From: "Judith H. Taylor" <>
To: "Practical Christian Life" <>
Subject: Re: [CHRISTIA] Question:
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 1998 10:24:18 -0400

Rowland Croucher writes:
> A pastor-friend emailed me with this question. Your helpful responses?
> 
> > A young lady asked me this question the other day, and I wondered what
> > your response to would be.  She was quite serious and genuine.

> > Question:
> > Why is the sin of Adam our fault?

Comment:
The sin of Adam isn't our fault.
We are not judged for his sin, we are judged for our own
His legacy to us is a fallen nature which loves to sin.

> > Why are we punished for his sin even before our very existance?  His
> > sin was his choice not mine.  How can the concept of justice and
> > free-will be applied to this situation?

Comment:
We are not punished before we are born. 
We are born with a spiritual inheritance in Adam just as we are born
with a physical inheritance in our biological parents.  We cannot
change our physical appearance without a big bank acct. and a 
good plactic surgeon but we can change our spiritual inheritance
without money because of Jesus who was a lamb slain even before
the foundation of the world.  God in His love and justic made 
provision for us even before the first man fell.

> > And most important, how are we to be convicted by issues like our own
> > sin and God's forgiveness if we do not understand the reasons behind
> > what appears to be a wrongful conviction of us by a so-called just and
> > loving God?

Comment:
We can't ....
How can we understand sin and forgiveness without an understanding
of God's holiness and the fall?  This is the gospel...  Otherwise we, in
our
carnality, compare ourselves among ourselves and we can always see
some who are better than us and some who are worse and this gives us
a false peace and makes us appear pretty good in our own eyes if we are 
not homosexual and haven't murdered anyone.  

When God allows us to see things from His perspective the big picture 
changes entirely and this is when we see that we need to repent in 
dust and ashes.

Judy