Expedition 44

Romans 5 is the central Original Sin prooftext so today we’re going to dig in and look at what it says. As we mentioned in our first episode Augustine used Romans 5:12 as the cornerstone text for his doctrine of concupiscence, original sin, and infant depravity. First we need to set the context of Romans before we exegete the text. 

Context of Romans

Romans is a pastoral (Shepherding) letter that does contain theology. The theology in the letter is to service Paul’s purpose in the Roman church (Lived theology and a lived gospel). 

Summary and connections to Original Sin in Romans 1-4

As we have seen the narrative is that Jesus is the truly faithful Human and Jew. Because of his faithfulness and our faith in him we are reconciled to God and to our vocation as Imagers. (All have sinned and missed that Mark). 

·      There are a lot of connections and allusions to Adam and the image of God but it never says anything about transferred guilt but Romans 1 actually shows how God’s wrath (“handing over”) leads to death just like in Eden. 

·      Romans 2 says that pagan gentiles can do the things of the Law instinctively though they do not have it. This goes against total depravity. 

·      All HAVE sinned (become sinners) they are not born sinners. But a better way to take this is that both Jews and Gentiles have gone off course from God’s original plan in the garden. 

·      All of these arguments are to show how Jews and Gentiles are on an equal plain and need to come to unity in Jesus to truly live out the kingdom in their church. 

Romans 5:12-21

All of Romans 5:12-21 is a contrast of 2 ways- Adam or Jesus… the way of life or the way of death:

o   We saw that the thing Adam brought was death through his sin

o   We do not inherit Adam’s sin but we are born into mortality

o   We become sinners when we sin and Adam introduced these systems of sin into the world by our expulsion from Eden

o   Sin and Death are seen as Powers that enslave us. We all need saving from death and from sin

o   Jesus defeats these Powers as the 2nd Adam and brings life. 

o   The entire narrative of Romans up to Romans 5 is about “glory”- the image of God. The purpose of this life is for the purpose of being conformed to his image (Romans 8)

o   We can walk this way through the life of the Spirit

Original sin?

o   Where is original sin and total depravity here? It is completely absent! 

o   The only way you can get there is through reading Romans out of context.

o   We see that death is the focus and the thing that needs to be dealt with in order to get to the restoration of glory!

Original Context: 

o   The pastoral context of Romans is not just about some abstract theologies of original sin and total depravity, or a road to individual salvation (Romans road). 

o   Paul exhorting the Roman house churches to live out the way of Jesus in unity instead of the divisions of the Weak and the Strong. He wants them to be conformed into Christ’s image and live out the gospel under Jesus’ kingship- GLORY and GLORIFICATION. 

o   This message is also for us today- Choose the Life and Way of Christ and live in it (the Truth)!

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Visit www.expedition44.com for posted articles and more.

If you have comments or questions please email us at: [email protected], [email protected]  

Today Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt consider the incarnation of Jesus and the ramifications regarding Original Sin.

We want to give a Shout out to Warren McGrew of Idol Killer and Will and Brian of The Church Split for their series’ on Original sin and for helping us articulate some of the content in this episode.

• The immaculate conception of Mary is a late dogma created to prop up original sin. But not only this a “preservative redemption” is also needed for Mary to remain sinless

Today we are going to look at 2 main things: 1) Does the Bible say sin is transferable or inheritable? And  2) What does the Bible say about the state of infants and children (are they doomed from the womb?). Do they inherit Adam’s guilt.  

Does the Bible say Sin and Guilt are Transferable/Inheritable?

Deut 1:39

Sons punished for a Father’s sin?

Ezekiel 18:19-23

Deut 24:16 

2 Kings 14:6 

Exodus 32

John 9:1-3 

Exodus 34:6-7 

What about the nature of Infants and Children?

As we said in the first episode of this series; the Reformers who inherited their doctrine from Augustine believed in the depravity of infants and their damnation from birth without baptism to wash off Original Sin. 

Johnathan Edwards (famous Reformed Puritan) sums up their beliefs saying: 

 “It is most just, exceedingly just, that God should take the soul of a new-born infant and cast it into eternal torments [due to Adam’s sin]”

Isaiah 7:14-15

Psalms 22:9-10 

Jeremiah and Innocent Babies

Jer 19:4-6, 7:30-33, and 32:32-38 basically say the same thing: The burning of INNOCENT babies never entered God’s mind. 

