Cyber-Discipleship

In relation to how my sin relates to Adam’s sin, I would hear preachers say that Adam sinned and that because of his sin, we are all born sinners. I would hear how we are not sinners because we sin but we sin because we are sinners. Yet, at the same time, I hear that we are each responsible for our own sin. Hearing this made me ponder: , how can we be held accountable if we are, in fact, sinners because Adam sinned?

Perhaps, I can restate the question using a question many people ask in relation to Jesus: How can one man’s actions many years ago have an effect on my life today?

I took this question to the Lord and this is the answer He gave me. When Adam was created, he was created sinless and holy, without defect, for a relationship with God. But, because he made a bad decision and disobeyed God, his nature (his essence, his mindset) changed. He was no longer holy but rebellious. He was no longer sinless but corrupt. He was no longer in communion with God but separated from Him. It was this nature that was transferred down through the generations to us. His children were born spiritually dead and separated from God with a heart bent on disobedience and selfishness. This is what David meant when he wrote, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me (Psalms 51:5).”

It is from this nature that Jesus came to deliver us. This is why Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 that we had to be born again. We need a new nature, a new mindset. We need a nature that is not bent on disobedience and selfishness, but one that is governed by love and righteousness. When we put our trust in Christ for the forgiveness of our sin, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us and regenerates us. Our spirits are made alive and we are given a new nature.

Paul stressed the importance of living by the new nature and not the old. First, to the Corinthians, he explained that if anyone belongs to Christ, that person is a new creation (has received a new birth/new nature); the old (nature/mindset) is gone and a new one has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). He goes on to tell the Colossians that since they belong to Christ, they are to put off the old man (nature/mindset) with his ways and to put on the new man whose mind is being renewed by Christ (Colossians 3:9-10).

In Part 2, I will explain how this new nature relates to our salvation.