon the altar of our faith by which we have been given (by the
grace of God) the priceless hope of eternal salvation.
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John
defines sin as "the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). God's
laws are but an expression of his own will, a manifestation of his own
character. God is perfect and righteous in all his attributes; and that only
which is perfect can be entirely well-pleasing in his sight. And inasmuch as
God is righteous, just, and holy, that which is not righteous, just, and holy,
is out of harmony with God; is sinful, because it is at variance with, or
contrary to, the mind, will, and purpose of God.
The
very word "religion" means "to bind again", or bring into
unity with God. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). "For it pleased the Father that in him
should all fullness dwell; and having made peace through the blood of his
cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they
be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the
body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and
unreproveable in his sight" (Col. 1:19-22).
An
examination and comparison of the Scriptures will show that "God looketh
on the heart", and that one may transgress God's righteous laws even in
thought, as well as in word or in deed. (See Mat. 5:28, and compare the
following: Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Lev. 19:17; Psa. 19:12-14; Pro. 24:9; Mat. 12:36;
Acts 8:22; 2 Cor. 10:5.) Not only so, but because of many generations of
sinfulness (The
case of Cain should not be overlooked here-Editor) the very constitution of
our flesh has become imperfect and at variance with God, so that, as Paul says,
"the carnal mind (or thinking of the flesh) is at enmity against God, for
it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7).
Because
of a sinful heredity, man’s natural thoughts have come to be unreliable, so
that we cannot altogether trust our own (natural) reasonings or instincts. It
is for this cause that we require the Bible as a guide to belief and conduct.
For, as Solomon says, "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death" (Prov. 14:12). And again he says,
"He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool" (Prov. 28:26). This is
the teaching of the Scriptures throughout. The prophet Jeremiah affirmed the
same: “The heart", he says, "is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked” (17:9). Jesus also said, "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies"
(Mat. 15:19). And Paul says, "We are the circumcision which worship God in
the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the
flesh" (Phil. 3:3).
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"Through
one man sin entered into the world (in whom all sinned), and through sin,
death; so, also, death passed upon all men" (Rom. 5:12, Diaglott).
Of
course, if there is any sin at all, there must have been an original sin, a
first sin. It is really not necessary, however, in writing a treatise on sin,
to mention the name of Adam. The facts speak for themselves. The reason the sin
of Adam has received such prominence is because that was the initial or
original sin. It is not recorded that Adam ever committed but one sin, but now
all men in some manner, in thought, word, or deed, sin daily, and often many
times daily.
As
the race has multiplied, as the stream of humanity spread and increased, we see
borne along on its turbulent tide the infant weakling, the imbecile, the
insane, the criminal, the halt, the blind, the diseased. These are facts, and
when we seek the cause, the fountain-head of this turbid stream, we are led
back, step by step, to Adam in Eden. There we find the original sin, and the
origin of sin in the flesh.
Adam
being the first man, his transgression had a wider or more universal effect
than that of any other man. But the sins of all men affect their posterity, and
the posterity of others in any case. For they all have some part to play, some
contribution to make toward the groaning, travailing state of the world. The
same laws that entailed and perpetuated the sin of Adam as hereditary in the
flesh apply to all men. Adam was no exception to the rule. Only in his case the
results were more comprehensive and more dramatic.
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All
sin, whether in thought, word, or deed, is physical, inasmuch as man is a
physical being. We, as a habit of speech, speak of the mental and the physical,
but the mental is a product of the physical, for the brain — the organ of
thought — is as much a physical organization as the body. The lips speak and
the hand performs only that which the brain conceives. The body also reacts
upon the brain in its thinking. In a word, the body and brain constitute the
man as a physical being, and are reactive upon each other. The nervous system
is, as it were, but an extension of the brain throughout the body. The
condition of the body is vitally affected by the state of mind; and the reverse
is equally true.
As
illustrating the effect of the mind, upon the body, we may again quote Solomon,
who says, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine" (Prov. 17:22).
