1999 issue 5 - the reality of sin - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1999 Issue 5 - The Reality of Sin - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/16

The Origin of Sin

Where did sin come from?In no way can God be considered its source, although Hehas, in fact , foreordainedwhatsoever comes to pass intime.' God cannot be made

responsible for human sin. twould. be blasphemous tospeak Of the holy God as theauthor of sin. Whereas allthings fit together in God'splan, God does not sin, nordoes He force human beingsto sin. The Bible is unequivocal on this sub jec t - Far beit from God, that e shoulddo wickedness, and

Jesus considered him to be areal, personal being, Mark1:13; and so did His apostles,Ephesians 2: I f He is thoroughly wicked and malicious.There is nothing in him to admire at all. His purpose is to

overthrow God's plan andkingdom, and to take God'splace in the world. He is acreated being with many powers superior to those of man;but, being a finite creature,he is no rival or threat toGod. He is not omniscient,omnipresent or omnipotent.In fact, he is under the re-

from the Almighty, thatHe should commit in -iqui ty / Job 4: 10There is and can be nounrighteousness in theholy God, who is light,

The Realityof Sin Joe Morecrafi:

and in whom is no darknessat all. He cannot be temptedwith evil, and He Himselfdoes not tempt anyone to evil,James 1:13.

Sin originated with Satan,the Tempter, Genesis 3: 1.The Bible calls him, thedragon, the serpent of old,who is the devil and Satan,Revelation 20: 1 He has beena rebel from the beginning ofhistory, John 8:44, I John 3:8.In fact, it appears that he rebelled against God and fellfrom an exalted posit ion before the fall of man. He,along with all fallen angelswho are now demons, didnot keep their OWn domain,but abandoned their properabode, [therefore God] haskept them in eternal bondsunder. darkness for thejudgment of the great day,Jude 6.

Satan is a created reality.

straints of the sovereignty ofGod, Job 1; and he is fatallywounded and curtailed in hisinfluences and activities bythe cross of Christ and thepreaching of the gospel. Thewriter of the book of Hebrews says that Jesus toOkupon himself human flesh,

that through death Hemight render powerless himwho had the power o fdeath, that is, the devil,Hebrews 2:14. And the bookof Romans promises faithfulbelievers that the God ofpeace shall crush Satan'shead under your fee tshortly, Romans 16:20.

In the form of a serpent,he is the one who temptedEve and Adam to sin againsttheir Creator. How could twopeople in such an upright andunfallen position, made in theimage of God, do such a thingas disobey God? The answer

is this: originally, Adam andEve were created perfectlyholy and yet capable ofchOOSing evil. They had thepower to remain upright, butthey also were capable offalling. God left him (Adam)

to the freedom of his ownwill, and that freedom heabused. No doubt God couldhave prevented his fall if hehad pleased, by giving suchinfluences of His Spiri t aswould have been absolutelyeffective to hinder i t ; but thisHe was under no obligation todo. He did not withdraw from

man that abil i ty withwhich

Hehad furnished

him for his duty, nor didHe infuse any viciousincl inat ions into hisheart, He only withheldthat further grace that

would havtl infall ibly prevented his fall. 2

But why did God not prevent the fall of man into sin,since He could have, if He so

desired? The answer to thisquestion is found in Romans5:17, 2 For i by thet ransgression o f the one(Adam), death reignedthrough the one, much morethose who receive the abun-dance o f grace and o f thegift o f r ighteousness wi l lreign in l i fe through theone, Jesus Christ. ...where

sin increased, graceabounded all the more.The fall was inclu(ied in God'splan so that we would gainfar more in Christ than weever lost in Adam. Adamwas in a holy and happy condit ion before the fal l , butthere was always the possibility of falling away. Now,in Christ, believers are in -

August/September, 1999 - TH COUNSEL of Chalcedon - 25


2/16

creasingly holy and happy,and someday we will be perfectly so. In addition, thereis no possibility of our fallingaway from this saved condition, now or ever. Althoughwe will be holier and happierin heaven, we are just as secure in Christ now as we willbe in heaven. Jesus said,

My sheep hear My voice,and I know them, and theyfollow Me: and I give eter-nal l i fe t o them: and theyshall never perish, and noone shall snatch them out o fMy hand, John 10:27-29.

The fall of Adam and Evein to s in was monstrouslywicked, irrational and inexcusable. I t was aggravatedby the Being sinned againsta Benefactor so bountiful, aMaster so indulgent; by thepersons guilty of i t - c r eatures fresh from ,God's hand,untainted by sin, and ,ladenwith benefits; by the preceptv i o l a t e d s o plain and

simple; by the place where itwas c o m m i t t e d - a placewhere every plant, everycreature, and every scene displayed the bounty of theLord, and proclaimed Hisgoodness; and by its resuits,which were not to be limitedto themselves, but to extendto their descendants, whom,for a momentary gratification,they rUined forever. 3

The temptation was ashrewd and evil conspiracyagainst God and man. Sataninjected unbelief into Eve'smind so as to produce actualdisobedience. He attackedthe integrity, goodness, powerand truthfulness of the Creator, by asldngEve: "Indeed,has God said, 'You shall not

eat from any tree of the gar- responsible for tempting man;den?'" To Eve's affirmative but he also held Adam and

Eve accountable f


3/16

devil for creating man withproblems and weaknesses anddesires which He has no intention of healing or of fulfilling. Man's problems wouldbe hopeless and irremediable,because they are an inevi

table experience of man's inescapable createdness. Butthis is not the easel Man'sproblems result from his sin,his deliberate opposition toGod and to His law. They areethical, and therefore, thereis hope that they can besolved through repentance o fsin and faith in Jesus Christas Lord and S a v i o r- Or do

you not know that the un-righteous shalt not inheritthe kingdom o f God? Donot be deceived; neitherfornicators, nor idolaters,nor adulterers, nor effemi-nate, nor homosexuals, northieves, nor covetous, nordrunkards, nor revilers, norswindlers, shall inherit thekingdom o f God. AND

SUCH WERE SOME OFYOU; but you were washed,but you were sanctified, butyou were jus t i f ied in thename o f the Lord JesusChrist, and in the Spi,it o f

. our God, I Corinthians 6:9-II.

Adam tried to escape theresponsibil i ty and consequences of his sin in environ

mentalism, I.e., the idea thatman is what his environmentmakes him, thereby shiftingthe blame for his sin awayfrom himself. Adam told Godthat his sin was not his fault,but was the fault of thewoman whom God had givenhim, Genesis 3:12. In otherwords, he shifted the blameto his environment. What is

wicked about this tact ic?God is the Creator of man'senvironment So then, Adamwas blaming God for his sinas the cause of his problems.Adam said in effect, "God, i fyou had done a better job increating a more conduciveenvironment in Eden, I wouldhave been a better person."God did not buy it He knewAdam was playing games;therefore He judged him forhis sin, Genesis 3: 17f. Humanbeings are totally accountableto God their Creator andJudge for all their actions andattitudes. Our environments

do pressure us and influenceus; but we are held responsible by God for how we letour environments affect us.In other words, no one is avictim of his circumstances;we all are creations in theimage of God, responsible tosay "No " to all evil infl uences and temptations.

