According to Oswald Chambers:
“The Bible does not say that God punished the human race for one man’s sin; but that the disposition of sin, viz. my claim to my right to myself, entered into the human race by one man, and that another Man took on Him the sin of the human race and put it away (Heb 9:26) – an infinitely profounder revelation. The disposition of sin is not immorality and wrong-doing, but the disposition of self-realization – I am my own god. This disposition may work out in decorous morality or in indecorous immorality, but it has one basis, my claim to my right to myself.” (Chambers, October 5th)
Adam was awakened, by Satan, to his own ability to claim his right to himself. Evil thereby took up residence in the soul of the first man, that particular evil called sin. The will, intellect and heart of Adam and then Eve were possessed and permeated by sin. But what about us, the descendants of Adam and Eve? God is just. God does not impute to us their monumental sin of self-realization. But He knew it would be pointless to allow the offspring of Adam and Eve to be born sinless. He knew they would all follow exactly the same path as their created ancestors. So He allowed the generations of Adam and Eve’s offspring to be born with a sin nature. We are all born corrupt, averse to God and inclined to evil. However, for this depraved nature we are not responsible and no guilt or demerit attaches to it. We become responsible for this sin nature only after attaining the age of accountability and ratifying it as our own. The age of accountability is not the same for all persons and, for many, it may be very young indeed.
Oswald Chambers goes on to say:
“Sin is a thing I am born with and I cannot touch it; God touches sin in Redemption. In the Cross of Jesus Christ God redeemed the whole human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a man responsible for having the heredity of sin. The condemnation is not that I am born with a heredity of sin, but if when I realize Jesus Christ came to deliver me from it, I refuse to let Him do so, from that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. ‘And this is the judgment’ (the critical moment), ‘that the light is come into the world and men loved the darkness rather than the light.” (Chambers, October 5th)
You can neither deny nor discard your own sin nature. All sins, even those committed between birth and the age of accountability, must be covered and, in fact, are covered by the substitutionary atonement. No one can side step or circumvent the atonement. There is no other means by which your sin nature can be defeated and you can be reconciled with God.
Salvation from the consequences of sin is offered to all persons by the grace of God and the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ (John 1:29, 14:6; Acts 4:10-12; Rom 3:21-25, 5:12-18; Eph 2:8-10; 1 Tim 2:5; Heb 9:14-15).
Puffed up preaching, incorporating such concepts as:
- No one is born with a sin nature. (Pelagianism)
- Our human intellect, wisdom and willpower are sufficient to overcome sin should it appear. (Pelagianism)
- Persons claiming entire sanctification need not ask God’s forgiveness for unintentional sin. (Faux Holiness)
- Salvation from the consequences of sin is offered to only a few select individuals, chosen by God, before the universe was created. (Calvinism)
- Goods works pave the path to Heaven. (religions based on good works)
is anathema to Jesus Christ. Such ideas come from a dark corner where God does not reside.
(See also Sections 8.6, 8.7, 8.8, 8.9, 8.13 and 8.14 of Theology Corner)