And reversely, Paul says, "The sorrow of the world worketh death" (2
Cor. 7:10). A period of mental depression will seriously impair the organic
functions of the body; and organic disorders react to bring about aberration
and mental depression. Thus many invalids suffer, especially in nervous
disorders, from what physicians term "the vicious circle", or
interaction between body and brain. Forms of intemperance and dissipation,
excessive toil, worry, disappointment all leave their impress upon our mortal
clay. The responsibilities of fatherhood, the pain and grief and care of
motherhood, man's inhumanity to man, the petty irritations of daily life, the
thousand "shocks and slights that flesh is heir to", quicken our
mortality.
There
are emotions so intense that like a flame they blight and scorch and wither the delicate
tissues of our frail organization. To see the forms of our loved ones lowered
into mother earth, will exert a power to draw us into the grave after them.
These emotions operate upon and vitiate the physical man, and have so operated
throughout the period of man's troubled history since the first transgression
in Eden, and have all combined to have their effect in greatly transforming man
from what he was in the beginning, when he was by his Creator pronounced
"very good".
It
is said by physicians that we bring with us into the world that which will
ultimately cause our death, excluding accidents. By this it is meant that we
are born with some weakness, or predisposition to disease, which will at last
be the cause of our death. It may be a weakness of any organ of the body or a
temperamental weakness. In view of these things one would be very obtuse not to
discern some of the major causes of human suffering within the conduct of
individuals and of society itself. And one would be possessed of a very feeble
imagination, who could not picture a world which would be a vast improvement
over this in which our lot is cast. This result, so fervently to be desired,
would be effected to a certain degree if the lowest were elevated to the level
of the highest. If there were none of the ignorant or wanton disregard of
economic, social, and natural laws which is responsible for so much of the
misery which is in the world, the poverty, disease, crime, warfare, the ideal
and happy plane of living to which mankind might ascend is almost beyond the
power of the very best imagination to picture.
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There
is great diversity of the human species, both racially and individually. Racially there is the Negroid, the
Mongolian, the Indian, the Malayan, the Caucasian. Individually they differ in
almost every
detail of form, feature, and characteristic in which one may contemplate them.
They differ no less in size and strength and in physiognomy, than in degree or
ability, or intelligence, aptitudes, inclinations, and moral qualities. One may
die in the cradle; another may live to be a centenarian. One may be scarcely
able to learn his own name; another may be a Homer, a Euclid, a Shakespeare, or
a Newton.
How
are we to account for this divergence in variety and quality except through
heredity?
Without
for a moment minimizing the importance of environment, it would be insanity to
ignore heredity, or to even give it a secondary place. The power of both heredity
and environment are given full recognition in the Scriptures. As to heredity,
Solomon says, "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be
pure, and whether it be right" (Prov. 20:11). And in the 58th Psalm we
read: "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as
they be born, speaking lies."
An
old saying is that "the child is a prophecy of the man". And
observation will abundantly bear this out. Even in their infancy and childhood,
the superiority of such men as Moses, Samuel, David, Daniel, and Jesus, was
clearly apparent.
Evil
men are likened, in the Scriptures, to brambles and trees which bear thorns,
and good men to trees yielding useful fruits; and this difference is often
apparent from the cradle upward. We may
not bring much into the world with us — the little which we receive from our
parents and ancestors conferred upon us by the laws of heredity. But that
little which we have when we are born is a mighty factor in what we become
during life. For as all living things assimilate to that with which they are
born, or are germinally, whether animal or vegetable, the lamb assimilating
herbage to the growth of a sheep, and the wolf whelp, converting meat (it may
be the lamb) into wolf, the acorn drawing sustenance from the soil and air to
produce an oak, or the apple seed an apple tree, what we are, or are to become,
will depend much on what we are by birth. Yet being more responsive to our
environment than the lower orders of life, because of our intelligence, we may
be transformed to a larger extent.
In
this connection I wish to quote two or three brief extracts from the writings
of Brother Roberts and Doctor Thomas:
"Are
there not different sorts of the same nature in everything? Contrast a
crab-apple with a delicious Blenheim: a worn-out cart-horse with a high-blooded
charger: a mumbling Maori savage with a British peer-different sorts, all the
same nature." Law of Moses, p. 155.