However, sin is the interplay of internal and externalforces. Let no one say whenhe is tempted, ' [ am beingtempted by God,' for Godcannot be tempted by evil,and He Himself does nottempt anyone . But eachone is tempted when he iscarried away and enticedby his own lust. Then whenlust has conceived, it gives

birth to sin; and when sin isaccomplished, i t bringsforth death, James 1:13-15.To be sure, temptation is aninward enticement to evil,and at the same time, outwardexperiences, especially trialsand troubles, are the occasionfor inward temptations forevil. "When one does notstand successfully in face of

outward testings, the result isoften a stirring up of evil impulses and desires and thecommitting of open transgression agains t God. Inverse 14 James explains thetrue beginnings of sin in thehuman heart. - That whichlures and ensnares man is hisown lust. - Verse 15, using the language of childbirth,vividly portrays how lustfuldesires break out into concrete sins. - Man surrenders his will to lust, conception takes place , and lustgives birth to sin. - I t iswhen the desire of man goes

out to meet and embrace theforbidden thing and an unholymarriage takes place betweenthese two, that sin is born.'Then sin, when it is finished( that is , when i t is ful lygrown, has run its course),i t se l f gives birth, and thechild that is born of sin isdeath. Lust, sin, dea th - tha tis the order. 4 "

Can Satan force us againstour will to sin? No, he tempts usand knocks at the door without,but our will and lust opens thedoor Satan is the midwife thathelps forward the birth but ourwill and lust is father and motherto all our sins. 5

In reality, Adam could nothonestly blame God, or Satan,or his environment, or Eve.

The fault lay in his own heart.Jesus made this clear whenHe taught that i t is not whatinfluences a person externally that determines the kindof person he will be; i t iswhat influences you internally, from the inside. Hesaid, That which proceedsout o f the man, that is whatdefiles the mall. For from

August/September, 1999 THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon 27


4/16

within, out of the heart ofmen, proceed , the, ,evilthoughts and fornications,thefts; murders,adulteries,deeds o f coveting artd wick-edness, as well as deceit,sensuality, envy, slander,pride and foolishness. Allthese evi l things proceedfrom within and defile theman; Mark 7:20f.

The Character of Sin

power in the heart of fallenman that expresses itself inparticular sins. Anomia says,"My will, not God's will, bedone;" and harmartia is theactual carrying out of "Mywill" in defiance of God.

Put very simply in thewords of the Larger Catechism Q. 24-"S in is anywant (lack) of conformityunto, or transgression of anylaw of God ..... " The "law ofGod" is comprised of thecommandments of the God,who is the one Judge, King,Lawgiver and Redeemer,Isaiah 33:22, which He has

Biblical Law is the one andonly standard from God whichdefines sin, for us; so that wecan distinguish a c c u r a t e ~ ybetween good and e v i l through the Law comes theknowledge of sin, Romans3:20. Paul said in Rom,ans7 : 7 - , " / ,would not ,havecome to know sin exceptthrough the 'Law. UnlessBiblical law is used to .determine what is good and whatis evil, we haVe no reliabiestandard, ' and man himselfwill becOme the final aU,thority in all things, wnich a'lwa,ySleads to tyranny. f God's

law is rejected, there ,cinbe

Sin, to be understood correctly, must be defined al'ways in terms of God and Hisrevealed will for mankind.The Bible defines it as law

l e s s n e s s - everyone whoprac t ices sin alSopract ices ' lawless

1 r God' , law is rejected, there can be 110Illoral 11bsolutts, 110 reliable authori ty ro

di8ringuish morality From ilIlmoralit:y,exc('pr Fallel1 human ,ubjectivity, which

S deceirl'ul above all rhings and

ness; and sin is law-lessness, I John 3:4.

t a,lso uses a v arietyo f words for sin.

T r a n s g r e s s i o nmeans "miss ing the

no moral absolutes, nonlliabIe' aut,hority todistinguish mOralityfrom immorality, except fallen human subjectivity, which is de-ceitfUl above alltllings arid desper-

. ta,rget" of sinless perfection; and "crossing theboundary" of God's laws forlife. "Iniquity" refers to thatwhich is "crooked, distortedor perverted," in comparisonwith God's righteous standard. As sinners, it is our nature to go astray from God,Isaiah 53:6. Lawlessness, oranomia in Greek, is "antiLaw, against the Law; i t issin in principle, the will to begod and to determine for our-,selves what constitutes goodand evil. Harmartia, sin, ismissing the mark, fallingshort, or particular sins. Tocommit particular sins habitually is thus more than fallingshort. John tellS us: it is lawlessness or anomia; it is aiming in the other direction, ata man-made target. " . So

' t lren, sin is a principle or

de 'pnate ly wicked."

given to all people in all ages

and in all situations as theirrule of life, individually andcorporately; and which arerevealed in the Scriptures ofthe Old and New Testaments."Want of conformity" refersto any disagreement with anyrespect of Biblical Law, anyswerving from its strictness,any neglect of it, and all disregard for it, including all sins

of omission. "Transgression"has reference to the actualbreaking of "any" of the divine commandments in theBible given as our moralguides, in thought, word ordeed. t refers to going beyond their bounds or limitations on us, to doing anythinginconsistent with "any" ofthem, and to dishonoring themin any way.

28. TilE. COUNSEL of Chalcedon August/September, 1999

ately.wicked, Wherethere is no law, there is, no sin,hence no need' of 'salvatfon,and consefluentiy. no Christianity. Lawless Christianityis a contradiction. Tb.e'lawtells man what God demandsof him; it instructs him inwhat he must,avoid. The lawis the criterion of righteousness and sin. 7 ,So' then, sinis neglecting or breaking "anylaw of God, given,as a nile to

the reasonable creature,"te.,the human race.

The first sin of Adam andEve. has the same characteras every sin that ,has beencommitted since th'e fal .Their sin was a breaking fthe revealed Law' of God.God tested their faithfu Iiessto Him byrequit ihg therntoabstain from eating of the


5/16

tree of knowledge of goodand evil. Their eating of thefruit of that tree was a violation of the entirety of God'slaw. t was a deliberate going beyond God's moralboundaries for their life and

work. Therefore it was rebellion against the Lawgiverand Creator and a renunciation of his authority. t waslawlessness, I John 3 :4.

Man's first act of disobedience can be described inmany ways; but, primarily, itwas a rejection of God s thesupreme and final authorityfor life. t was a transfer of

trust from God to human reasoning and the word of Satan.

t was an attempt to breakfree from God's claims on allof life and truth motivated bya desire to be as God. Adamand Eve fell when they desired to be able to understandthemselves and be able todetermine good and evil forthemselves, without any ref

erence to God and to HisWord. This is the essence ofsin. They began to distrust,irrationally and inexcusably,the integrity and wisdom oftheir Creator.

"Adam was denied the treeof the knowledge of good andevil to test his obedience andprove that he was willinglyunder God's command. The

name of the tree shows thesole purpose of the preceptwas to keep him content withhis lot and to prevent himfrom becoming puffed up withwicked lust. But the promiseby which he was bidden tohope for eternal life so longas he ate from the tree of life,and, conversely, the terriblethreat of death once he tasted

of the tree of knowledge ofgood and evil, served to proveand exercise his faith. Hencei t is not hard to deduce bywhat means Adam provokedGod's wrath uponhimself ... pride was the be

ginning of all evils. - Since the woman through

unfaithfulness was led awayfrom God's Word by theserpent's deceit, it is alreadyclear that disobedience wasthe beginning of the Fall. -Yet it is at the same time tobe noted that the first manrevolted from God's authority,not only because he wasseized by Satan's blandishments, but also because, contemptuous of truth, he turnedaside to falsehood. Andsurely, once we hold God'sWord in contempt, we shakeoff all reverence for Him.For, unless we listen attentively to Him, His majesty willnot dwell among us, nor Hisworship remain perfect. Unfaithfulness, then, was theroot of the Fall. .

Adam and Eve sinned bybelieving the lies of Satan, forwhich there was no reasonable basis. His lies are heardin Genesis 3 :4 -5 - You shallnot surely die for Godknows that in the day youeat from it your eyes will beopened, and you will be likeGod knowing good ande v i l . ~

The FIRST LIE they choseto believe was that "God doesnot absolutely govern and predestine man and reality, andHe therefore cannot predictconsequences. 9 Satan said,You shall not surely die.God is not in control of things.

