Christian Doctrine – pt. 25 The Doctrine of Man: His Fall

The fall of man was an actual historic act. This means, of course, that Adam was a historical being. There is some today who interpret Genesis 1-3 as myth or religious parable. They merely consider Adam as a representative man. They deny that he was a person as we are persons and that his history was history as our history is history.

However, as difficult as it may be for some to accept, the first three chapters of Genesis are indeed genuine history. There are several reasons for believing this. First, the New Testament recognizes Adam as a historical person (Lk. 3:38; Jude 14; I Cor. 15:45). Second, the New Testament acknowledges his transgression as an actual event (Rom 5:12-21). Therefore, when we speak of the fall of man we are not simply talking of every man’s experience, but the actual act of one individual, whose act, in turn, brought his descendants into ruin.

Sin has affected the whole human race in two ways. First, all of Adam’s descendants inherit a sinful, corrupt nature. The term “total depravity” is used to describe this result of the fall. By saying that man is totally depraved we do not mean that every person is as bad as he can be. We simply mean that man’s whole nature, every element and faculty of his being, has been affected by sin. Consequently, while every person may not be as bad as he possibly can be, he has been so infected with sin that without the restraining power of God he will become worse and worse (Rom. 1:18-32).

It seems to be particularly offensive in these days to speak of man being totally depraved. Those who oppose the terminology usually point out that the Bible never uses the term. This is true, but the idea is certainly there. The Bible everywhere affirms that man’s whole nature is corrupt. His mind and understanding is darkened (Eph. 4:18). His heart is corrupt and full of evil (Jer. 17:9; Mt. 15:19). His will is perverted (Rom. 7:15-19). His affections are alienated from God (Rom. 8:7). There dwells no good thing in man (Rom. 7:18). No man may be called good (Rom. 3:10; Mk. 10:17).

The second effect of sin on the whole human race is that because of our inherited sinful nature we all commit acts of sin sooner or later. This means that all people, without respect to condition or class, are sinners before God (Rom. 3:19, 23). That sin is universal is one of the clearest teachings of the Bible. There is no need to discuss it at length. One only needs to read the following biblical passages: I Kings 8:46; Psalm 143:2; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10-19 and 1 John 1:8.

But not only does the Bible affirm this truth. Experience, observation, and human history also show there is something tragically wrong with mankind. A person’s only hope is the Lord Jesus Christ who bled and died in payment of our sin debt. By trusting Christ and his death as the full and final payment and repenting or turning from our sin God forgives us and reconciles us to himself. I hope that you have trusted him as your personal Savior. He loves you and so does First Baptist Church.