The fall of man

This is an interesting topic because it raises some pretty hard questions. So, I’ll establish some facts and try to answer some of the questions, all in a somewhat logical order.

God made Adam and Eve perfect, holy, and upright.
Surprisingly, this one was hard for me because the two supportive passages (Genesis 1:26-31 which says that man was made in God’s image, and Ecclesiastes 7:29 which says that “man was made upright, but has sought out many schemes”) seemed like they could be interpreted different ways. For example, if we are still in God’s image and we are not perfect, than Adam didn’t have to be perfect.

But, if you think about it, God cannot directly create something that is evil or imperfect. It’s simply impossible for Him to do. Adam was a “first-order creation (directly from God) and we are “second-order” creations (descending from Adam).

Man sinned.
You know the story, so I don’t really need to establish this.

How can someone who is holy and perfect, sin?
God did create man perfect, but He did not promise to sustain their perfection. For believers in heaven, He does. No one will sin in heaven. But to Adam and the human race, He did not give that promise. And no being, without God’s help, can continue to be perfect. So God did, so to speak, let man fall.

God decreed that they would sin.
There are many texts that support this. They may not directly talk about the sin of Adam, but several say that God decrees every human decision. So we have to say that God decreed Adam’s sin. Here are a couple of verses that speak both about man’s will being executed and God decreeing what happens:

. . . for it is God who woks in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. (Acts 4:27-28)

If God decreed it, how can we blame Adam?
Yes, God did decree that sin, and Adam could not have not sinned. But God didn’t make Adam do it against His will. Adam wanted to do it. John Gerstner defines predestination (another word for God decreeing everything that happens) like this:

Predestination—Decreeing the free acts of responsible men.

Adam chose to do what he did. Eve didn’t threaten him with house cleaning (well, she might have, but that wasn’t the reason he did it). God didn’t tempt him. And the devil didn’t “make him do it”. It was his own free choice and, consequently, his own responsibility.

Adam was representative of the whole human race. So, because of his sin, we all are born totally depraved.
Paul says in Romans 5:12 that we sinned in Adam. I’m still not exactly sure how this works. But I do know that God definitely counts us guilty for Adam’s sin. (Roman’s 5:12, 18, 19; 1 Corinthians 15:22, etc.)

I used to think that this kind of unfair. I mean, I’m in the soup because of some guy eating an apple a few thousand years ago? Well, even though I don’t have it all figured out, I at least know now that it isn’t unfair.

Before you knock this system too much, remember this verse: “As through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in the justification of life.”(Romans 5:19). We may have been condemned by one man’s sin, but thank God, through one Man’s death, we are made alive

Atheism

There are, as far as I can see, about three arguments that atheists use to support their position. The first is that there is so much pain and injustice in this world, and everything is so senseless that there can’t be a God who created it all. The second states that there is no need for the existence of a God because everything that exists can be explained in terms of scientific data and human decisions. The third simply says that there is no evidence for the existence of God. There are probably more but I think these are the main ones.

The first one is easily disproved by the very argument that they use. How would they know what senselessness is if they didn’t have standard with which to measure sense? C. S. Lewis said this in Mere Christianity:

My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be party of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it? A man feels wet when he falls into water, because man is not a water animal: a fish would not feel wet. Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too—for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies. Thus in the very act of trying to prove that God did not exist—in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless—I was forced to assume one part of reality—namely my idea of justice—was full of sense.

The second is basically Darwinian evolution. Though many people attempt to separate their scientific beliefs from their religious ones, I have yet to see it work. It would be tedious to try to completely debunk evolutionism here, so I’ll leave you to do it in your head (Hint: the complexity of nature, the geological column, flood stories, etc. are good places to start.). Aldous Huxley, an evolutionist himself, said that the only reason evolutionism is still around is because of mankind’s desire for sex. A shocking statement, but very perceptive. It appears that most people who “thoughtfully” believe in evolution, or any other kind of atheism (if they are honest with themselves), do so because, without a God, they can do what ever they want.

The third statement (no evidence for God) is as shallow as it sounds. Those who believe this simply turn a drumless ear to the overwhelming evidence for the existence of God in nature (Romans 1:19-20).