He does not know infalliblyhow things will turn out.There is no universal government, no absolute law towhich all people are accountable. Satan was saying, ineffect: Man is an open uni

verse, i.e., open to experiment and development andopen to changes of ultimatelaw. lo He actually said,You shall not SURELY die.t may be possible, but' it is

not inevitable. God is power,but His power can be defied,so risk it.

The SECOND LIE theybelieved was that God's pur

pose is to frustrate man andto prevent man's self-realization. 1 1 They chose to believe that obedience to God'sWord enslaves a person andcramps his life; and that obedience to self over God is truefreedom. The abandonmentof God's law is man's mostI ltimate liberation movement.By eating the fruit, Adam and

Eve declared their (pretended) independence fromGod. This always requireslawlessness. Fallen man believes that God's law is animpediment to man, an infringement on his liberty anda denial of his potentiality. 12

The THIRD LIE of Satanis the premise that man ishis own God, I' who cannot

bow down before any otherGod. Adam and Eve chose tobelieve that they, like God,had the ability to determinegood and evil without reference to God or to His Word.

The history of mankind is inpart the attempt of fallen manto make that assertion. Butto claim to be a god in theface of the Creator God,

August/September 999 THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon 29


6/16

means waging war againstthat God. Two mutually exclusive claims cannot be tolerated; one of the gods mustgo, and fallen mankind is determined that the God o fScripture must die. Socially,

the outcome of this religiousprinciple is anarchism. f allmen claim to be gods, then allmen, as rival gods, will be atwar one with another. Thealternative is to make thestate into a god and men intoslaves of the state. I '

The FOURTH LIE of Satan is that fallen man can livebeyond .God s standard ofgood and evil and beyond theconsequences of doing evil,because he himself can knowfor himself and in himselfwhat consti tutes good andevil. This satanic doctrinemakes good and evil purelyrelative to man-whateverman deems good at one pointin time is good; and whatever.he deems evil is eviL for that.person at that one moment, tholds no claims on any otherperson at any other momentin history. Today premaritalsex is good. Tomorrow it maybe evil. t all depends on thesituation and, motive. Fallenman bel ieves that outsideman s consciousness nomoral absolutes exist, whichare. authoritative in all situations and to which man mustalways submit. Fallen man,like Adam, seeks to build hislife upon a principle of revoltagainst his Maker.

The Transmission of Sin

Sin spread rapidly throughout the earth. Then the Lordsaw that the, wickedness o fman was great in the earth,

and that every intent of thethoughts of his heart wasonly evil continually," Genesis 6:;;. Now the earth wascorrupt in the sight of God,:and the earth was f i l ledwith viol wce. And God

looked qn the .earth, andbehold, it was corrupt; forall flesh had corrupted theirway upon'ihe earth," Gen

. esis6:11-12. ... he intent ofman's heart is evil from hisyouth," Genesis 8:21. In lessthan seventeen hundred yearsafter its creation, God destroyed the earth in theNOahlc Flood because o f the

rapid and destructive growthof sin in the human race.Why did i t grow so fast?Since Adam, no one has beenexempt from its evil influences. All have sinned andcome short of the glory ofGod, Romans 3:23. Why?

King David said, "Surelyhave been a sinner frombirth, sinful from the time

y mother conceived me,"Psalm 51:5 (NIV) . He alsowrote that the wicked areestranged from the wOinb;these' Who speak lies goastray from bir th : ' Psalm58:3. Everybody in the wholeworld throughout history aresinners from their conception

:in.tlle entirety of tlleir livesand beings, except for Jesus.What. is the connection between Adam and his, sin andthe plight and sinfulness of allhis descendants, i.e., the ent i re human race? The answbr to this question is foundin Romans 5:12-19.

Therefore, just as throughone man sin entered into theworld, and death through sin,.and so death spread to all

30 - THE COUNSEL of ChaIcedon - August/September, 1999

men, because all .sinned-joruntil the-Law sin was in. the., .world; but sin is not imputedWhen there.is no .law. Nevertheless death rdgned from'Adam until Moses, even overthose who had not sinned { o

the likeness of Adam's offense,who is a type of Him who w,as,to come. But the free giftis ..not l,ike the transgression. Forif by the' transgression o f theone the many died, much.moredid the grace of God and .the .gift by the grace of the oneman, Jesus Christ, abound tothe many. And the gift isnoe.l ik that which came ihro.zigh

the. one wh,o sinned; for o theone hand the judgment arosefrom one transgression resulting in cOl1demnation, but onthe other hand the free giftarose from many transgres-'sions resulting, in j u s t i f i c a t i o n ~For if by the transgression 0/.the one, death reigned throughthe one, much more those whoreceive. theabl,mdance ofgrace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in lifethrough the one, Jesus Christ.So then as throltghone trans-

. gression there resulted con- .demnation to all men; even sothrough one act 0/ righteous-'ness there resuitedjUstificationof life to all men. For as .through the one man's disobedience the many were madesinnerS; eveliso through theobediehCe o f theOne, the mdnywill be made righteous.'

.' ,.-

Tbis passage dea l s withtwo undeniable facts of human experience: t h e u n i ~ e -sality of sin and t i ~ u ~ i v e r -sality o f death. Jt givestll.ereason for both of thes e issues, The hist9ly p(the h ~ -man race can e summed u p


7/16

in terms of what has happened because of Adam andwhat has happened becauseof Christ. This means thatsalvation is not simply a matter of forgiveness. t is aradical change in our whole

position before G od- f o rmerly we were in Adam" andnow we are in Christ." Wehave become members of thenew kingdom, the new age,the new race, the new humanity, covenantally represented in Jesus Christ, just aswe were a part of the fallenand condemned race,covenantally represented in

Adam. All who stand condemned before God are condemned because of the sin ofAdam, as well as for theirown sin. All who are justified before God are justifiedbecause of the obedience ofJesus.

In order to understand thepoint of Romans 5:12-19, wemust be aware of the paral

lels this passage assumes between Adam and Jesus. (1).One is as historical as theother. Jesus lived in humanhistory, therefore, so musthave Adam, if the parallel isto stand. (2). Both were appointed by God as the twopivotal personages in humanhistory. (3). Each of them isthe representative of a group

of people: Adam representsall faHen and unregeneratepeople and Christ representsall regenerate and believingpeople. (4). God made a covenant with each of these twomen, making each one a covenant head: Adam had theCovenant of Life, and Jesushad the Covenant of Redemption. (5). Each represented

all his "seed." Adam represented all his genetic seed,and Jesus represented all Hiscovenantal seed, which isHis Spiritual body. (6). Eachpassed on to his seed the effects of his life's work. He

passed on to those whom herepresents all the consequences of the actions of hislife. Any objection to thisrepresentation-principle isrooted in ignorance, pride,self-confidence, unbelief inthe Bible, or dissatisfactionwith God's government of theworld. The mind not held captive by the Word of God cries

out, I want to represent myself, because I can do a better job. I do not want to bedependent upon anyone. Iwant my autonomy. I want todo it my way." However, ifwe do not want covenantalrepresentation in Eden, wemay not have it on Calvary

In Romans 5:12-19, Adamis presented as the head of

the fallen race. His actionswere not exclusively private.He was a public person andhis actions were those of arepresentative. He acted forthose whom he represented;and he represented the ent ire,fallen, human race, I Corinthians 5 :22. Our solidaritywith him implicated us in hisdisobedience. Through

mankind's representative,Adam, sin entered into theworld, and death throughsin, and s death spread toall men, because allsinned, Romans 5:12. Theverb in the last phrase in thisverse, because all sinned, isin the Greek aorist tense, signifying a completed action inthe past. In other words,

when Adam sinned, the wholehuman race sinned. Allsinned in Adam our representative His transgression affected his immediate descendants, Genesis 5: 13f, and everybody else since then, Ro

mans 3:23.How does our covenantal

relationship with Adam affect us today, six thousandyears later? In three ways.