Notice: Babies are declared innocent (not sinful) by God. They are not born guilty of Original Sin but become sinners when they sin and can be held accountable for it. This has major ramifications on the abortion debate, as we mentioned in the first episode. If babies are born in Original Sin then why advocate for human life? They are born under the hatred  and wrath of God anyways!

Infant Depravity Proof texts

Psalm 58:3

Go astray means they weren’t already astray at birth. It was something they had to leave to become astray. They become this way “FROM” (or after) birth. Not IN birth. 

Psalm 51:5 

What is the context of the psalm? David’s sin with Bathsheba. David is putting his sin with Bathsheba in parallel with his mother’s sin in his conception. He is not talking about infant depravity.

What about Job?

Job 15:14-16; Job 25:4-6; Job 14:4

Two of these are the false words of Job’s friends (See Job 42:7-9) and the 3rd is about ritual uncleanness and not about the nature of man. 

Jesus and the Children 

Matt 18:3-6

Mark 10:13-16

Children are equated with innocence, purity, and trust. They are the example of the Kingdom.

Conclusion/The Better Way 

Inherited Guilt

o   We saw that the Bible says that sins cannot be transferred. 

o   Each will be accountable for their own sins

o   Thus when Original Sin says we inherit Adam’s guilt it goes against God’s Law and all of the scriptures

Infant Depravity

As we can see in scripture babies and children are innocent before the Lord. God does not hold them accountable until they can truly know good from evil. 

o   Some call this the age of accountability or as the Jews call it Bar mizpah (becoming a son of the commandments- age 13)

o   We are born with desires and we must learn how to act upon them because they can be used for good or evil. 

o   We are not born doomed from the womb or as sinners but rather become sinners when we sin knowingly. 

Jesus invites us into the kingdom to become innocent like children and renewed into the state we were at the beginning in order to bear his name in this world. 

The Take Aways

o   We need to be formed in Christlikeness from our youth 

o   God has placed life in front of us and we must choose it

o   He guides us by the Spirit to be able to walk in this way

o   The discipleship of children is so important!

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Visit www.expedition44.com for posted articles and more.

If you have comments or questions please email us at: [email protected], [email protected]  

Genesis 2-3 

In Genesis we see Adam and Eve as the first priests in Eden with the vocation to image God. God gives them one command- to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Notice it is the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of GOOD and EVIL. It is knowledge and not just of evil. 

Some things to notice:

·      The things cursed are the Nahash and the ground. Adam and Eve are not. 

·      God promises that the Seed of the Woman (Jesus) will crush the serpent (a foreshadow of the major picture of atonement)

·      We see that pain will increase in child bearing and it will be there will be thorns and thistles making cultivation harder. 

·      There will be inequality and “lording over” that will happen due to eating of the tree between the man and woman. (This is not God’s ideal but the result of the fall)

·      Notice what God says: “they have become like us”… Totally depraved??? No! Knowing Good and Evil. Adam and Eve have knowledge but not maturity. 

·      God mercifully separates them from the Tree of Life so that they will not live in this way forever. 

·      Death comes into this world (This is what Romans 5 says!)

·      The logic here is also that God is life and separation from him = death. Eternal life is partaking in God’s life. 

The Jewish View (The Yetzer)

When you have the knowledge of something you can have the desire for it. This is where the Jews get the view of the Yetzer (desire). The Calvinist view is that all human desires and actions are evil. But was this what we saw in the Genesis account? All we saw was that they has the KNOWLEDGE of the good and evil and thus could act upon either. 

Yetzer Ha Tov (Good desire) and Yetzer Ha Ra (Evil desire)

The Jewish view is that the eating of the tree awakened the two desires in mankind and we much choose which we entertain. 

Yetzer: God given drives, desires, and appetites . The Yetzer itself is neutral and it is God given 

OT-Yetzer

Gen 4:6-7

 Isaiah 26:3 

1 Chron 28:9

Gen 6:5 (cf. Gen 8:21)

NT-Epithumia

Mark 4:19

John 8:44

Luke 22:15

James 1:13-15

Gal 6:7-10

James 5:17

1 John 3:7-8

Ephesians 2:1-3

Augustine and Concupiscence 

What in Hebrew is yetzer and in Greek is epithumia was translated as concupiscence in Latin.

As we have seen yetzer and epithumia are completely neutral in meaning in Greek and Hebrew but in Latin usually concupiscence nearly always takes on a negative meaning. Remember Augustine could not read Hebrew or Greek. And he still was dealing with a lot of Pagan presuppositions that he brought into the Bible.  He introduced this new doctrine where sex is a sin and we inherit guilt through Adam and are born totally unable to act on the good desires.

