thrombomodulin wrote:Some die shortly before or after birth. As far as I am aware, they have not sinned. If death is a result of sin, and as you suggest, that Adam's sin does not somehow effect them, how is it that those who have not sinned are still subject to death?
Thrombomodulin,
I know your question was for Ben, but before he gets his response posted, would you please allow me to intrude with a brief comment for both of you. Thank you.
Sin, it appears to me, is personal, not inherited. Ezekiel 18:20 confirms this: “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. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
Therefore, I don’t believe that when a child dies it proves he has sinned or has inherited someone else’s sin. That would contradict what God told us through Ezekiel.
Physical death may, however, be the result of not partaking of the tree of life, which was in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:22), and is in the Paradise of God (Rev 2:7). When Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, their physical death was assured because they no longer had access to the Tree of Life.
The Tree of Life is like a diver’s oxygen tank. As long as there’s oxygen in the tank, the diver’s okay. But if he’s unable to resurface or to replenish the oxygen in his tank, he is doomed to death. Perhaps being barred from the Tree of Life is what brought on physical death for all humanity. Man lives for a while, but his death (like taxes) is inevitable.
I believe we inherited from Adam not sin, but a mind and nature prone to sin. Everyone who is capable of consciously sinning does so, thereby offending God and bringing upon himself God’s wrath.
Perhaps when Adam sinned, three things happened. First, he rebelled against God and placed himself in jeopardy of eternal separation from God if he did not repent. Second, he was driven from the Garden, thereby losing access to the Tree of Life and assuring his own physical death. Third, he excluded all humanity from access to the Tree of Life, thereby passing to us all not his sin, but the curse of physical death. Because Adam sinned, we are all forbidden to eat of the Tree of Life, therefore we die.
Sin is willful rebellion against God, which results in another curse — condemnation and eternal separation from God. That curse is reversed for those in Christ. The Saved still die physically (there is no Tree of Life around here), but when they go to Paradise to be with Christ, perhaps He allows them access to the Tree of Life, and thereby live with Him forever.
In the event of the death of a preborn child, or an infant, or any young child who is unable consciously to rebel (sin) against God, I do not think Scripture supports the doctrine that their death is the result of sin or that they are automatically and eternally separated from God because of sin. They didn’t inherit Adam’s or anyone else’s sin, so they’re not responsible for that. They have not committed their own sin, so there’s no responsibility there. The Bible strongly indicates that the souls of sinless children are uncondemned and not under His wrath. They are safe, and those who they die in that condition are with Jesus in heaven, for eternity (Matt 19:14, Mark 10:14, Luke 18:16, Ezekiel 18:20).
Candlepower
