How is our sin nature passed on?

By Prof. Mario Velez, Th.M.

                  

The process of meiosis and polar body results in a woman's seed being uncontaminated prior to the time of fertilization, just as the Lord declared in Genesis 3:15.  When it is time for the female ovum or egg cell to be released from the ovary, the ovum goes through a cell division, which reduces the number of chromosomes to half their original number.  This division is known as meiosis and results in the ovum discarding twenty-three contaminated chromosomes in the form of smaller cells known as polar bodies.  Through the disintegration of these non-functional polar bodies, unneeded cell matter is disposed along with the contamination of the sin nature.  This leaves one larger egg cell or ovum with the uncontaminated chromosomes that then grow in the ovary of a woman until it reaches maturation.  At maturation, the egg cell is carried to the fallopian tubes where it is ready for fertilization by the male sperm cell.  This is the uncontaminated seed of woman that the Lord reserved in anticipation of the virgin birth of our Lord in Genesis 3:15. 

 

          KJV Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

 

          However, since there is a sum of forty-six chromosomes that are required for conception, no woman is capable of conceiving without the fertilization by the male sperm cell.  Twenty-three chromosomes are provided through the female egg cell and twenty-three by the male sperm cell to make the total of forty-six that are required for conception.  The female ovum with the twenty-three uncontaminated chromosomes of the mother becomes contaminated at the time it is fertilized by the father's sperm cell, which is how the sin nature is passed on.  The result of this process is offspring born with the genetically-formed sin nature.  This trend began after Adam sinned and caused all to be born in sin from that point; therefore, Roman 5:12 says that sin entered the world through one man; that man was named Adam.  But just as God condemned all humanity through one man, He would also save all humanity through one man, the perfect Lord Jesus Christ.  Chromosomes are simply the structures that carry genetic information that are used to give us the characteristics of our parents

 

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

 

By condemning the human race on account of the original sin of Adam, the Lord is now free to save the human race on account of the work of salvation done by Jesus Christ on the Cross.  This is one of the reasons that the perfect justice of God is now free to save small children that might perhaps die before reaching the age of accountability, as well as the mentally retarded, automatically due to the work of salvation from the Lord on the Cross.  As we were condemned for the act of the man called Adam, so likewise we are now able to be saved by the act of another man, the perfect God/Man Jesus Christ.  

 

In the case of the birth of the Lord, God the Holy Spirit provided twenty-three uncontaminated chromosomes in the place of the twenty-three contaminated ones that are usually provided by the male's sperm cell of the human father.  When God the Holy Spirit provided twenty-three uncontaminated chromosomes that were required to fertilize the egg cell of the Virgin Mary, it completed the total forty-six chromosomes needed for the conception of the Lord's perfect humanity.  As a result, the Lord was born a perfect human being and without a sin nature.  He was fully qualified to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.  Therefore, the scriptures declare to us that Christ had no sin (2Cor. 5:21) and appeared once and for all to do away with sin by the sacrifice of His own self (Heb. 9:26).

 

KJV 2 Corinthians 5:21, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

 

KJV Hebrews 9:26, “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

 

          Indeed, the head of Satan was crushed in defeat through the work of salvation that the Lord finished on the cross (John 16:11).  However, the Lord's saving work certainly didn't come without a price.  The Lord was indeed bruised by the suffering He endured.  He went through more suffering because of the cross than we will ever know.  Isaiah 53:5 declares that He was bruised for our sins so that we, who believe, might have peace with God.  That is, so that the Holiness of God could be satisfied and the condemnation forfeited for the death we deserve.

 

KJV John 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

 

KJV Isaiah 53:5, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

 

Therefore, it has been Adam's original sin that has caused us all to be born spiritually dead people with a sin nature.  But as I have already mentioned, through the Lord's saving work on the cross, believers are able to regain the human spirit that was lost at the fall.  God the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit at the moment that we accept the Lord's saving work on the cross.  This is what the Bible calls a spiritual birth (John 3:6):

 

KJV John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

 

          A spiritual birth is what is known as being born-again, not physically but spiritually.  The Lord tried to explain this concept to the Jewish teacher Nicodemus when He explained to him that no man would be able to see the Kingdom of God unless he is born-again (John 3:3). Nicodemus did not understand that the Lord was referring to a spiritual birth and not a physical one.  Being born-again is simply the result of us believing in the salvation work of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith and faith alone, which is what the Bible teaches (Gal. 2:16; Rom. 5:1).  As a result of our spiritual birth, we are told that we are now children of God in Galatians 3:26.  In the same manner by which we are born physically from the seed of our human parents, so likewise, we are born spiritually from the seed of God into His family.  Again, 1 Peter 1:23 tells us that believers are born again (spiritually) after hearing and accepting the Gospel of the saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Although it is God the Holy Spirit who makes this spiritual birth effective (Titus 3:5), it is the Word of God that presents the good news of why Christ is the only means of salvation to us imperfect sinful human beings.  This is so we can have an opportunity of accepting or rejecting this message (James 1:18).

 

KJV John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

 

KJV Gal. 2:16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

 

KJV Rom. 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

KJV Gal. 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

 

KJV 1Pet. 1:23, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”

 

KJV Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”

 

KJV James 1:18, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.”  

 

The human spirit that we obtain at spiritual birth is the immaterial part of us that is designed by God to convert, store and make use of spiritual phenomenon.  God, the Holy Spirit takes the doctrinal principles that we store in our human spirit as we learn them and gives us the understanding so that we can believe and apply these principles in our lives (John 16:13).  It is through the perception, belief and the application of God's biblical principles that we store in our human spirit that we are able to gain divine wisdom known as God's wisdom.  The unbeliever, on the other hand, does not have a human spirit and is incapable of understanding the things of God, because we are told in 1 Corinthians 2:14 that the things of God are foolishness to him because he or she is unable to understand them.  At the time that the message of salvation is presented to the unbeliever, God the Holy Spirit acts as a human spirit to permit the unbeliever to understand the basis for salvation.  In this way the Justice of God gives every unbeliever an equal opportunity to accept or to reject the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.  The Justice of God is perfect and will assure that everyone that has reached God consciousness will have an opportunity to listen to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  As a result, they will choose for or against that Gospel from his or her very own freewill. 

 

KJV John 16:13, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:and he will shew you things to come.”

 

KJV 1 Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

 

 

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