Conclusion/Better View

·      Throughout all of this we have seen that God given desires and ambitions are good but we can use them for evil as well when abused. 

·      We are not created as sinners but become sinners when we chase after evil desires (yetzer ha-ra). 

·      We are weak in the flesh and without the work of the Spirit in us we are prone to the yetzer ha-ra. (Matt 26:41; Rom 8:3-4)

·      God says we can practice righteousness, we can sow to the Spirit, and we can rule over the sin crouching at our door. If he says it we can do it with his help!

·      We are not totally depraved and unable to seek after God and exercise the yetzer ha-tov. 

·      Everyday we have the choice to walk out our discipleship or walk according to the world. Choose this day whom you will serve!

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Visit www.expedition44.com for posted articles and more.

If you have comments or questions please email us at: [email protected], [email protected]  

Today Dr Will Ryan & Dr. Matt launch a series examining the Doctrine of Original Sin.

Defining original sin

We do not deny that there was AN ORIGINAL SIN. What we will be referring to as “Original Sin” is the doctrine of Original Sin which teaches that because of Adam and Eve’s sin we are all born guilty before God and that we inherit their guilt from birth. Sometimes we may refer to this as Original Guilt. This is also called Augustinian Anthropology or Augustinian Original Sin

Original Sin is the building block for Total Depravity or Total Inability of Calvinism’s TUPLIP which is about the nature of man in that they are so totally depraved that they cannot even seek after God. 

Augustine and Original Sin

The doctrine came into the church through Augustine of Hippo (396-440 CE) and the doctrine was originally called Concupiscence.  

“Concupiscence” , according to Augustine, relates to Adam’s sin being transferred through sexual reproduction.  It’s root definition is a base sexual desire. We get our word concubine from this.  He believe that though this all men are born with their will, body, and mind corrupt and this is transmitted sexually. They inherited the sin through the sexual act leading to birth. Augustine could only read Latin. He tried to learn Greek but despised it due to his teacher who was very hard on him and so never learned it. He also could not read Hebrew. Augustine came to original sin by reading Romans 5:12 in a bad Latin translation. 

Augustine and Pelagianism 

Often the label thrown at those who disagree with Original Sin or who hold to Freedom of the Will is “Pelagian”. 

Augustine developed 14 points of accusation against Pelagius. But you can look Pelagius’ writings and they completely refute the accusations. 

The 14 Points of Pelagianism:

1. Adam was created mortal & would die whether he sinned or not 

2. Adam’s sin harmed only Adam, not mankind 

3. The law leads to heaven in the same way as the Gospel 

4. Newborn infants are in the exact same state as Adam before his sin 

5. The whole human race doesn’t die through Adam & live through Christ 

6. Even unbaptized infants possess eternal life 

7. The wealthy must renounce their possessions or they will not see the Kingdom of Heaven 

8. God’s grace & help are not given for individual actions, but consist in free will, the law & teaching. 

9. God‘s grace is given in accord with our merits & is located in the human will 

10. Only those who are without sin can be called children of God 

11. Forgetfulness & ignorance are not sinful since they’re not done willingly 

12. A choice is not free if it needs God’s help 

13. Our victory is not the result of God’s help, but free will 

14. The soul can be as sinless as God. 

“Pelagianism” is based on Augustine’s 14 claims that Pelagius actually never believed. They are a strawman, a distortion, defamation, and slander of the beliefs of an orthodox Christian in order to change orthodoxy in the church. 

We started a series on the church back in July of 2022 and a year and a half later we are wrapping It up.  Today we’re going to recap where we’ve been. 

The big idea is that the church is not an institution … it’s an organism (it’s organic)!

·      There was equality- No clergy/laity divide

·      The giftings of the entire body were active to display Jesus

·      They met face to face throughout the week in relationships

7 Churches of Revelation (Nationalism and Dispensationalism)

The point of looking at these 7 churches is that it pointed out Jesus’ ideals in his Body. Much of the issues here deals with the World seeping into the church.

 Leadership and Oversight

the glaring question we need to ask is “Are these offices or simply people using their god given gifts?”  Positional thinking is hung up on nouns, while functional thinking stresses verbs. 

The view of oversight in the NT church is about the whole body operating in their giftings and being discipled by those who are wise, mature, and have the character of Christ in them. This is what leadership and oversight looks like rather than the CEO structure that focuses on offices and hierarchy which hurts the church. 