First, Adam's sin, as ourrepresentati ve and covenantal head, constitutes all hisdescendants sinners. For asthrough the one man's dis-obedience the many weremade sinners, Romans 5:19.We are considered to be suchby God judicially and legally,thereby making us liable towhatever Adam deserved forhis original sin. And it givesus actual sinful human natures, which we inherit fromour ancestors all the wayback to Adam. As Davidsaid, we are sinners fromc o n c e p t i o n - s inful fromthe time my mothel' con-ceived me. In fact, we wereconstituted sinners in Adam'sloins. We sinned in him whenhe sinned. We do not become sinners when we commit our f i rs t sin at somemytholo gical age of accountability. We sin because weare born sinners, which sinful nature we inherited fromAdam.

Second, Adam's s in~ o u g h tdeath and the reign

of death to all his descendants. For just as throughone man [Adam] sin enteredthe world, and deaththrough sin, Romans 5:12.

For i f by the transgression

August/September, 1999 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - 31


8/16

o the one the many died, before God because of our5:15. For i by the trans- involvement in Adam's sin, asgression o f the one, death well as because oJ our ownreigned through the one, sin.

efiting many since it is grantedthat Christ is much more powerful to save than Ada;m was todestroy. - The meaning of thewhole passage is that sinceChrist surpasses Ada;m the sinof Ada;m is overcome by the

righteousness of Christ. Thecurse of Ada;m is overturned bythe grace of Christ, and the lifewhich Christ bestows swallowsup the death which ca;me fromAda;m."

5:17. Before Moses, p ~ o p l e 'The.good news of this pasdied,. even babies died, prov- sage is that Christ has comeing the reality o f inherited sin to be the head of a redeemedof which death was and is thejust wage, Romans .6:23. God race of people, those whotold Adam that the moment he believe in Him as their Lordsinned he would plunge him- and Savior. His actions werese l f and his posterity into also those of a representadeath, Genesis 2: 17, physical , tive; and our covenantal soliGenesis 5:5, spiritual, Eph- darity and union with Him imesians 2: I , and eternal, Rev- plicated us in His obedi- This representative-prinelation 20:14 . All unbeliev- e n c e - even so through the ciple in the Bible has manyers live under the reign of obedience of the One important implications. (1).death. No statement more [Christ] the many [whom He THE SIGNIFICANCE OFaccurately sums up life in this represents] will be made HUMAN ACTIONS: Peopleworld apart from Christ as righteous, 5:19. His obedi- are capable of performing acthe reign of sin and death. ence is our salvation. t se- tions of great and lasting sigTherefore. death is not nificance. Do not takenatural . t is our last f r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 'your actions l ightly.enemy and the wages of Christ has come to be the head o f God does not (2). THEsin. t is an invader and a redeem, ed r ~ eo f people, SOLIDARITY OF PAR-a tyrant ;'' devasta;Nng' . ..... . . . ' " ENTS N D C H I V ~

't,hose wh,o believe in' Him. as . theirapart from Christ. ' t is DREN: The actions ofthe infl ict ion of righ ,,' Lord and Savior. parents db affect theirteous judgment by a children. We are alwaysholy God, whose LaW sinful' cured for the believer the teactiihg anclinfl'uem::ihg ourman has violated. All [who abundance of grace, children, wllOse futures areare] in Adam die, so also all 5:15,16,17,18,20,21. t gives tied up with our present ac[who are] in Christ shall us more than we lost in tions. (3). THE IMPOSSIlive, I Corinthians 15:22.' Adam. The blessings exceed BILITY OF UNIVERSAL

Third, Adam's sin broughtcondemnat ion and divinejudgment upon all his descendants, because of their culpabili ty in his transgression.

. . . on the one hand thejudgment arose from onetransgression resulting incondemnation, 5:16. Sothen as through one trans-gression there resulted con-demnation to all men, 5:18.

He who believes in the Sanhas eternal life; but he whodoes not obey the Son shallnot see life, but the wrath ofGad abides on him, John3:36. We stand condemned

our loss.es. In Him the tribes ISM: All and many in Romansof Adam boast more blessings 5:12-19 represent two groupsthan their father lost. t seof people-a l l the many whocures and imputes to the be- are in Adam. and all the manyliever Christ's very own righ- who are in Christ. All thoseteousness, 5:16,17,18,19. Our represented in Adam wil l sufpersons and works are ac - fer deatb, and all those rep

cepted as righteous before resented in Christ will receiveGod because of Christ and life. All unregenerate peopleour union with Him. And will die, and all believers willthrough faith it enables the live. So then, Adam reprebel iever to reign in l ife, sents the lost portion of the5:17,18.21. human race; and Christ rep-

We may quite appropriately resents the saved portion.infer that if the fall of Ada;m had All who are in Adam will die;the effect of producing the ruin and all who are in Christ willof many the grace o God is live forever, I Corinthiansmuch more efficacious in ben- 15:22. '(4). THE HEADSHIP

32 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon August/September, 1999


9/16

PRINCIPLE ILLUSTRATED body, reason and emotions,IN LIFE: The divinely del- will and sexuality, and anegated headship of husbands, things are changed, alteredparents, elders and civil mag- and warped by the Fall. I 'istrates demands submission Romans 8:6-8 teaches us thatas illustrative of our submis- fallen man's entire inner lifesion of Christ, our New Covenant Head. (5). THE SOLIDARITY OF THOSE INCHRIST: Jesus deals withbelievers as parts of a wholebody, as well as individuals.He sees us as members ofthat body, that new Christianhumanity; therefore, we muststr ive continuany for theunity of the Christian church.(6). THE UNITY OF THE

BIBLE: God deals withpeople from first to last onthe same principles of grace,faith and Christ. Therefore,the entire Bible is to be understood in terms of theseover-arching and unifyingprinciples. (7). THE SOLIDARITY OF THOSE INADAM: We must expect theunregenerate to continue to

conspire against and opposethe Church of Christ. TheHerodians, Pharisees, scribesand Sadduccees were alwaysat each other's throats, except when they united in hatred of Jesus to kill Him.Such people unite today toattack Christ's church, just asthey united to cruc ify Him.

The Consequences of Sin

Fallen man's entire life,personally and culturany isdevastated by sin. His wholelife is marked by TOTAL DEPRAVITY and TOTAL INABILITY.

Total depravity refers tothe fact that every aspect ofman's being is affected andgoverned by sin. Mind and

is set on death, is hostile toGod and is both unwilling andunable to subject itself to thelaw of G o d - For the mindset on the flesh [Le., fallenhuman nature] isdeath ... because the mind seton the flesh is hosti le to -ward God; for i t does notsubject i tself t the Law ofGod, for i t is not even ableto do so; and those who are

in the flesh cannot pleaseGod. Ephesians 2:1-3teaches us that fallen man isdead in sin, and that the entirety of his life in this worldis dominated by Satan and thedesire to indulge funy in every sinful l u s t And youwere dead in your tres-passes and sins, in whichyou formerly walked ac-

cording to the course of thisworld, according to theprince of the power of theair, of the spirit that is nowworking in the sons of disobed ience. Among them wetoo all formerly lived in thelusts o f our flesh, indulgingthe desires of the flesh ando f the mind, and were bynature children o f wrath,

even as the rest. And inJohn : 19-20, Jesus said thatfallen man hates the light,Le., all that is associated withGod; and loves the darkness,Le., all that is associated withevil, because his deeds areevil. This is not a pretty picture; but i t is an accurateone, however much i t mayoffend us. We cannot begin

to unders tand ourselvesaright, unless we take seriously the fact of the total depravity of fallen man apartfrom Christ.

