JohnDickerson
Puritan Board Freshman
Good morning, I have said in other posts that I am new to Reformed theology and am trying to read as much as I can on the matter. This morning I had a lot of thoughts on God ordaining sin and wanted to put it into writing for my own clarity and possibly to use as a brief defense of my theology to my friends. Can you all please let me know if my writing is theologically sound and what needs adjusting? I of course gleamed my thoughts from the Bible and other writing such as the 1689 Confession I hold to, but the writing is my own. Thank you for reading my thoughts and sharing your wisdom. Feel free to critique my grammar and punctuation too.
In my musings about God ordaining sin, (but in no way being the author of sin) it came into my mind the biblical truth about Christ being the last Adam. God, in His infinite wisdom and knowledge ordained the fall of man, but in such a way as to not force Adam to sin, so as to bring more glory to Himself by bringing many children into His kingdom.
The first Adam in no way was tempted to sin from within; but instead was tempted from outside his being by Satan, that wicked serpent. If he had been tempted from within it would mean God created Adam with sin already, making God the author of sin. God forbid! Adam was created a good creature made from the dust of the earth, given free will to rightly follow God, or disobey His commands. Adam, of his own free choosing decided to disobey God and plunge all mankind into a nature of sin and making them slaves to sin.
Christ, being both fully God and fully man, was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. This temptation like the first Adam was not one from within, but wholly from Satan and his subjects on earth. As the scripture says that Christ is the last Adam, so must Christ's human nature not be fallen (as that would make Him a slave to sin and a great blasphemy). Christ human nature was made like unto the first Adam, a man created wholly good but with the free will to follow His Father or disobey. Again, we can draw similarities between the outward temptation of Adam and the outward temptation of Christ. While Adam fell to temptation, Christ completely resisted and did not sin but was punished as if He did sin.
As the sin of Adam doomed all mankind to be slaves of sin, so does the perfect righteousness of Christ bring justification for all that believe. Those who God calls to believe on His Son are no longer slave to sin, but slaves to Christ. Unlike the first Adam, God now gives us grace which results in our ongoing sanctification until the blessed day when our Lord Jesus Christ will return.
In my musings about God ordaining sin, (but in no way being the author of sin) it came into my mind the biblical truth about Christ being the last Adam. God, in His infinite wisdom and knowledge ordained the fall of man, but in such a way as to not force Adam to sin, so as to bring more glory to Himself by bringing many children into His kingdom.
The first Adam in no way was tempted to sin from within; but instead was tempted from outside his being by Satan, that wicked serpent. If he had been tempted from within it would mean God created Adam with sin already, making God the author of sin. God forbid! Adam was created a good creature made from the dust of the earth, given free will to rightly follow God, or disobey His commands. Adam, of his own free choosing decided to disobey God and plunge all mankind into a nature of sin and making them slaves to sin.
Christ, being both fully God and fully man, was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. This temptation like the first Adam was not one from within, but wholly from Satan and his subjects on earth. As the scripture says that Christ is the last Adam, so must Christ's human nature not be fallen (as that would make Him a slave to sin and a great blasphemy). Christ human nature was made like unto the first Adam, a man created wholly good but with the free will to follow His Father or disobey. Again, we can draw similarities between the outward temptation of Adam and the outward temptation of Christ. While Adam fell to temptation, Christ completely resisted and did not sin but was punished as if He did sin.
As the sin of Adam doomed all mankind to be slaves of sin, so does the perfect righteousness of Christ bring justification for all that believe. Those who God calls to believe on His Son are no longer slave to sin, but slaves to Christ. Unlike the first Adam, God now gives us grace which results in our ongoing sanctification until the blessed day when our Lord Jesus Christ will return.