"Some
men are naturally amiable, intellectual, benevolent, and correct; they cannot
be anything else in the circumstances and with the organization which are
theirs. Others, again, are naturally coarse, rough, brutish, thick-headed, low,
and selfish, through the power of ignorance and an inferior organization, which
prevent them ever ascending to nobility of nature. Jesus recognizes this fact
in the parable of the sower." Christendom Astray, p. 167, Sixth
Edition.
"It
is the law of the flesh that 'like produces like'. Wild and ruthless men
reproduce themselves in their sons and daughters. The experiment has been tried
on Indian infants. They have been taken from their parents, and carefully
educated in the learning and civilization of the white man; but when they have
returned to their tribe as men, they have thrown off the habits of their
patrons, and adopted the practices of savage life. The same tendency is seen in
other animals. Hatch the eggs of a wild turkey under a tame one; and as soon as
they are able to
shift for themselves they will leave the poultry yard, and associate with the
wild species of the woods. So strong is habit, that it becomes a law of the
flesh when continued through generations for a series of years." Elpis
Israel, p. 117, Seventh Edition.
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Thought,
whether good or evil, produces an effect primarily upon the brain, which is a
physical organization. The evidence that it does produce an effect upon the
brain lies in the fact that it is always easier to think a thought or perform
an act the second time than the first time. The same thought repeatedly
entertained, will cause what psychologists term a "thought pattern"
to be formed. We may term it subconscious memory or whatever we choose; the
descriptive phraseology will not alter the fact. And that it is a fact even an
intelligent child must know, for it is nothing more than the process of
learning. The same thought recurring repeatedly, or the same act performed
repeatedly, promotes a habit of thought, or a habit of action. Habit becomes
instinct, and instinct develops into heredity. It is progressive and
cumulative. Only thus can we rationally account for the diversity of mentality
which we observe among men.
If
a lawless thought enters the mind, receives encouragement, recurs repeatedly,
and especially if acted upon (for every action has a reactive effect upon the
brain) we have the origin of sin in the flesh. The primary effect upon the body
may be chemical, for it has been found by those who study the blood and make
blood tests that the chemical condition of the blood is changed by certain
states of the mind, as by worry, fear, anger, or sorrow. But it is probable
that the conditions produced by sin or the violation of law must become, as we
say, mechanical before being transmitted by heredity. But however that may be,
certain it is that after men have violated the laws of nature, or the laws of
morality, for a number of generations they become machines, as it were, more or
less adapted for the production of sin
As
the result of the sins of our ancestors, we inherit inferior bodies and brains,
which cause untold suffering throughout life, and bring us at last to the
grave. No observing, thinking person can for long restrict his view to sins of
action only, for all sins of action have a physical effect, though some to a
much greater extent than others. Some sins of action, as drunkenness and
fornication, are very pronounced in their effects upon mind and body. If such
sins are allowed to become habitual and excessive the result is utter
degeneracy of the man, body, soul and spirit. He has descended to a place
beneath the level of the beasts that perish.
The
nobility or depravity of an individual, or of a race of people, will correspond
precisely to the moral condition of the individual or the people, making due
allowance for the factor of time. Noble thinking and righteous acts, through
the operation of the same laws, elevate the individual and society to a higher
plane of living, but, unfortunately, we are compelled at present to emphasize
the negative side of the subject. Nature's laws are God's laws. The operation
of the "law of sin and death" is only the rule of nature from cause
to effect by which sin becomes impressed upon and fixed in the flesh, modifying
its condition, which condition becomes transmissible and hereditary. The flesh
having become imperfect through sin, and out of harmony with God, the mind or
thinking of the flesh is naturally, or instinctively, or hereditarily, at
variance with the mind or law of the Deity.