To speak of total depravity is not to say that all peopleare as depraved as they canbe, but that all people are sinful throughout every aspectof their being. Man's mind iscorrupt, Romans 3:11, alongwith all his wants and preferences, Mark 4:21,22, hisconscience, Titus 1:15, hismemory and imagination, Hebrews 2:1, and his body,which is susceptible to death

and which is used by sinfuldesires to satisfy those desires. He is not basicanygood, rather he is basicallyevil, and his only hope is thesalvat ion that is in JesusChrist . Man is a s innerthrough and t h r o u h - There is none r ighteous,n o t even one;. there is none,who understands, there is

none who seeks for God; allhave turned aside, togetherthey have become useless;there is none who doesgood, there is not even one.- There is no fear of Godbefore their eyes, Romans3:9-18.

Synthetic versions ofChrist ianity, such asArminianism, (Le., the theol

ogy of non-Reformedevangel ica l ism), andThomism, (Le., the theologyof Thomas Aquinas and Roman Catholicism), deny thetotal depravity of fallen man.

... for them, the mind of manis immune to the taint of sin,so that man can be reasonedwith. f this were true, philo sophy should be the great

. August/September, 1999 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - 33


10/16

instrl.\ment for the conversionof men. Reason would replace the Holy Spirit as theinstrument of salvation. Thefact is; however, that peo,plecannot be reasoned into salvation. The Bible declares

, that both the heart and ,theunderstanding of fallen man

are darkened.,., Romans 1:21,lilphesians 4: 17 -18. - Toigno're this fact is to sentenceourselves "to impotence indealing with men. We willthen trust in our reason, or insome other humanistic idea ofcommon ground, rather thanin the effectual Word of oursovereign God.

It is important to understand how total depravity op-

, erates, in order to escape itsconsequences in history: Wecannot fully appreciate what

, S'alvation is uhtil we knowwhat'we are saved from,Today, men's unWillingness to'recognize the fact of totaldepravity not only pollutes

their personal lives 'but theirsoda l l ives as wel .17 Failute t recognize that fallenman has a radically false cenler leads inen to create suppoSedlynoble political andsocial institutions and programs which become marketplaces of corruption. Thenobler the p r o f e s s , y ~goals,the greaterthedell.\sion, and

hence the greater the ensu, rng corrupticm. Every. erawhiC;1i neglects to undelstandtbe m ~ n i n gof total depravi ty is condemned' to sufferfrQmthe effects qf it. 18i TOtal inability has reference to the fact tha t sin hastotal ly incapacitated unregenerate man from deliveringhimself from his Sinful plight,

and from doing anything thatis ple \sing to God as long ashe is in ' that unregeneratecondition-' "the mind set onthe flesh is hostile towardGod; for it. does not subjectitself to the law of God, forIT IS NOT EVEN ABLE TODO SO; and those who arein .(he flesh CANNOT pleaseGod." That statement hasexceptions. The unbelieving,

,sinner is so filled with andenslaved by his hostility toGod that he is not able to obeyGod. H e loves ,only himself.He cannot do anything whatsoever that will please God.

He is a total slave to sin andSatan 19 , Romans, 6: 17f. Heloves his sin and his chains.He cannot even produce, adesire tbat is pleasing to God,because everything he willsand does is rooted in a heartful l , of rebell ion againstG o d - "That which proceedsout of the man,that is whatdefiles the man. For from

within, out of- the heart ofmen, proceed the evilthoughts and fornications,theffs, murders, adulter-ies.... ,All these evil thingsproceed from withi.n anddefile the man," Mark 7:20-23., Unregen,erate men andwomen cannot even think onethought that pleases God, because they are haters o f

God,Rom lns 1:30, who donot want God in their knowl-,edge, 1 :28.

So then, a fallen human being is totally depraved andtotally unable to deliver him,self ftom his depravity. Heis under God's condemnationbecause of his complicity inAdam's rebellion, Romans5:12-19. He has loSt all o f his

34.-i'HE COUNSEL ofChalcedon - August/September, 1999

original r igh teousness"There is none r ighteous,not even one ... there is nonewho do good, there is noteven one," Romans 3:IOf.And "al l our r ighteousdeeds are like a filthy garment," Isaiah 6 4:6. He is "utterly indisposed" to aU that isgood, because in his heart heloved the darkness andhates the light, John 3:19.He is utterly .. disabled todo anything that is good. Hedoes not submit himself to theLaw of God, and is not ( venable to do so; and thosewho are in the flesh ,CAN

NOT please God EVER, Romans 8:7-8, because he is the' ~ o p p o s i t e .of all that is good,since the mind set on theflesh is hostile toward God,Rom ans 8:7. And he is"wholly inclined to all evil,and that continually -, "EVERy intent of the, thoughtsof his ,he,art was ONLY evilCONTINUALLY," Genesi,s

6:5, ''for the intent of man'sheart is evil from his youth,"Genesis 8 ;21.

Some well-intendingpeople have evangelized sinners so as to leave the impression that, i f man will takethe first step, God will do therest. But the questioh is:how many steps can a deadman take? Unbelievers aredead in their sins, Ephesians2: 1. Others try to witness forChrist with this unbiblicalmethod, saying, God castsavote for you. 'Satan casts avote against you. And youmust cast the deciding vote.But again,how many Votescan a dead man cast? Unbelievers are i n totally hopeless and helpless situation in


11/16

and of themselves. The liberating and redeeming Christis their only hope. He and hissalvation are received byfaith in Him; and that salvation, including the faith tilatreceives it, is the gift o fGod; not as a result o fworks, that no one shouldboast , Ephesians 2:8,9.Outside of Christ, the re is nocure for tile disease of a corrupt human nature. Sciencecannot do it. Technology cannot d it. Education cannotdo it. Governmental regulation and welfarism cannot doit. Personal resolution to re

form oneself cannot do it .How much more will the

blood o f Christ , whothrough the eternal Spir i toffered himself withoutblemish to God, cleanseyour co.nscience from deadworks to serve the livingGod? - Hebrews 9:14.

Fallen man has also lost hisfellowship with God. Aftertile Fall, Adam and Eve, whowere made for close fellowship with their Creator, hidthemselves from the presence of the Lord God amongthe trees o f the garden,Genes is 3:8. Tile fellowshipwas broken. Our sins haveseparated us from God and

have hid His face from[us}, so that He does not

hear, Isaiah 59:2. Fallenman outside of Christ has nohope and is without God inthe world, Ephesians 2:12.This close fellowship witilGod is restored only in thereconciling work of JesusChrist, Ephesians 2:16.

God placed a curse on thecentral roles of fallen manand woman. He cursed the

ground for Adam s sake, Genesis 3:17; and He cursedcilild-bearing for Eve s sake,3: 16. Now, no fulfillment isto be found in tilese centralroles and functions, wilich areso essential to the life of manand woman. Man was created to find contentment inmeaningful work, but, apartfrom Cilrist, there are onlytilorns and sweat, witil a lossof meaning and purpose andcalling. Woman is to find fulfillment in Child-bearing, butapart from Christ, there ispain in childbirth and frustrating, embittering rivalry witil

man. All of life apart fromChrist is unfulfi l led andloaded with despair.

The entirety of unregenerate, fallen human existence isunder the fiery anger of Almighty God. For the wratho f God is revealed fromheaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness ofmen, Romans 1:18. Hewho believes in the Son haseternal l i fe; but he whodoes not obey the Son shallnot see life, but the wrath ofGod abides upon him, John3:36. Tilere is anger in theileart, word and hand of Godagainst the sinner, Psalm7:11, Isaiah 65:5, Revelation3: 16. God is displeased withall the sinner does. t is forthis reason that fallen humanbeings are called by naturechildren o f wrath, Ephesians 2:3. They are children of wrath because theyare sons of disobedience,Ephesians 2:2. Just as theirdiSObedience to God is thesource of their distinctive,depraved character, so God swrath is the source of the

punishment for their sins towhich they are destined. Andthey are such by nature, i .e.,fallen mankind was born in astate of divine condemnation.

