Skip to content

Original Sin

Click here to download pdf file. 

Order printed brochures by calling the Bethany Lutheran College Bookstore at 1-800-944-1722.

Text of brochure:

ABOUT ORIGINAL SIN
AN ILLUSTRATION
Imagine walking into a kitchen.  Immediately you notice a rotten stench in the air.  You also see flies buzzing around.  You attempt to get at the problem by swatting flies and spraying air freshener around the room.  This improves things… for a while.  But soon the stench returns.  So do the flies.
You haven’t found the source of the problem yet!
Upon further investigation, you discover behind a cupboard door some rotting food.  Only be removing it can the stench dissipate and the flies disappear.
Luke that kitchen, people have a hidden problem:  the heart’s inner rottenness called Original Sin.  Original sin is the source of every other sin people commit:  disrespect, hate, lust, stealing, gossip, jealousy.  We can swat at flies and spray air freshener all we want, but the real source of our problem needs to be addressed:  our inner rottenness.

ORIGINAL SIN- WHEN AND WHY?
The bible tells the true story in Genesis, chapter 3.  God created the world with no sin, decay or death.  He created mankind (Adam and Eve) in His image, which means, pure and holy.  But the devil tempted Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the one particular tree which God put off limits.  Eve desired its fruit and ate.  She gave some to Adam and he ate.  They intentionally disobeyed God!  ORIGINAL SIN. This totally corrupted their holy nature.  Now they were sinners inside and out.  They would pass down their sin to their children like an inherited terminal cancer.  Their children would pass it one to their children right down to this very day, from conception itself.  As King David confessed, “I was sinful from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”  (Psalm 51:5)

ORIGINAL SIN-DEATH.  DEATH. DEATH.
Original sin shows itself in the world in various ways.  Daily headlines trumpet murder and crime. We see it in our daily sins such as disrespect, selfishness, and gossip.  Illness and aging result from original sin.  Most tragically, original sin causes death:  spiritual death (unbelief in God he Creator); physical death of the body; and eternal death (judgment in hell).

CAN ANYONE BE SAVED?
Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, no one has the natural desire or ability to believe in God the Creator, nor the ability to live a pure life.  We may attempt some superficial clean-up (i.e. trying to be more generous, learning to control a hot temper, but this is swatting at flies!  To enter His holy kingdom God demand s purity from us.  No unbelief, inner rottenness, flies or stench at all!  Can anyone be saved?

GOD SAVES-LIFE! LIFE! LIFE!
The Bible proclaims the Good News!  God the Creator is also our Savior.  A Christian named Paul once confessed: “Who will save me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 7:24)
How was the Lord Jesus Christ—God’s Son, born human—able to save us from sin and death?  He was the exception to the rule:  He was born WITHOUT Original Sin!  As God and a sinless human being, He could do for us what we could not do for ourselves:  cleanse us of our inner rottenness (original sin) while also freshening the air and getting rid of the flies (our daily sins).  He did this at the cross, shedding his holy blood—God’s blood—to cleanse us inside and out!  The Bible says, “The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin.”  (1 John 1:7)
The wonderful result of this is LIFE, the antidote for the very death which was brought on us by Adam!  “In Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”  (1 Corinthians 15:22) Jesus brings us life because He didn’t remain dead; his body did not see decay!  Therefore His blood purifies us form all sins because it is living blood; His message brings spiritual rebirth, that is, faith to our spiritually dead hears because it is a living message; His risen body promises that the bodies of all believers will also rise again in purity and eternal life!  “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life!”  (John 6:63)

Facebook
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Instagram
Vimeo