It
matters not by which of the several Scriptural designations we term this
condition. We may call it "this vile body of death", "the law of sin in my members",
"the motions of sin", "sin that dwelleth in me", "sin
in the flesh", "the carnal mind", the "diabolos", or
simply "the flesh". Or we may refer to it as instinct or heredity, or
a "complex", or "complexes". But it remains a fact, and the
fact remains that it is an important condition of human nature, an undesirable
condition, and a sinful condition, inasmuch as it is the result of the
violation of natural and divine law. Left to itself, uncontrolled by divine
interference, it perpetuates itself, and doubtless would perpetuate itself to
extinction.
In
conclusion of this section, I wish here again to insert a few lines from the
facile pen of Doctor Thomas.
“The
word sin is used in two principal acceptations in the Scripture. It
signifies in the first place, "the transgression of Law"; and
in the next, it represents that physical principle of the animal nature, which
is the cause of all its diseases, death, and resolution into dust. It is that
in the flesh "which is the power of death"; and it is called
sin, because the development, or fixation, of this evil in the flesh,
was the result of transgression. Inasmuch as this evil principle pervades every
part of the flesh, the animal nature is styled "sinful flesh", that
is, flesh full of sin; so that sin in the sacred style, came to
stand for the substance called man." Elpis Israel, p. 113.
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The Origin of Sin in the
Flesh
What
is the origin of sin in the flesh? After all which has gone before, this may
seem a superfluous question. But let us see. Modern science would, of course,
say that whatever faults human nature is heir to, they are a survival of the
brute stage of man's evolution; but as we are taking the Scriptures, and not a
skeptical science, for our authority, let us seek a Scriptural answer.
There
are those who are teaching that God created man in the beginning as he now is, so far as
his constitution and physical condition are concerned. But the Scriptures teach
us that man in the beginning was made in the image of the Elohim, "a
little lower than the angels"; and that he has come into his present evil
state because of disobedience to the laws of his Creator. As Doctor Thomas
says, in the extract concluding the section next above, "this evil in the
flesh, was the result of transgression". And he further says, on page 15
of Elpis Israel, "Sin in the flesh is hereditary: and entailed upon
mankind as the consequence of Adam's violation of the Eden law". This
answer, upon investigation, we find to be Scriptural. Thus Paul says, "By
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men" (Rom. 5:12). And again, "The mind of the flesh is enmity
against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
be" (Rom. 8:7).
To
assume that God created man in his present sinful condition would be to make
God the author of sin. It would be to make him the creator of something which
is at enmity with himself, which he has condemned, and for which he has
required the shedding of sacrificial blood. And we would have the anomaly that
God in the beginning pronounced that which is at enmity with himself "very
good". It is assuredly true that man was endowed with certain facilities,
or propensities, if you will, which we may term animal. But there is a vast
difference in all the relative conditions between the faculties in a perfectly
normal state and the state of those same faculties after sin has reigned unto
death for several thousand years. Man in the beginning could, with calm
deliberation and detachment, choose to do good or to do evil. The temptation
was rather outside himself than within himself. His downfall was due rather to
inexperience than to moral weakness. But of the flesh as it is at present,
Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak". And Paul, a
"chosen vessel" in the service of God, declared that in him, that is,
in his flesh, dwelt no good thing, and that when he would do good, evil was
present with him.
As
to what man was in the beginning when he came fresh from the hands of the
Elohim, let me quote again the Wise Man, "Lo this only have I found, that
God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions"
(Eccl. 7:29). And in line with this, John also says, "All that is in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1 John 2:16). If these things
are not of the Father, then of course he did not create them, much less pronounce
them "very good". "And God saw everything that he had made, and
behold, it was very good" (Gen. 1:31).
Again
let me quote a few lines from Elpis Israel: "But, though man was
'made in the image and after the likeness' of the 'Holy Ones' the similitude
has been so greatly marred, that his posterity present but a faint
representation of either. The almost uncontrolled and continuous operation of
the 'law of sin and death' styled by philosophers 'the law of nature', which is
an indwelling and inseparable constituent of our present economy, has
exceedingly deformed the image, and effaced the likeness of God, which man
originally presented" (p. 35). And again, page 90: "If there were no
moral evil in the world, there would be no physical evils. Sin and punishment
are cause and effect in the divine economy. God does not willingly afflict, but
is longsuffering and kind. If men, however, will work sin, they must lay their
accounts with 'the wages of sin'; which is disease, famine, pestilence, the
sword, misery, and death."