Man s only hope is to runto Jesus for refuge from theanger of God because Christhas taken tile anger of Godagainst sin in Himself and hasremoved the curse from allwho receive Him as Lord andSavior, Galatians 3: 13f. Theunbelieving person has no security or protect ion fromGod s anger outside ofCilrist. t is sin alone thatplaces a person in this terribleposition. f he turns from hissin to Christ , he will besaved, Acts 16:31.

What is tile anger of God?t is comprised of three ele

ments: (a). His great displeasure at all s n Now thepeople became l ike thosewho complain o f adversityin the hearing o f the Lord;and when the Lord heard it,His anger was kindled, andthe fire of the Lord burnedamong them and consumedsome of the outskirts of thecamp, Numbers 11:1. (b).His passionate resistance toevery will set against Hisown w l l God is opposedto the proud, but givesgrace t the humble, James4:6. (c). His fierce, judicialattack on all resistance andrebellion against Him in attitudes or ac t ions - All itsland is brimstone and salt,a burning waste, unsownand unproductive, and nograss grows on it, like theoverthrow o f Sodom andGomorrah ... which the Lordoverthrew in His anger andin His wrath. And all the

August/September 999 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 35


12/16

nations shall say, Why hasthe Lord done thus to thisland? ' Why this great outburst of anger? Then menshall say, Because they forsao > the covenant o f theLord... . - Therefore, theanger o f the Lord burnedagainst that land, to bringupon i t every curse which iswritten in this book, Deuteronomy 29:23-27.

God's anger is not arbitrary, irrational, impulsive orunjust. t is His eternal detestation of all sin in His universe. t is His holiness, offended and insulted by oursin, stirred to activity againstit. t is, as someone has said,

the onslaught of the holyGod asserting anci establishing His absolute claim t< dominion. t is of irresistiblefo r ce - ' Thou, even Thou,art to be feared; and whomay stand in Thy presencewhen once Thou art angry? - Psalm 76:7. It is continuing and abiding- G ad isa r ighteous judge, and aGod who has indignationevery day, Psalm 7:11. t isof great destructive power asa consuming fire, Jeremiah15: 14, a devastating storm,jeremiah 30:23, poured outstreams o f lava and pitch,jeremiah 10:25. However, although God's judgment is always severe, i t is sometimesbrief, Psalm 30:5, delayed,James : 19, and slow, Exodus34:6. But God's anger remains tI iemost devastatingpower in the entire univ r s A jealous andavenging God is the LORD;the LORD is avenging andwrathful. The LORD takesvengeance on His adversar-

ies, and He reserves wrathfor His enemies. The LORDis slow to anger and greatin power, and the LORD willby no means leave thegUilty unpunished. Inwhirlwind and storm is Hisway, and clouds are the'dustbeneath His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes itdry; He dries up all the rivers. - Mountains quakebecause o f Him, and thehil ls dissolve; indeed the,earth is upheaved by Hispresence.... Who can standbefore His indignation?Who can endure the burningof His anger? His wrath ispoured out like fire, and therocks are broken up byHim, Nahum 1 2-6.

God's anger is revealeda nge r- the wrath of God isrevealed from heavenagainst all ungodliness andunrighteousness o f men,whll suppress the truth inunrighteousness, Romans1:18. t is powerfully, effectively and irresistibly operative,in the world of men itndproceeds from the sovereignthrone of God. " From Hisawesome throne, He inflictspenalties in time and history;and He will reveal His angerclimactically at the end of hist o r y Fllr after all it isonly just for God til repaywith affl ict ion those whoafflict you ... when the LordJesus shall be revealed fromheaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealingout retribution to those whod9 not know God and tothose who do not obey thegospel of our Lord Jesus.And these will pay the penalty o f eternal destruction

36 - TH COUNSEL of Chalcedon - August/September, 999

... when He comes to be glo'r i f iedin His ,saints on thatday, II Thessalonians 1 7f;because He aims at the totaldestruction of all that is con"trary to or opposed to Him inHis universe- Prepare forhis sOns a place of slaughter because o f the iniquityo f their fathers. They mustnot arise and take possession of the earth and fill theface of the world with cities. ' I w i n riSe up, againstthem,' declares' the Lord ofhosts, and will cUt off fromBabylon name and survivors, offspring and posterity, declares the Lord,. -.. .1 will sweep it with thebroom of destruction,Isaiah 14:21-23.

This abiding anger on theunbeliever brings God's purlishments upon him in this lifeas well as in the life to come',unless he repents. In this lifei t can cause several things tohappen to him. '

(1). Because of God's anger, He often blinds the mindsof the unbelieving, as a righteous judicial response to thewillful refusal of man to usehis milId, ,and life for G o d ~glory. ' Ephesians 4: 8 speaksof the unbelievers as beingdarkened in their under_standing, exclUded from the

life o f God, because o f theignorance that is in them,because o f the hardness oftheir heart.

(2). In His judgment onpeople and the ir c'u,ltures, Godsometimes gives them overto a reprobate mind, Romans 1 :24,26,28. The ca 1seof God's anger, which,is oursin, is sometimes the judicial


13/16

effect of His anger. Sometimes, in righteous judgment,God gives over rebellious manto the depravity in his heart

to do those things whichare not proper, Romans1:28. In other words, some

times God punishes sin withsin, by removing His restrainton our sin, not by forcing usto sin. ... there is that peculiar manifestation of the anger of God, according towhich He punishes sin withmore and greater sin . . . .When men indulge in the evilpassions of their corrupt nature, they play with the

dreadful fire of the wrath ofGod. For God's wrath againstsin is operative in and uponthose wicked passions andevil lusts, and by means ofthem He gives men over togreater sins and fouler deeds,till they become worse thanthe beast of the field.... Letno man imagine that it is possible for him to sin even for

a moment with impunity, forGod is terribly displeasedwith all sin, and in His justjudgment punishes sin in timeas well as in eternity. 20

(3). In His holy anger Godsometimes punishes thewicked by sending upon them

a deluding influence sothat they might believe whatis false in order that they

all may be judged who didnot believe the truth, buttook pleasure in wicked-ness, I Thessalonians 2:11f.

(4). Oft en God responds tothe persistently disobedientwho harden their hearts andstiffen their necks againstHim, by hardening thei rhearts even harder, thus completing in judgment what the

sinner had begun in rebellion.Pharaoh hardened his heartagainst t he Word of Jehovah,so Jehovah hardened hisheart totally in judgment onhim. God has mercy on whomHe will, and He hardens

whom He will, Romans 9;18.He makes some men so hardin their hearts that they wilinever repent and be saved,Matthew 13:14f.

(5). God's wrath can alsoconstantly terrify a sinnerand make him a miserableslave to that terror, drivinghim to irrationality, Isaiah33: 14, Genesis 4:13, Matthew27:4.

(6). According to Leviticus26 and Deuteronomy 28, Godsends a large variety of effects of divine wrath upon arebell ious culture: poorhealth, malignant diseases,and war, 26:14-17, famine andeconomic collapse, 26:18-20,wild animals, 26:21-22, thedevastations of war, 26:23-26, national destruction, exileand slavery, 26:27-39. Butit shall come about, i f youwill not obey the Lord yourGod, to observe to do allHis commandments and Hisstatutes which I charge youtoday, that all these cursesshall come upon you andovertake you. Cursed shallyou be in the city, andcursed shall you be in thecountry. Cursed shall beyour basket and yourkneading bowl. Cursedshall be the offspring ofyour body and the produceo f your ground, the in-crease of your herd and theyoung of your flock.Cursed shall you be whenyou come in, and cursed

shall you be when you goout. The Lord wil l sendupon you curses, confusion,and rebuke, in all you un-dertake to do, until you aredestroyed and until you per-ish quickly, on account o f

the evil o f your deeds, be -cause you have forsakenme, Deuteronomy 28:15f.

