Sin separates! It separates man
from God, life from death, and Heaven from hell. It can be
summarized in one word - autonomy. Sin is, in its purest essence,
self-will.
We believe that sin for mankind originated in the Fall as recorded in
Genesis. We believe that the Fall is a genuine historical account of
events regarding Adam and Eve and Satan. Man was originally created in a
holy, but untested, state. Had Adam and Eve made the decision to obey God,
they would have gained an experiential knowledge between good and evil and
thus developed a confirmed holy character. Instead they made the decision
to reject God and elevate self. The results were devastating! Mankind was
expelled from the Garden and doomed to suffer both spiritual and physical
death. Creation itself has suffered from the curse of the Fall. The reason
why God allowed this sin to occur is not clearly delineated in Scripture,
but we believe it to be an inevitable consequence of allowing man to have
a free will. In no way though is God the author of, nor responsible for,
sin.
We believe that all men after Adam and Eve are sinners because of an
inherited sin nature. This sin nature guarantees that we will make
sinful decisions and follow a selfish course through life.
Theologians debate the matter of whether men are guilty because of Adam's
sin or simply receive a corrupted sinful nature thus guaranteeing they
will sin on their own. Regardless of the specifics it is certain
that all have a corrupted nature and that all who achieve the capability
of making choices will make sinful ones.
Many define sin as a lack of conformity to the moral law of God. While
we believe this to be a true statement, we think the essence of sin is
simply self-will. Human autonomy is at the root of every single human sin
that has ever occurred.
This information is also available in a
detailed outline suitable for study.