5-Fold Ministry

Ephesians 4 describes these as “ascension gifts” not “ascension offices”.  This entire chapter focuses on unity in the body of Christ, not positions which divide clergy from laity.Reimagining GiftsSpiritual gifts are not about hierarchy but about building up the body of Christ. The church is a body- a mutual and co-equal body- that reflects Jesus. There is no hierarchy in giftings. These giftings don’t lead to an office, though some might lead or administrate in their gifting better than others based on maturity and humility- we should all mutually submit to each other. 

Reimagining Community

·      Spiritually- We need to be together in spiritual friendship gathering around the Way of Jesus, studying scripture, breaking bread, praying for each other. DEVOTED- They devoted themselves to these things.

·      Physically- meeting the needs of the community, being generous and being available. 

·      Emotionally- This is about completeness and transformation- How is our mindset and focus? Is it singularly on Jesus or is there entanglement with the world?

·      Missionally- Do we live in unity or are there offenses and divisions among us that we have swept under the rug? Division and disunity kills the mission to be lights to the world. 

Reimagining Giving

The main ideals of giving in the New Covenant:

·      Give Cheerfully

·      Take care of fellow believers (and support the work of the Lord)·      Care for the least of these

·      Celebrate God (see communion and the love feast in 1 Cor 11)

Whenever the church gathers together, its guiding and functioning principal is simply to incarnate Christ (1 Cor 12:12)

The Edenic Ideal:

We always take everything back to God’s ideals. The Bible begins and ends with Eden. New Creation has broken into the present through the resurrection, so the church should be living according to God’s ideals in our communities even if the world looks completely opposite. God’s eternal purpose was to have a people in relationship with him working in equality under God’s kingship. This is God’s ideal for his church too. Each of us bringing our gifts to the altar/table and using them to image him to creation. 

·      The western view of leadership connected to authority, hierarchy, control, and covering has handcuffed the bride of Christ - making her ineffective for the kingdom. 

·      We need to get back to the servant mindset rather than the CEO leader mindset in the church

·      We need more feet washing and less discussions about “who’s your covering” 

·      More mutual submission and less “human headship”

·      More family, less institution

·      More verbs, less nouns

Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt interview Dr. Scot McKnight about his newest book- Pivot: The Priorities, Practices, and Powers That Can Transform Your Church into a Tov Culture.

Order the Book here:

https://a.co/d/9R6hqSY

A practical guide to help you build a culture in your church or organization that resists abuse and cultivates goodness.
After the release of their groundbreaking book, A Church Called Tov, which recorded the stories of abuse and toxic church cultures at some of the most prominent churches in the United States, New Testament scholar and blogger for Christianity Today Scot McKnight and Laura Barringer heard from a flood of people who had experienced similar instances of abuse. After all they’ve seen and heard, they still believe it’s possible for church cultures to be transformed from toxic to tov―from oppressive to good.
In Pivot, Scot and Laura help churches to implement practices,establish priorities, and cultivate the Kingdom Gospel-centered qualities that form goodness cultures. Readers will find answers to the four most common questions people have about culture transformation:

Pivot also includes the following practical features:Transformation is never easy. But for the sake of the next generation, we must do it.

Dr. Will Ryan and Dr. Matt talk with Steve Gregg about Biblical Israel and Dispensational Theology. 

Steve Gregg is a teacher, author, and international lecturer on the Bible, theology, and discipleship. He is the author of “Revelation: Four Views: A Parallel Commentary”(1997, 2013) and “All You Want to Know About Hell: Three Christian Views” (2013) and most recently his series on the kingdom of God “The Empire of the Risen Son. His talk show, “The Narrow Path,” broadcasts on stations across the USA and  you can find his teachings on the website and mobile app: thenarrowpath.com. 

Other teachings by Steve Gregg on this topic:

Steve Gregg on The Modern State of Israel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scz5t_D-ung&t=608s

2 Part Lecture on the Problems of Dispensationalism and Israel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRD77lqsw4I

https://youtu.be/FXrUOtpRWB8?si=iqFgnih6LN-tcBLJ

Replacement Theology?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96JcDkZ4bvI

Part 2 of 2 on Giving- Tithes, Offerings, and First Fruits.

History tells us that:

Part 1 of 2 on Giving- Tithes, offerings, and first fruits

All the these the audience and commands on tithing are directed to specifically the children of Israel- the ones under the Mosaic Law. And directly connected to being in the Promised Land.