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The Attitude of the Deity
Toward Sin in the Flesh
Apart
from Revelation, perhaps we could know nothing of the Creator's attitude toward
sin in the flesh. His feeling toward those who possess it might be one only of
pity, or of indifference. Yet we might even then possibly judge something by
our own feelings towards those who are greatly inferior to ourselves. A revulsion of our emotions more or less
pronounced is our spontaneous reaction toward those who show the effects of
vice, or are diseased. And this is true even though the condition may be only
hereditary. It is sometimes necessary to draw illustrations from extreme cases
in order to drive a truth home. To mention an example in this way, we may ask,
would we care to keep company or to be domiciled with a drooling fool? It we
prefer not to contemplate such a situation, let us remember that we are dealing
with stem realities. The pleasant and beautiful side of life is not the only
side by any means. And the hard, ugly, terrible side, the dark side, is just as
real as the radiant side. But I forbear making any more unpleasant comparisons
and turn to the Scriptures. "The entrance of thy words giveth light."
Under
the Law of Moses, which was God's law, motherhood required offerings for sin (Lev.
12: Compare Lu. 2:22; Job 25:4; Psa. 51:5). Male children must be circumcised
the eighth day. Here was a cutting off of the flesh before the child could know
or do either good or evil. The rite sealed the flesh as hereditarily imperfect
and unclean in the sight of God. In Deuteronomy 23 we find an interdict against
illegitimates in effect to the tenth generation. Now, not the second or third
generation, much less the tenth, could be the least responsible for a sin
committed before they were born. Yet because they inherit in some degree the
effects of the ancestral sin, they were debarred from too close contact with holy things. A
like interdict was held against the descendants of the Ammonite and the
Moabite. "Because they met you (Israel) not with bread and with water in
the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt" (De. 23:4). Death itself was
reckoned as unclean, or the bone of a dead man, or a grave (Nu. 19). But no one
would be so foolish as to think that anyone would commit an actual sin by dying.
In
the course of his exposition of this requirement of the law, Brother Roberts
remarks, "So far as man is concerned, death is the result of sin, and not
the necessary quality of the nature with which he was endowed in the first
instance. This truth enables us to understand the peculiar detestation of death
expressed by the ordinances we are considering" (Law of Moses,
p. 241-2). When the children of Israel went forth to do battle and take
possession of the land of Canaan, they were required to kill the children as
well as adults. Commenting upon this, Doctor Thomas says, "Thus, in the
case of the Amalekites when the divine vengeance fell upon them, the decree
was—'Utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man
and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass'. The destruction
of 'infants and sucklings' is especially commanded in divers parts of
Scripture. Not because they were responsible transgressors; but, on the same
principle, that men not only destroy all adult serpents that come in their way,
but their thread-like progeny also; for in these is the germ of venomous and
malignant reptiles"—Elpis Israel, p. 116.
If
we trace out the offerings and ceremonies of the Law, we find that they cover
man's life from birth to death, from the cradle to the grave. This then, in
part, is the evidence of God's attitude toward sin, whether actual or
hereditary. God being perfect in righteousness and holiness, is it not reasonable to
think that not only sin is unclean and offensive in his sight, but also the
conditions produced by sin? We find that it is Scriptural so to think. That we
have sinful flesh is, as Dr. Thomas says, "our misfortune and not our
crime", but it is nonetheless a fact, and none the less unclean in the sight
of God, and requires blood shedding for purification.
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The Relation of Jesus to Sin
in the Flesh
"God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law" (Gal. 4:4, 5).
Mary,
the mother of Jesus, was not different from other women, except that she was a
noble woman of a noble race. She could not but in some measure inherit the
weaknesses of the flesh which all the children of men are heir to.
