Smoodock's Blog

There is no way that one is able to escape the taint of the sin of Adam. The only exception is Jesus, but he existed before Adam and therefore was not affected by the sin nature that was passed on to all mankind. He did not derive his life from our first parents and therefore was not subject to their sin.

Genesis 6:5 JPS  And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

This Scripture describes man as evil continually, for every imagination of the heart was only evil! This is a very condemning accusation. Certainly Noah was not considered evil in the same manner in which God saw the rest of mankind. The LORD said that Noah was righteous and wholeheartedly walked with God (Genesis 6:9). Some would say that this means Noah was sinless, but this is not true. Genesis 6:8 says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. The Jerusalem Targum says he “found grace and mercy” in the presence of God. This shows that Noah was not without sin. Grace comes not from merit but from mercy and compassion. God did not save Noah out of debt to him, but because Noah walked with God wholeheartedly – not perfectly – but with all his heart. God was merciful not only to Noah, but to all mankind. Had God destroyed Noah and his family with the rest of mankind, we would not have a Savior. That would have been the end. It is because Noah found grace and mercy in the eyes of God that salvation continued to be a hope for man.

1 Kings 8:46 JPS  If they sin against Thee–for there is no man that sinneth not–and Thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto the land of the enemy, far off or near;

When Solomon spoke at the dedication of the Temple, he claimed that no man was sinless. Yet people today claim this could not be true since God said of Job “there is none like him in the earth, a whole-hearted and an upright man, one that feareth God, and shunneth evil?”

Does this mean Job was sinless? Of course not! There is nothing in the book of Job that would suggest that he was a sinless man. On the contrary, he looked for a Redeemer (Job 19:25; cp. Job 14:16-17), and, when he had a clear vision of God and his works (Job 42:5), Job declared openly that he abhorred himself and was in need of repentance (Job 42:6).

Psalms 39:5 JPS  (39:6) Behold, Thou hast made my days as hand-breadths; and mine age is as nothing before Thee; surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Selah

This Scripture is certainly not complimentary to mankind, even for men who walk wholeheartedly with God. Rather than declaring that man is sinless, this verse is a memorial to the patience and mercy of God. Even in our best state, God expresses grace and mercy toward us who walk with him. This is because the heart of man is corrupt. It has become very wicked (Jeremiah 17:9) and needs to be replaced. It is not in man to know his way (Jeremiah 10:23), therefore how could any be righteous in the sense of being sinless. Anyone who acts at all after his own understanding will go astray and sin, for he does not understand how he should behave unless God directs him. Therefore, any statement to the effect that man is righteous must be understood in the fact that God directs his steps. The man himself is not righteous enough to know how he should behave in this world or in the presence of God. It is all through the grace and mercy of God that salvation is offered to man. No good thing is given to any of us by God out of debt or merit.

So, if there truly is no escape out of man’s corrupt condition, how can anyone be truly righteous before God? Jesus provides the answer. In 1Corinthians 15 Paul offers a parallel between Adam, our first parent, and Jesus, whom Paul calls out second or last Adam. In the first Adam we all die—death is the wages our rebellion from God has earned us. It is just that unrighteousness should meet with death and oblivion. However, in Christ, our second Adam, we are given life—new life—not from the flesh, but from the Spirit of God. Paul calls this a ‘new creation.’ The first creation was rooted in Adam and must die, i.e. cease to exist; but the second is rooted in Jesus through faith and will live forever. Therefore, we do have an escape, not one that we could attain to through our own efforts or cleverness, but one that has been provided for us by God. He, who was not part of our race, became a man and through faith in his death as payment for the debt we owe God, and through faith in his resurrection which provides our escape from Adam’s race into a creation of which Jesus is the FIRST MAN, we can become a child of God. Jesus, and only Jesus, is our way of escape—our way out of Adam’s race and unrighteousness—into the new creation of God that is brought into existence though his only begotten Son, Jesus. As we come to that part of the year in which we look back to the time when Jesus offered himself to God in our place, let us think on these things—things which are impossible for us to have done in order to save ourselves, but things which he has done for us, that we might have life and live forever with our God.

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