(7). God's wrath bringsd e a t h - the wages o f sin isdeath, Romans 6:23. Godstruck down Ananias andSapphira, suddenly and unexpectedly, because they liedto Him, Acts 5: I f

The most horrifying punishment of sin is what awaitsthe unbelieving sinner afterdeath in HELL. I t is a reality. Jesus spoke of it often.He said in Matthew 25 :46that the wicked would goaway into everlasting pun-ishment, while the righteouswould go into eternal life.He will say to the wicked on

the last day: Depart fromme, accursed ones, illto theeternal f i re , 25:41. Hewarned people: Do not fearthose who kill the body, butare unable to kill the soul:but rather fear Him who isable to destroy both souland body in hell, Matthew10:28.

Hell is a place and condition of unimaginable torment,misery, pain and woe. Jesustaught that the repro bate willbe cast out into the outerdarkness: in that placethere shall be weeping andgnashing of teeth, Matthew8:12,22:13,25:30. They willbe excluded from the warmth,light, life, nourishment and joyof the festivities of Christ 's

AugustiSeptember 1999 THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon 37


14/16

kingdom, and be sent to fore soul in hell." He said, 11 wicked will be tormented inboding loneliness, cut off your eye causes you to hell. The blessedness of,thefrom the goOd presence of stumble, [sin]; cast i t out; it redeem,ed is everlasting andGod and .the loving associa- is better 10r you to enter the the punishment of the wickedtion of His people. The ex- kingdom o f God with one is equally everlasting. Moreistence of those in hell will be eye, than having two eyes, over, iIi Jesus' story of the'nothing else but one of sor- to be cast into hell , where rich man and Lazarus, therow, regret ~ d uncontrolled the i r worm does not die, rich man, who 'went to hell,and unceasing anger and rage, and the f ire is not was FULLY CONSCIOUSrequiring unceasing punish- quenched," Mark9:47f. In OF HIS ,UNBEARABLEment. hopeless despair, the damned TORMENT, BEING IN THE

Hel l is a place of un - will suffer mentally and FULL POSSESSION OFquenchable fire. Jesus called physicaliy the jus t conse- ALL HIS FACULTIES, Lukeit everlasting fire. There the quences of their s in - , mental 16:]'9f.wicked will be "tormented torment plus the sinking of t should be noted that,with f ire and brimstone in ' the phys ical body, the entire whereas no one goes to hellthe presence o f the hoiy an- person' with all its senses, who does not deserve to bege l s , " Revelat ion 14:10. into the fiery torments of hell. there; 'and, whereas God

A'n'd' whos'oe'v' er was ' not The punishment and pain wili ' never punishes anyone morefound written in the book of be external and phys ica l - than he deserves; and,l ife was cast into the lake of where the f ire is not whereaS everyone in heli willf i re ," Revelat ion 20;15. quenched, and i n t e r n a l - be in anguiSh and torment,Those who do not obey the where the worm does not there are degrees of punish-gospel "will pay the penalty die. The damned wilIalways ment i n hell. God is a just01 eternal destruct,ion, away be the objects of God '8 ' ,God. Some sins against Godf rom ,the presence o f the wrath, never of His love. ' ,are more heinous'tha,n others,Lord and from the glory o f "They will be tormented

thus deserving greater pun-His power," II Thessalonians with f i re and ishment. Jesus made this1:9. lIell is an actual, never-, brimstone ... and the smoke poilit in Luke'12:47f- iiridending existence oJ wicked o f their torment ascends tha t s lave who knew hishuman beings in excruciating, forever and ever, so that '

. master 's will and did not geteverlasting fire, as a jus t they have no rest day o tready or act ' in accord withpuniShment for their sin. Ba- night," Revelation 14:9-11,his will, shall receive manysic to divine justice is the 19:3,20:10

. , lashes, but the one who didprinciple that punishment , The eternal destruction of not know it, and committedmust fi t the crime. Revolt the wicked mentioned aboveagal nst the l'nfl'nl'te holy G o d , , deeds worthY o f a flog ging,in reference to hell does' notis infinitely wicked, demand- will receive but few. And

imply, an instan taneous anni- from everyone who has beening inf ini te punishment. hilation, so that the wicked 'Moreover, the wicked con- givenrn'uch shal l much be

are punished by simply being . d ' 'd t h thtinue their angry hostility to- reqUIre ;' an

0w om ey, snuffed ,out, i.e. , ceasing to ' , d , h 1 h hward God in hell, which also ' entruste mUG , 0 zin t ey

exist , at death. M a t t h e w ' I ' l k II hdeserves continuing ,punish- wz a's t e more., 25 :46 brings this out unmis-ment. takably by using the same

Hell is a place where both, word eternal to describe boththe body and the soul of the the destiny of the righteous aswicked are tormented for- well as the destiny of theever, with no hope of cesS a- wicked. The durationoHheirHon or escape. Jesus warns existence is identical-eterus to fear God, who is able nal. As long as the righteousto, destr ?y bO,th body and live and e n j o ~heaven, the

38 THE COUNSEL o ChalcedoD August/September, 1999

Conclusions1. You must come to grips

w i t h ~ h i struth which is asclear as d a y l i g h t ~ l I E L L

,AWAITS THE IMPENITENTUNBELIEVER. Since such,a place as hell, exists, nothing is worth anything unless


15/16

you are not going there. fthe Bible said that only oneperson in every billion wouldgo to hell, we would spendour lives making sure we arenot that one. But Christ saidMANY will go to hell. Do

you have solid, Biblicalgrounds for believing that youwill not go to hell? OnlyJesus Christ can save youfrom sin and hell. Make sureof your relation to Him. B e-lieve all the Lord Jesus, alldyou shal l be saved; youalld your household, Acts16:31.

2. f God has saved you. from His fierce anger, you

ought to be wholly committedto Him in love, gratitude andsubmission. The only reasonyour eyes are not blinded bythe smoke of the pit; and yourhands are not bound with thechains of darkness; and yourtongue not bOiling in the fireo f hell and your feet notstanding in the lake that burns

with fire, is JESUS CHRIST.Therefore, use your eyes inreading of Him, your hands inserving Him, your tongue inspeaking for Him, and yourfeet to quickly run His er -rands. To one who knew himsel f once to be a child ofwrath, but now delivered byJesus Christ, nothing will betoo much to do or to suffer

for Him."- Source unknown3. Be more afraid of sin

than you are of hell. Sin iscontrary to everything God is.

t is destructive of everythingman is. t degrades man. tmakes him a fool. t dehumanizes him and makes him abeast. t separates him fromhis Maker. And i t sends himto hell. f i t had not been for

sin, hell would not have exis ted. And people wouldnever go to hell if they wouldrepent and believe the gospel.How is sin worse than hell?