There
was a purpose, infinite in wisdom and rich in mercy, in that the Deity had
designed that Jesus should be born of such a woman. Partaking thereby of the
imperfections of her nature, he was subjected to the same temptations which his
brethren have to endure. Fighting the same battle that we have to fight, he
could be touched sympathetically with a feeling for our infirmities, and become
an efficient mediator between God and man. That he was "made under the
law" would also indicate his state of imperfection for the law was not
made for perfect human beings, but for the imperfect through sin. And as he was
born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, he also must of
necessity be redeemed. Or to put it in another way, Christ came to redeem those
who were under the law. And as he himself was born under the law, it was therefore
necessary that he also should be redeemed. And so we read in Romans (8:3),
"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. God
sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh".
The
likeness of Jesus to sinful flesh was not a mere superficial likeness, or a
mere formal likeness, for God is a dealer in realities rather than in
formalities. To have required the death of a man, as God required the death of
Christ, because of a mere formal likeness to those who have to wage warfare
against the diabolos within the flesh, would not be condemnation of sin in the
flesh, but of something other than that. If Adam before the transgression had
been required to be crucified, that would have been the condemnation of him
simply as a human being. That would have been for the Creator to condemn his
own handiwork. But sin being in the body of Jesus by heredity, his death was
not a mere condemnation in effigy, but a real condemnation in the very person
of Jesus. And so we read again, "Forasmuch as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he himself also likewise took part of the same, that
through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil" (or diabolos) (Heb. 2:14).
How
did the Savior partake of flesh and blood?
In like manner as the children partake of it. How do the children partake of it? By being born of those who are
flesh and blood. Is this flesh and blood "very good" flesh and blood,
or is it flesh and blood which is weak and imperfect through sin? It is flesh
and blood in which, as Paul says, there "dwelleth no good thing".
That is, it is flesh and blood in which sin (the enemy of God) or "the
diabolos" dwells. How was the diabolos overcome and destroyed? Jesus,
having partaken of flesh and blood in which there was the diabolos, overcame it
by obedience unto death, that is, the death of the cross. He did not perpetuate
the diabolos, and when he was crucified it was destroyed in him. And through or
by faith in him
it will ultimately be destroyed in all who believe into him when "this
vile body is changed and fashioned like unto his glorious body". By
partaking of the same flesh and blood as the children partake of, Jesus was
"the body prepared" (Heb. 10:5) as an appropriate sacrifice to
"bear away our sins in his own body to the tree" (1 Pet. 2:24).
Otherwise it would have been substitution and not representation. And for God
to have exalted a substitutionary death would have been an injustice, which is
unthinkable. It would appear as if the simplicity and harmony of the teaching
of the Scriptures on this subject would make it all but impossible for anyone
to fail to understand it.
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Necessary for Jesus to Offer
Himself
That
it was necessary for Jesus to offer for himself, and that he did so offer, the
following passages will show:
"And
when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name
was called Jesus,' which was so named of the angel before he was
conceived in the womb" (Luke 2:21).
"When
the fullness of time was come. God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
the adoption of sons" (Gal. 4:4,5).
"Then
cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John
forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him" (Mat.:13,15).
"But
Jesus answered and said. Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the
cup that I shall drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am to be
baptized with? (Mat. 20:22).
"But
I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished"
(Luke 12:50).
"And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man
be lifted up" (John 3:14).
"And
he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed saying, O my Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but
as thou wilt" (Mat. 26:39).
"Ought
not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?"
(Luke 24:26).
"But
those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets,
that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled" (Acts 3:18).
"Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
For in that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God" (Rom. 6:9,10).
"For
though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of
God" (2nd Cor. 13:4).
"And
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:8).
"Though
he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and
being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them
that obey him" (Heb. 5:8,9).
"Who
in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with
strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was
heard in that he feared" (Heb. 5:7).
"Now
the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great
shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you
perfect in every good work to do his will" (Heb. 13:20,21).
"When
he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men" (Eph.
4:8).
"Neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption" (Heb. 9:12).
"I
am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;
and have the keys of hell and of death" (Rev. 1:18).