An important aside: Concerning the “who-is-an-atheist’s-idol-according -to-Romans-1: 18-23” question (raised Wednesday night by our Bible study group), it seems from the flimsiness of the arguments presented, and the Huxley quote, that the only reason people are atheists is because of the desire for sinful pleasure (whether sexual or otherwise), and the only reason they desire pleasure is for themselves. So, I guess my conclusion would be this; an atheist himself is his own idol.

Proving the Inspiration of the Bible

Proving, though not believing, the inspiration and perfection of the Word of God has always been rather difficult and confusing for me. Mostly because the only way anyone ever did it was to say, “It is, because it says it is”, which is something that a lot of other books claim as well. And, though I do think that this can be as effective as anything with the working of the Holy Spirit, it has never seemed very conclusive.
I recently watched a lecture by John Gerstner that helped me very much. Here are some of the main points of that presentation.

1. Don’t believe in the Bible simply because it says it is the Word of God.
If you did, you would have to believe in the Book of Mormon and any other book that made that claim, not to mention people who have claimed to be God Himself.

2. Biblical accounts, especially the New Testament’s, are historically accurate.
There are some who will totally deny the authenticity of the New Testament accounts, but the majority of scholars do say they are accurate.

3. Among other things, Christ reportedly did things that only God (or someone with the power of God) could do—miracles.
If the New Testament narratives are correct than Christ did perform miracles. And, by definition, miracles can only be performed by God or someone with His power.

4. If God or someone with the power of God proposes that the Bible is the Word of God, what sane person can question it?
It logically follows that if God says it is the Word of God, it is.
Dr. Gerstner quoted a man who said that anyone who believed in the Bible risked a trip to the insane asylum, and then Gerstner said, “If you agree that Christ was God or someone with His power and don’t believe in the Bible, you don’t risk a trip to the insane asylum, your there! That’s insane!

5. If the Bible is the Word of God, then it cannot err.
The Word of God cannot err because God cannot err. God is the definition of perfection. He is the standard. If God said that eating notebooks was virtuous, it would be. There is no word higher than His.

I think it is important to remember that, while we should be able to prove the inspiration of Scripture, none of us can open the eyes of anyone to the truth. God alone has the power to reveal Himself.

My Testimony

I grew up as a “PK” or preacher’s kid. The Elliff household has always been one that revolves around the Bible and the things of God. During my growing-up years I heard the essential biblical truths hundreds or possibly thousands of times. As a result of this, I did not doubt the authenticity of the Bible except for some brief periods.

As far back as I can remember I have wanted to be a follower of Christ. As a result, I asked God to make me a true Christian repeatedly in my preteen and early teen years. But I never seemed to see the evidence of a changed life. My problem was not: “Is Jesus speaking the truth when He says, ‘Repent and believe in the gospel’ in order to become His child?” It was; “How do I repent and believe in the gospel?” I could not assure myself that I was repenting and believing.

In the summer of 2004 I was playing baseball, enjoying my three-month break from school, and partaking in one of my favorite summertime activities, that is, reading until two o’clock every night. During a search for new reading material, I came across a book titled Rainbow Garden by Patricia St. John. In this children’s book, one I should have read years earlier, one of the characters came to Christ when she devoted herself to reading the Scriptures every day. In other words, it was in this way that God made Himself known to her and gave her assurance that she was a Christian. Reading the Bible on a regular basis was something I had never consistently done before, so I decided to try it.

I began to read two chapters, one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament, every day. Then, out of those chapters, I wrote down the verse that I liked the most. This continued for several months. Gradually, as I read, I began to realize that when the Bible said something, I believed it. And when the Bible commanded something, I wanted to follow it. Finally I came to the understanding that I actually was a believer in Jesus Christ already—trusting in His words, His death for me, and the person of Christ Himself as my salvation. Thanks to what God had done in me, I could now see the marks of a true follower of Christ in my life.

1 Peter 1:23 says, “. . . For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God”. It was through God’s Word that He gave me the confidence that I was actually a genuine Christian.

The exact point in time that I was converted is still a mystery to me. But, as my dad says, “If I get to heaven and God tells me that I was converted to Christ at some other time, I’m not going to argue with Him.”

I was baptized as a public display of my new life in Christ in an ice-cold swimming pool on the 5th of October, 2004. It is now my great desire to live and die for the glory of God and to enjoy Him forever.

You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy

At You right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:11