I want to begin today’s message by welcoming each and everyone here this morning, and by
welcoming those who are meeting us for the first time through our CD and internet ministry. If
this is your first experience with our teaching from Coal Creek Bible Church I’d like to invite
you to stop in and see us when you’re in West Central IL.
We’d also like to invite you to follow along each week online as our teaching is posted, and
enjoy the picture gallery and news of our events and activities.
One of the distinctives of our ministry here at Coal Creek Bible Church is a focus on strong
verse by verse Bible exegesis (explanation or analysis of a text).
What we do is somewhat like a forensic scientist who evaluates and examines clues to determine
what has taken place, we approach the Bible with a determination to examine and evaluate the
Biblical text in order to learn everything that we can from the passage.
The result of our method is that it doesn’t matter if you have studied the Bible 5 days or 50
years- you will in all likeyhood learn something.
What we do here is what the church did historically. The pulpit was placed in the CENTER, and
the heartbeat of the church was not in how the crystal chandeliers and golden bathroom facets
make me feel when I walk in- but what is GOD saying to us through HIS WORD?
Tragically in most churches today the emphasis has shifted from TRAINING its people to
entertaining the people.
I want my position to be clearly understood.
I fully support the use of technology - that’s why you see the screen and the pictures that
follow our teaching - but the point is JUST THAT - the “bells and whistles” FOLLOW our
teaching - they do not DRIVE IT.
My calling as pastor of this church is explicitly clear. Ephesians
4:11-12 tells us that a godly pastor is to equip the saints for works of service.
I’m not here to entertain you - I am here to TRAIN YOU, (and I take my calling seriously!)
I am here to take the Word of God and to research, to study, to evaluate, examine and then to
assemble that information and present it back to you in clarity and accuracy in order that you
may than take hold of that and it CHANGE THE WAY YOU LIVE.
Right now our teaching CD’s have been launched in South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Michigan,
Iowa, and of course right here in IL.
What we are discovering is that as most churches shift away from meaty Bible teaching and
instead move toward fluffier sermonettes, that there are people within those congregations all
across this country that are saying that they are not interested in a continual diet of cool
whip but desire Bible teaching with substance.
And evidently we’ve struck a nerve, because on our coalcreekbible.org website last December
had (25,149 requests for pages) that month. For a church whose average weekly attendance is
currently under 100, I would say God is working in the hearts and lives of people!
If you are hungry for the “meat and potatoes” of the Bible, you’ve come to the right website, or
picked up the right CD. We are so humbled that God is doing what He is and all the praise, honor
and glory belong solely to Him.
Open your Bibles with me please to Romans Chapter 5. We are going to
dive right in feet first today.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the
world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
Let’s pull this verse up onto the hoist and get a good look at it.
The first thing we notice as we inspect this verse is the reoccurring word “sin” or “sinned”.
(Mentioned 3 times in this one verse)
For those of you who are part of our Sunday night systematic theology class we will be examining
in detail how sin originated, how it affects humanity, and what it will result in after death
when we get to Hamartiology.
Have you ever read something quickly and failed to comprehend anything of what you just read?
Let’s look at this verse again.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the
world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
Look closely here and you’ll see that his verse reveals to us SINS introduction into the world.
…”through one man sin entered into the world”
Let’s stop here and consider the significance of what is being said!
There was a time BEFORE sin. God had completed His work of creating and making time/space/matter
universe, and God pronounced it all to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31). There was nothing bad -
no pain - no sorrow - no death in all the creation!
But then SOMETHING HAPPENED in that perfect environment! Adam SINNED!
Sin is described in the Bible as transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4) and rebellion against
God (Deuteronomy 9:7; Joshua 1:18).
Adam rebelled against God’s instruction and his rebellion (sin) brought death into the world! The
curse of death fell on Adam as head of the human race, and through him on Eve and all their
decedents! By genetic inheritance from Adam and Eve, all men and women have an innate sin-nature,
so that “there is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not according to
Eccl. 7:20.
Galations 5:22 tells us that the scripture has concluded that all are under sin . . . .
1 Corinthians 15:22a For as in Adam all die, . . . .
There are two kinds of death. One is SPIRITUAL and one is PHYSICAL. Let’s consider the significance of SIN initiating physical DEATH!
For those who deny the literalness of Genesis and instead subscribe to atheistic evolutionary
thinking, they believe that evolution has been RISING, not falling, from amoebae to humankind
and there has always been suffering and death.
In fact Charles Darwin wrote in his racist book titled Origin of Species by Natural Selection
or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life that this issue of death is
the very essence of evolution.
“Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are
capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows.”
According to Darwin’s concept, by DEATH came MAN.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the
world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—
Do you see how Darwin and the Bible are in direct opposition? The idea that atheistic evolution
and the Bible can BOTH be right is ridiculous!
People who think that atheistic (Darwinian) evolution and the Bible can co-exist either don’t
understand what Darwin proposed, or they don’t believe their Bible! Darwin teaches that man
came about through death, but GOD says in Romans 5:12 through MAN came DEATH!
There WAS NO death BEFORE man, Adam’s sin initiated death!
There was a time in Eden where there WAS no sin, and there WAS no death and God pronounced it
all to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31). It was Adam’s sin which initiated PHYSICAL death.
Let’s now shift our focus toward the SPIRITUAL death which Adam’s sin brought on.
While the debate regarding the initiation of physical death is primarily between theologians
and secularists, the debate regarding SPIRITUAL death has centered more within the walls of
seminaries, monasteries and churches.