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Exalted souls
Have passions in proportion violent,
Resistless and tormenting: they're a tax
Impos'd by Nature on pre-eminence,
And fortitude and wisdom must support them.
-Lillo.
A
spiritual being could not be tempted with a carnal or any other kind of
temptation. For being in harmony with God in nature, he would be in harmony
with God in mind and purpose. On the other hand, one who was wholly devoted to
the service of the flesh, having no spiritual knowledge, hopes, or aspirations,
would have no inward struggle to serve God. But when spiritual truth has been
written upon the fleshly tablet of the heart, and the mind of one who is mortal
and hereditarily imperfect has become focused upon spiritual ideals, a conflict
of emotions is the result. There is a strife and warfare within the man. And
the stronger the two opposing forces, the hotter will be the contest. The
opposing forces will be more powerful in a strong character than in a weak one.
And the more keen and titanic the contest the more honorable and glorious the
victory when the spirit triumphs over the flesh.
"Blessed",
James says, "is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he
shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love
him" (James 1:12).
Anyone
who has read the prophecies concerning Christ, especially in the Psalms and
Isaiah, and compared them with the record of his life, would be very
superficial not to see that Jesus fought such a battle and was gloriously
victorious. Only the superficial and the superstitious (and superstition is
only a form of superficiality) would think Christ dishonored by recognizing
that he came in a state of nature which made it necessary for him to fight such
a battle. It was no sham battle but a desperate life-and-death struggle for the
supremacy of the spirit over the flesh. It is herein that his life is valuable
as an example to us. Tempted in all points like as we are, he fought the same
fight that we have to fight, he met the same enemy that we have to meet, and
was more than conqueror. Strong in hope and faith, in love for his brethren, in
devotion to the service of the Father, gentle but fearless, kind and patient,
but never yielding to falsehood or wrong, he met every test of human experience
and did not fail.
Therefore
God will "divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the
spoil with the strong". "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him,
and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to
the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:9-11).
Some
"think they honor Jesus by saying his flesh-nature was a clean nature. In
reality, they deny his qualifications for the work he was sent to do. They
mistake holiness of character for holiness of nature, and by a wrong use of
truth, destroy it"—Law of Moses, p. 219.
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"Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
"My
meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work" (John
4:34).
In
their zeal for the honor of Jesus some are somewhat neglectful of the honor of
God. The death of Christ was in the plan of God from the beginning. He was
"the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8).
"Those things which God had showed before by the mouth of all his
prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled" (Acts 3:18).
Jesus
said that he had received a commandment from the Father, to lay down his life
(John 10:18). In compliance with that commandment, he was "obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross". In the agony of "sad
Gethsemane" he "yielded to the Father's will", in that which
"thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done" (Acts 4:28).
If God had required the death of an angel for the sins of men, would we think
that just? Yet would it be more just to require the death of Jesus simply
because he was in human form, if he himself did not stand so related to the
dispensation of sin and death as to make it just, from the divine standpoint,
that he should die? Unless there was some cause or condition in the individual
himself, greater than because he was in human form, and of a flesh and blood
nature, it would, according to all our conceptions of equity and right, be
unjust that Jesus should be sent to the cruel death of the cross.
So
worthy is Jesus of our love, honor, and admiration, that it is not likely we
shall be able in any true sense to exalt him too highly, but our faith should
be so balanced and adjusted to truth that we do not honor Jesus to the dishonor
of his righteous Father, who, in his infinite love and mercy, gave him to die
for the sins of the world.
Truly,
Jesus, who was so zealous of his Father's honor, will not approve, in the day
of his coming, of those doctrines which are discreditable to the impartial and
faultless justice of the supreme Creator himself.
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The Teaching of Dr. Thomas
and Brother Roberts
Those
who hold certain views concerning human nature and the nature of Christ, may
with a certain show of truth, claim to be scientific, but they cannot fairly
claim to be Scriptural, or in accord with the teachings of Brother Roberts and
Doctor Thomas on the subject.
