“He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” – Titus 1:9
Over the past couple days the campus of the University of Florida, where I attend, has been rocked with the words of a street preacher that has come in our midst. If he were a prophet of the Lord bringing the message of “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2) this would be a great thing, but, instead he has come with “lofty speech” and “wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:1) , upsetting the campus teaching what he “ought not to teach” (Titus 1:11).
We probably all have seen “preachers” like this before and knew in seeing them that something was off. Over the next two posts I wish to unravel two specific doctrines which I believe have played a key part in this particular teacher’s journey into falsehood, those being the denial of Original Sin and a belief in Justification by Works.
Original Sin, as stated in the Westminster Confession, says that our original parents (Adam and Eve) sinned, and that “(t)hey being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed”, specifically through the seed of Adam, the man (Romans 5:12-19). This is why the Virgin Birth of Jesus was necessary. Deniers of Original Sin will say that the Virgin Birth was necessary to show Jesus was supernatural, as if miracles and resurrection and forgiveness of sin didn’t yet do this. I do not believe in a God that is too weak to place a supernatural Jesus in the womb through earthly conception, however, because God cursed us that the lineage of sin continue through the male, it was necessary that Christ be born only through the female in order to maintain His sinless nature.
Moreover, a failure to acknowledge Original Sin leads to many philosophical dilemmas. If a man is born without sin then he does not inherit a sin nature, and so the nature of sin, of which the Bible speaks extensively (Romans 3:10-18, Ephesians 2:1-3, Colossians 1:21, 2:13), must be chosen by all men, which is never spoken of in scripture. If a man is born with no inclination to do evil, why does the Bible not tell us for what reason every man chooses to do such? We can also see that acceptance of Original Sin allows us to explain why it is not at all contradictary to God’s word that certain sins be the result of genetic predisposition.
Lastly, since by Romans 5:12 and 6:23 we know that the consequence of sin is death (and so without sin there is no death, which is why we, once glorified, will live forever), then how can we explain the deaths of infants during childbirth, at a time when it is would be inconcievable to claim that they have “chosen” to sin? For the holder of Original Sin, observing Psalm 51:5 and Psalm 58:3 makes this phenomenon clear, and as such the burden of proof is surely upon the denier to explain their position.