Let’s look again into the microscope.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the
world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned —
I really don’t believe that many folks really see the immensity of this verse parked here in
front of us. While it is true that each one of us commit INDIVIDUAL acts of sin, that is not
what this verse is alluding to.
Death became the common lot of all Adam’s descendents because we all SINNED in him.
Adam’s sin was a representative act, as the federal head- Adam acted on behalf of ALL people!
Think of it this way. Every member of the human family who has ever been born or will ever be
born was related in some way to Adam. When Adam sinned, the race sinned in him. This is called
“original sin”.
The sinful heart, the corrupt nature which Adam and Eve received when they sinned, they passed
on to their children, and to their children, and the process continues even today.
Have you ever noticed how you don’t have to be TRAINED to sin? It comes quite naturally! This is
because of the sin nature which has been passed on to us. Now, this is an area where the study
of theology becomes quite intense! Inevitable questions arise from what God is saying here.
As we consider these questions - I can find nothing better suited than Martin Luther’s response
when asked why God did not prevent the initiation of sin into the world.
Luther said “God is a being whose will acknowledges no cause; neither is it for us to
prescribe rules to His sovereign pleasure, or call Him to account for what He does. He has
neither superior nor equal; and His will is the rule of all things. He did not thus will such
and such things because they were right and He was bound to will them; but they are therefore
equitable and right BECAUSE He wills them. The will of man may indeed be influenced and moved;
but GOD’S will never can. To assert the contrary is to undeify Him.”
Let us now is to take Romans 5:12 and take a quick trip back into church
history.
Let’s roll back the hands of time about 1600 years and meet a monk whose name was Pelagius,
(puh-ley-jee-uh s). Pelagius was a teacher in Rome, though he was British by birth. He lived
in the late 300's and early 400's A.D. Pelagius taught that human beings were born innocent,
without the "stain" of original or inherited sin. Pelagius believed that Adam's sin did not
effect future generations of humanity. This view became known as Pelagianism.
Although church councils from as early as the Council of Carthage in 412 AD to the Canons of
Dort in 1618 condemned Pelagius’ teaching as heresy, some of his ideas were later carried
forward.
A Dutch theologian named Jacob Arminius who lived from 1560 to 1609 picked up on some of
Pelagius’ teachings, modified them and founded what has became known theologically as
Arminianism. While Pelagius taught that Adam’s sin had no affect on his decedents, Arminius
taught that humanity is tainted by sin, but not to the extent that we cannot chose to come to
God on our own. Arminianism teaches that we are capable of choosing to accept salvation or
reject it without any influence from God.
Denominations which teach Arminian theology include: Methodists, Free Will Baptists, General
Baptists, Churches of Christ, Disciples of Christ, Church of the Nazarene, Seventh-day
Adventists, and Pentecostals.
Are we capable of choosing to accept salvation or reject it without any
influence from God?
Let’s continue our brief journey through church history by considering an aspect of the
theological beliefs promoted by John Calvin one of the leaders of the Protestant
reformation.
Total Depravity is probably the most misunderstood tenet of Calvinism. The effect of the fall
upon man is that sin has extended to every part of his personality -- his thinking, his emotions,
and his will. Not necessarily that he is intensely sinful, but that sin has extended to his
entire being.
Churches which are Calvinistic in their theology include: the Reformed churches and include
Particular Baptists, Reformed Baptists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists.
Today as we consider these differing perspectives from individuals throughout church history,
may we be reminded that the ultimate issue really isn’t which man historically represents our
theological perspective; instead the goal of our teaching today is to determine which view is
most sound Biblically.
Does the Bible teach we are spiritually “sick” before we are saved; possessing
the ability to turn to God on our own, or does the Bible inform us that we are spiritually DEAD,
completely without any hope apart from God’s intervention?
Ephesians 2: 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
In Romans 3:9-19 the apostle Paul quotes from eight different Old Testament
passages presenting the depravity of man!
Jeremiah 17:9, 10. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who
can know it? I, the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to every man according
to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
John 6:44. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I
will raise him up at the last day.
Romans 8:7, 8. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Colossians 2:13. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.
As we consider these passages, we must also acknowledge the fact that there are passages which
indeed do seem to indicate a free choice in our salvation.
Acts 16:31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your
household.”
But the Bible does NOT contradict itself! When there is a seeming contradiction it is not the
BIBLE that is wrong- but the interpreter!
Salvation is today and has always been by GRACE through FAITH.
I am not implying that there is no human element involved in our salvation! What I am saying is
that because we are spiritually DEAD, it HAS to be GOD who takes the first step in our
salvation - NOT US!
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
It is my perspective that the Bible DOES present that we are spiritually
DEAD, completely without any hope apart from God’s intervention.
I do want to point out that although I believe the scriptures indicate the total depravity of
man, I do maintain that there is a provision made for those unable to believe.
This morning as we consider these deep and profound doctrines, let us conclude with this
thought.
The doctrine of total depravity, our complete inability to reach God without His help could
seemingly sound fatalistic and depressing if it where not considered right along side the
matchless wonderful GRACE of God.
Adam did not stand in the Garden of Eden as a private individual, his deeds having consequences
for himself alone. But Adam stood in Eden as the head and representative of us all. The result
was that when Adam sinned, we sinned. His sin was reckoned by God to be our sin.
As we consider our salvation today - may we offer our eternal praise to our savior who did for
us - what we could never do on our own.