Man has a "sinful nature" but sin is "
transgression of the LAW" according to the actual Bible - see
1 John 3:4
Yes, since Adam sinned, man inherited his fallen nature. However, Jesus corrected this flaw. Because of Him and His Spirit, we are no longer in the flesh - the fallen nature - but in the Spirit, IF we have been given the Spirit of God. And if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he doesn't belong to Christ.
Sinning is no longer an option for the born again Christian. When we are baptized in the Spirit, which many are NOT, we receive a new nature, free from an appetite for willful sinning, so 1 John 3:4 is about those of the devil, not of Christ.
...it boils down to independence from the Lord.
Not sure what you are saying. A Christian is not independent from the Lord.
Indeed. Before the LAW was given at Sinai -- people were sinning no matter that it was not "written on stone".
The LAW came 430 years AFTER Abraham - that is when it was "written on stone".
Gal 3: 17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise..
But God's "spoken Word" is LAW and so LAW existed BEFORE it was "written on stone"
Yes,
SIN existed ever since Adam sinned, though not imputed to man until the law was given.
SIN is the reason why the law was introduced to man through the Jews and Moses. It's not the law that is a problem that needs to be done away, but
SIN. Jesus was manifest to
take away our
SIN (not the law) and in Him there is no
SIN. 1 John 3:5. Thus, without
SIN, there is no need for the law in an individual. It is the Spirit that is responsible for this power over
SIN.
Genesis 26:3...and I will establish the oath
which I swore to your father Abraham.
4 I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; 5
because Abraham obeyed Me and
kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”
Yes, Abraham lived during sin's reign. But he obeyed God's spoken commands to him, had his men circumcised, sacrificed offerings to the Lord, and believed God that he would be a father. It is interesting that though Abraham's life was well documented, there is no mention of him keeping the Sabbath, so that was not part of the commandments referred to, as you suppose. In fact, the first mention of it after creation week was to Moses in Exodus 16 regarding the gathering of manna.
No it is not. There is no text saying "the Law was not in effect until Sinai" and we all know it.
That means it was "SIN" for Cain to kill Abel "
SIN is crouching at your door"
Genesis 4
That means it was "SIN" For Joseph to give in to adultery "
How can I commit this great SIN against God" Genesis
It would always be "SIN" to "
Take God's name in vain" -- at every point in history.
Almost All Christian Scholarship admits to this existence of the LAW of God from Adam to this very day.
All pointing to AFTER Adam sinned, and BEFORE Christ died. Again, it was SIN that was the culprit, and Jesus took it away, nailing it on the cross. Sin was before the LAW, but it just wasn't imputed to us unto death until the law came into affect. Then the wages of sin became death. That is why the Ten Commandment is called the ministry of death, engraved on stone.
2 Corinthians 3: But if the
ministry of death,
written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which
glory was passing away, 8 how will the
ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation
had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away
was glorious, what remains
is much more glorious.
Galatians 3:
What purpose then
does the law
serve? It was added because of transgressions,
till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made;
and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator does not
mediate for one
only, but God is one.
21
Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor
to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25
But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Messianics believe that the New Covenant was an
addition to the Old Covenant, and not that the old was done away with in place of the New Covenant.
This is not true. Galatians 3: Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though
it is only a man’s covenant, yet
if it is confirmed,
no one annuls or adds to it.
Therefore there are two ways. The ministry of death and the ministry of the Spirit. Each is independent of the other. The law was not annulled. And the ministry of the Spirit was not added to it.
Stranger said "Adam transgressed" and you said in your post that "Adam sinned but he did not transgress" -- the agreement that the two of you have there - escapes me just then... but I do see a lot of agreement between the two of you on some of the other points.
I'll say a third. Eve unwittingly trespassed, but Adam sinned willfully unto death, condemning the whole world. Adam broke a spoken commandment to him by God.
For example - Justification by faith - at the moment of justification you have Christ's righteousness imputed to you.
When we truly repent from all our past sin, Jesus takes away those sins, nailing them to His cross. We are sinless of
sins unto death and have received Christ's righteousness. 1 John 3:7 He who practices righteousness is righteous,
just as He is righteous. John further proclaims the righteousness of the Christian in verse 9." Whoever has been born of God
does not sin, for His
seed remains in him; and he
cannot sin, because he has been
born of God. (Some add the word "practice" to this verse, but it not there.) This is why those who walk in the Spirit are not under the law as they do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We are either in the flesh and damned as those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God, or in the Spirit and are assured eternal life.
The false doctrine and mindset of those who claim we will always be in the flesh, and will always sin have slapped Jesus in the face, and do not understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Spirit of Grace. To them the LAW is more important than the fact that Jesus freed us from our sin, and for them, the LAW is no longer applicable. There is another false doctrine, and that is that sinning in the flesh only
reduces our rewards, and this is all it means when Galatians 5 says they will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
The major confusion is on what is written on our hearts? The Old Covenant commandments, or the eternal laws of God. I believe it is the eternal laws of God that were always commandments. They are "Love God with all your heart, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus is God. That is why our New Covenant commandments are so closely figured to the eternal laws of God. The NC commandments are to believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and to love your neighbor.
