Romans 5:12 revisited

Hey Brethren:

Romans 5:12, "Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, in that all have sinned".

I wanted to talk a little about this verse and give you something to think about.  In witnessing, I have made what I now consider, a mistake, and have many times used this verse to prove what I was saying.  Many, many times I have told unbelievers that the reason they were sinners and going to hell if they didn't know Christ was because Adam and Eve sinned and as a result, we were all sentenced to hell because of their sin.  On the day of judgement, we will not be judged according to Adam's sin, but will be judged according to our sins.  Adam and Eve's sin brought the sentence of death upon all of mankind.  Originally we were designed and created to live forever but Adam's sin changed that.  God even warned Adam that if he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die (Gen. 2:17) and after Adam ate of the tree, God passed sentence upon man that he would no longer live forever but return unto the dust from where he came. (Gen. 3:19). 

To tell someone that they will be judged according to Adam's sin is to tell them that they will be judged because of what they are (mankind) and not because of what they do.  We are not going to be judged for the sin someone did thousands of years ago, but we will be judged for the sins we individually do.  I think this has to do with a lot of why we don't see repentance among millions of Christians, because they don't really see themselves as sinners.  They see the first Adam as the sinner who did all the sinning for them and the last Adam (Jesus Christ) took care of all the rest which leaves them thinking that they have done no wrong and believing that repentance merely means accepting Christ and going on in life just like they have always lived.

I will stop right here today.  I would ask you to pray about this.  This subject can be shocking to some and cause a lot of Christians to pull out the, "legalism" or "saved by works" card, so to speak.  But let me tell you,  I personally have butchered the Gospel in both teaching it and living it.  For years I drank Jack Daniels, snorted crank, swore like a drunken sailor, committed adultery and sinned almost every way imaginable and had no conviction because I believed that Adam did the sinning and Christ died so that I could be saved by grace and had no moral conviction to repent of my sins.  I don't believe in salvation by works, but I do believe that when Christ commanded us to repent, He wanted us to turn towards God in our mind and heart as well as our lifestyle.

God bless you till next time,
Brother Bill
aka River Rat