It
is true that Bro. Roberts said that sin in the flesh was called sin by
metonymy. Metonymy means to put one thing for another, as to give an effect the
name of its cause. In this case sin is the cause and sin in the flesh is the
effect. But it is none-the-less a real effect and a real condition. This, Bro.
Roberts never for a moment denied. On the contrary, both he and Dr. Thomas
earnestly contended all their lives:
1.
That
sin in the flesh is a real condition.
2.
That
it came by sin.
3.
That
it is an unclean condition.
4.
That
Jesus came in this state of human nature, having flesh of sin.
5.
And
that he gave his life upon the cross to redeem himself (that he might redeem
others) from this condition.
Anyone
who asserts that these writers (Dr. Thomas and Bro. Roberts) taught otherwise
(to speak plainly) can only reject, distort, misinterpret, and misrepresent
their real teaching on the subject. From among many references which might be
quoted, in addition to those already given, I have selected two, one from the Law
of Moses, Bro. Roberts' last work, and one from the second volume of Dr.
Thomas' Eureka, as follows: "We see Jesus born of a woman, and therefore a partaker of the
identical nature condemned to death in Eden. We see him a member of imperfect
human society, subject to toil and weakness, dishonor and sorrow, poverty and
hatred, and all the other evils that have resulted from the sin upon the earth.
We see him down in the evil which he was sent to cure: not outside of
it, not untouched by it, but in it, to put it away. ‘He was made perfect through
suffering' (Heb. 2:10), but he was not perfect till he was through it. He was
saved from death (5:7), but not until he died. He obtained redemption (Heb.
9:12), but not until his own blood was shed. The statement that he did these
things 'for us' has blinded many to the fact that he did them 'for himself
first—without which he could not have done them for us, for it was by doing
them for himself that he did them for us. He did them for us only as we may
become part of him, in merging our individualities in him by taking part of his
death, and putting on his name and sharing his life afterwards. He is, as it
were, a new center of healthy life, in which we must become incorporate before
we can be saved." —Law of Moses, p. 159.
"Ye
have heard', says John, 'that the antichrist comes; even now are there many
antichrists. They went out from us, but they were not of us.' These were 'false
prophets', spirits, or teachers, whose doctrine was 'that of the antichrist
that should come; and even now already, says John, 'is in the world'—1
Epis. 4:3. They confessed not, that he whom they called Jesus Christ was a man
in the flesh common to all mankind, which is sin's flesh (Rom. 8:3). They
maintained that he had another kind of flesh, which was pure, holy, and immaculate.
They confounded his immaculate, or spotless, character, with his maculate
flesh. This was a fatal heresy; for if Jesus was not crucified in the flesh
common to us all,
then 'sin was' not 'condemned in the flesh', as the apostle taught; and there
has been as yet no sacrifice for sin, and consequently there are no means of
remission of sins extant." (Eureka, Vol. 2, p. 624).
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Such
are the teachings, in part, of the Scriptures, and two of the greatest students
and expounders of the Word of God, of modem times.
This
treatise, such as it is, has been drawn forth because of several shades and
degrees of error regarding the subject of hereditary sin on the part of various
individuals and groups of individuals. It is not written in opposition to the teachings
of any single individual or party, but is an effort to set forth clearly the
true doctrine of the Scriptures on the subject treated herein. If there are any
who are in need of instruction in these matters and have the humility to learn
even from the humble, it is submitted for their benefit.
With
thoughts of the immensity of eternity, and the matchless beauty and majesty of
the truth, and the certainty that the truth will triumph gloriously at the
return of the Nobleman from a far country, we need not let our hearts be
troubled too greatly by the human errors or puny efforts of any against the
truth. And the little that we can do in a cause so grand, we can but do humbly,
commending it to the approval of him who, we feel persuaded, will in some measure
"take the will for the deed".
The
Lord is King! child of the dust,
The
Judge of all the earth is just;
Holy
and true are all his ways;
Let
every creature speak his praise.
—From
The Advocate of Aug. 1930.
Berton Little
The Christadelphian
Advocate January 1959 pgs 1-13