From our BEL Archives... * Crawling Before We Can Walk: The tiniest children, through their own fathers, have all inherited spiritual death from Adam. And as the Bible also teaches, God would of course never punish a child for the sin of her father. So no one who ever dies, let alone a child, would be sent to hell because of what is called "original sin" inherited from Adam. But people are judged, each one, for their own rebellion. For as God insists: The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son… Ezekiel 18:20 Click here for the original broadcast! At what age then does a person become eternally responsible for joining the war being waged against God? Jesus taught that to whom less is given, less is required. And for, "that servant who knew his master’s will… to whom much is given, from him much will be required" (Luke 12:47-48). From Scripture Christians realize that people reach the "age of accountability" at different ages, with young people who die and many handicapped folks never reaching that age on this earth. But let's back up and consider how sin is inherited. Spiritual death is inherited from the father, not from mom. Thus Jesus could be born from Mary's body, yet not inherit her sin. Regarding the Incarnation of Christ, some have taught that for Jesus to be born of Mary without inheriting sin, that Mary herself must have been immaculately conceived. However, that only begs the question. For then, how could Mary have been born to her mom, if her mother had not herself been miraculously conceived? So the claim that Mary was immaculately conceived, which the Bible does not teach, would require immaculate conceptions "all the way down," beginning with one of the daughters of Eve, through one of Noah's daughters-in-law, through Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth, and so on to Mary's own unnamed mother. But that was not how Jesus could be "born of a woman" (Gal. 4:4), yet without sin (Heb. 4:15). For children inherit spiritual death from their father, not their mother. The Bible does not teach that all the world died in Eve. Rather, even in the most technically careful theological passages, the Apostle Paul wrote that, "by the one man’s offense many died," for "in Adam all die," and death "came through the one who sinned," and the results of sin came "from one offense," so that "by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one," and "through one man sin entered the world" (Rom. 5:12-17; 1 Cor. 15:22). From the time of the curse in Eden God prophesied a coming victory by the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15). However, the Savior was also promised to be the "seed" of Abraham (Gen. 22:18), of Isaac (Gen. 26:4), and of Jacob (Gen. 28:14). And a thousand years before Jesus' birth, God gave this messianic prophecy to Israel's King David, "I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body… and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2 Sam. 7:12-14). So when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary (Luke 1:35), He provided the genetic compliment to the 23 chromosomes of her own ovum, so that the Scriptures could be literally be fulfilled that He was a true descendant of Abraham and David, yet He was also the seed of the woman, and thus, without sin. So now back to original sin. God would never punish a child for the sin of his or her father. For as He says in the Mosaic Law (a passage often quoted by pro-lifers refuting the "abortion for incest" lie): Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin. Deut. 24:16 Later, a king arose in Judah who did not do "what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25 [see also Deut. 12:8; Jud.17:6, Prov. 12:15, etc.; Jer. 3:17; 7:24; 9:14; 11:8; 13:10; 16:12; 18:12; 23:17]) but who "did what was right in the sight of the LORD," (2 Kings 14:3). And of Amaziah the sacred history records: B
