SINFUL NATURE 4: TRANSMISSION FROM PARENTS TO CHILDREN
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. What is the ‘Sinful Nature’?
a) Why do we sin? What is it that oftentimes urges us to do what we know is wrong? Did humanity inherit a ‘sinful nature’ when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden? Did God curse humankind by giving them a tendency to sin; a tendency that has been the cause of hurt and heartache for untold multitudes to this day?
2. Transmission of the ‘Sinful Nature’ From Parents to Children
a) Several perspectives have been put forth concerning how this ‘sinful nature’ is passed from parents to their children. Some say that Adam represented the entire human race when he sinned. Some say that we were all in Adam’s loins when he sinned; therefore, we actually sinned with Adam and deserve the guilt along with him. No real consensus has ever been reached that answers the question of how the ‘sinful nature’ is transmitted from parents to children.
b) However, if the ‘sinful nature’ were the removal of God’s attending Spirit from the lives of Adam and Eve, there would be no ‘sinful nature’ to be transmitted from parent to child. Humans would simply be born without a personal relationship with God; without the Spirit of God dwelling in them. This is indeed what we find. We are born alienated from God, unlike Adam and Eve when they were created, who enjoyed a close personal fellowship with Him.
The End ...
1. What is the ‘Sinful Nature’? a) Why do we sin? What is it that oftentimes urges us to do what we know is wrong? Did humanity inherit a ‘sinful nature’ when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden? Did God curse humankind by giving them a tendency to sin; a tendency that has been the cause of hurt and heartache for untold multitudes to this day?
2. Transmission of the ‘Sinful Nature’ From Parents to Children
a) Several perspectives have been put forth concerning how this ‘sinful nature’ is passed from parents to their children. Some say that Adam represented the entire human race when he sinned. Some say that we were all in Adam’s loins when he sinned; therefore, we actually sinned with Adam and deserve the guilt along with him. No real consensus has ever been reached that answers the question of how the ‘sinful nature’ is transmitted from parents to children.
b) However, if the ‘sinful nature’ were the removal of God’s attending Spirit from the lives of Adam and Eve, there would be no ‘sinful nature’ to be transmitted from parent to child. Humans would simply be born without a personal relationship with God; without the Spirit of God dwelling in them. This is indeed what we find. We are born alienated from God, unlike Adam and Eve when they were created, who enjoyed a close personal fellowship with Him.
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