~ Four
States of Mankind Regarding Sin ~
Innocent
Man (before The Fall) ~ “Then
the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep
it. And the Lord God commanded the man,
saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it
you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:15-17).
God gave man clear instructions of what to do and what not to do.
Adam had
the ability to sin, but more importantly the ability not to sin!
Natural Man (after The Fall) ~ “For
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The Apostle Paul explained it this way, “For
we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not
understand. For what I will to do, that
I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is
good. But now, it is no longer I who do
it, but sin that dwells in me. For I
know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is
present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do;
but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin
that dwells in me” (Romans 7:14-20). Since
the fall of man in the Garden of Eden we are not able to not sin! Fortunately, the believer who is experiencing
normal (not average) spiritual growth is sinning less and less as they are in
the process of becoming transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
Regenerated
Man ~ “Put
off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in
knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Colossians
3:9b-10). “But we all, with unveiled
face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed
into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2
Corinthians 3:18). The Christian is a
“new creation” in Christ – not a “makeover.”
As a believer with the indwelling Holy Spirit we are able to not sin!
Glorified
Man ~ “Behold
what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called
children of God! Therefore the world
does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed
what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is. And
everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John
3:1-3). Our final stage will be when
we are transformed and no longer able to sin!
Comment
~ These four categorizations are
from Augustine of Hippo in “The Bondage of the Will.”
~
Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW blog.
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