Hell is only a punishment,but sin is a crime. t is moreevil than the punishment, andit is that of which hell is thepunishment. The very greatness of this punishment argues the greatness of thecrime and the sinfulness ofsin. That God is glorified onmen in such a way is clearand full proof what an evilthing it is to sin against anddishonor God. Consequently

hel itself does not inflict somuch hurt as sin does. Hell,indeed, is a dismal place ofhorror and torment, the extremity of suffering, but itnever had any existence tillsin had. Nor could hell havesuch names and such tor-ments as it does now if sinwere not there. t is reportedas a saying of Anselm that if

sin and hell were set beforehim and he must go throughone of them, he would chooseto go through hell rather thansin. Sin is the worst of hell,and worse than hell. t is whatmakes sinners cry out for theuninhabitableness of devouring fire and everlast ingburnings, which are no terrorto r ighteous and upright

souls, Isaiah 33:14,15. t issin that makes hell to be hell.God was never angry until sinmade Him so; His wrath wasnever kindled except by sin.Now just as sin made hell, sothe more sin the more hell, asTyre and Sidon suffer morethan Sodom and Gomorrah.Even if there were no hell butsuch as Cain and Judas felt

within them, it would still bea great one. They would tellyou that i t is damnat ionenough to be a sinner and tofeel the horrors of a guiltyand accusing conscience. , ,

Praise God, Jesus came,not only to save us from hell,but to save us from our sinsl

Thou shal t cal l His nameJesus, for He shall save Hispeople f rom the i r s ins ,Matthew 1 :21.

For a discuss ion of the relation of sinand predestination, see pages 162f. Seealso appendix to this chapter on p ge

2 Robert Shaw, THE REFORMEDFAITH. (fuverness, Scotland: ChristianFocus Publications, 1974 reprint), p. 75.

3 Belfrage quoted by Robert Shaw inTHE REFORMED FAITH, p. 75.

, Curtis Vaughan, JAMES: A STUDYGUIDE, (Grand Rapids, Michigan:Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p.31.

S Samuel Rutherford,RUTHERFORD'S CATECHISM,Edinburgh: Blue Banner Productions,

1998 reprmt), p. 24., R.J. Rushdoony, SYSTEMATIC

THEOLOGY, (Vallecito, California: RossHouse Books, 1994), Vol I, p. 471.

7 Greg Bahnsen, THEONOMY INCHRISTIAN ETHICS, (Nutley, NJ: TheCraig Press, 1977), p. 270.

John Calvin, INSTITUTES OF THECHRISTIAN RELIGION, (Philadelphia,PA: The Westminster Press, 1960), II,I,4.

, R.J. Rushdoony, REVOLTAGAINST MATURITY, (Fairfax, VA:Thoburn Press, 1977), p. 70.

10 Ibid., p. 71.Ibid., p. 71.

12 Ibid p. 71.Ibid., p. 71-72.

Ibid p. 72.IS John Calvin, CALVIN'S COM

MENTARIES, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1979 reprint),Vol XIX, p. 206.

16 R.J. Rushdoony, SYSTEMATICTHEOLOGY, (Vallecito, California:Ross House Books,1994), Vol I, p. 445f.

17 Just as sin is total in the life Ofmanaffecting his total being so sin is total inthe life of society. Total depravity meansthat every aspect of man s life and soci-ety is tainted by sin, so that death hauntsevery son of Adam, and every culture r e ~

August/September, 1999 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon . 39


16/16

ated by the sons of Adam. Technologydoes not eliminate this death-bound nature of society; rather, it expedites andenhances the workings. of sin. - R.I.Rushdoony, SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY, Vol. I, p. 451f .

U Ibid . p. 445ff.

Non-Profit Org..D.S.Postage

PAIDPermit # 1553Greenville, Sc.

2960219 Larger Catechism Q. 27 speaks of

fallen human beings as bond slaves toSatan, and then gives this Biblical footnote to support its statement: And thatthey may recover themselves out of thesnare of thedevil, who are taken captive by hiin a t his will, II Timothy 2:26.

A truly shocking condition, when thedevil has so -great power over us, that hedrags us, as captive slaves, here and thereat his pleasure. Yet such is the conditionof all those whom the pride of their heartdraws away from SUbjection to God . Andthis tyrannical dominion of Satan weseeplainly, eve ry day, in the reprobate; forthey would not rush with such fury andwith brutal v i o l ~ c einto every kind ofbase and disgraceful crimes, i hey werenot drawn by the unseen power of Satan.- Such examples admonish us to keepourselves carefully under the yoke ofChrist, and to yield ourselves to be governed by His Holy Spirit. And yet a captivity of this nature does not excusewicked men, so that they do not sin, because it is by the instigation of Satan thatthey sin; for, although their being carried

along so e . s i s t 1 e s s ~ yto that which is eviiproceeds from the dominion o Satan, yetthey do nothing by constraint, but areinclined with their whole heart to that towhich S,atan drives them. The result is.that their captivity is voluntary. - JohnCalvin, CALVIN'S COMMENTARIES,Vol. XXI, p. 235.

20 Herman Hoeksema, THE TRIPLEKNOWLEDGE, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 1970), Vol. I, pp. 215-216.

21 Ralph Venning, THE PLAGUE OFPLAGUES, (Edinburgh, Scotland: TheBanner of Truth r u s ~1965 ), p. 187.

"Roots fl,.< V i H"les"Rebecca B. Morecraft, Beckylo her r i e n d s w r i l ~froma rootedness\ ::.J l l L In the soil of her native Vlr8lrua sevea I\enernuons 100& and from

i coliectJOn 01 poems b\ RebeccJ Hekher ~ t o r l u a t la ferUle ChriStian heritBi\e. Visil the home place Withher he downon the bill rock and walch her Granny pick black raspberries from vines broU&l1lover on a ship 8I'neralions ae,o: swin&with her on Uncle Tommy'stire swin&and then pull up a buckel of cold waler Rom the .slone-mouthed well. Go home lothe mounlains wilh her, meel the folks and you maynol wanl lo leavel

H8ecky Morecraft writes out t her own ir:fectious exhilarationwith the bubblingstuff of life. I sense that her antennae are outthere, paying ~ t t e n t i o n ,combing the air for messages fromBeyond, and for insights about Here _af d Now, which sheturns into vivid heartwarming veises so that we may get themessage too. Ajoy to read, this collection is reality transformedinto art " -Luci Shaw, author of "Writing the R i v ~ r ,and "Wa@ MySoul."

"8.eaut}i, grace and godliness come together in BeckyMorecraft'spoetry. I am sure her work will stand the test of time as more .and more Christian children learn to'appreciate the grandeurof being born into Christian homes where many generationshave loved and served KingSabaath. Her voice willteach theway back as we begin to reclaim a godly covenant heritage."-Susan Burns, author and Managing Editor of The Cha/ced.on Report.

H8ecky's poetry' is born in the soul of one who Sees andunderstands.'She stirs the heart and sends the spirit soaring through an a t m o s p h e r ~ofbountiful,b e a ~ t i f u ,delicious

words. Each thread from word to thought is impeccably W J... ven. You.will read her work andquietly exclaim, 'That

is exactly how I fel.t . . . hat is preciselywhat J wantedto say '" -Judy Roge-rs, singer/songwriter/recordingartist of "Why Can,'t ISee God?" and "IfYou Love M e / ~

(Songs from the Ten Commandments).

HBeckyMoreaaft,'s poems give' new meaning to the idea ofheritage, for here is a Southern feast of words accompanied by

the full and haunting st;ains of he bagpipe. I cannot help butsmile at-the tenderness, humor, and downright deliciousnessofher language. The underlying vision is serious, for the soil of allMrs. Morecraft's poems is Christ the Lord." -Suzanne Clark,

Author; Sketchesof Horne

This 'chapbook' of poems (also. includi11&a mountain ballad and rnspberry cobbler recipe ) is available.from the author for $10.00 plus $2.00 poslB&eand handli11&. lend checks made oul and addressed lo her lo:

Becky Morecrafl, 6819 Posl Road, Cummi l(\, Gil 30040.

40 - THE. COUNSEL of Chalcedon August/September, 1999

1999 issue 5 - the reality of sin - counsel of chalcedon

Documents