I agree with you that babies die, and that the wages of sin is death, but I disagree that because babies die they are sinners. Animals die; do they sin? Jesus died, did He sin?
I am a sinner because my parents were sinners? Does that mean that if Mary was a sinner— that Jesus, being her son, was also a sinner?
On second thought, that sounds like a pretty good argument in favor of the Immaculate Conception!
But I digress. I believe that one must make a conscious choice to sin; one must have knowledge that one is doing wrong and consent to do that wrong- babies are not capable of that, so therefore are incapable of sinning.
Meaning that Paul's “all have sinned” is not to be taken literally. Had he qualified it with “all who have attained the age of reason excepting Jesus Christ have sinned”, then I would have no disagreement with your interpretation of Paul. But he did not do so.
I interpret Paul's words as being similar in nature to
Matthew 3:5: “People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea.” Does that mean that every single person in Judea went to see Jesus?
Or back to Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Everybody dies? Were not Enoch and Elijah taken up into heaven- without dying?
I agree that baptism is the “new circumcision”, but I would describe original sin as a predisposition towards sin; not something we ourselves are guilty of— it is a condition we are born with, not a sin we commit ourselves. Paul's "all have sinned" suggests to me that he is talking about sins committed by the all, not the predisposition they are born with.
That predisposition makes it easy for us to sin. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is saying that Mary did not have that predisposition to sin; that God, being all knowing and all powerful, applied the merits of Jesus Christ to Mary ahead of time.
God bless you too!
Your whole premise is that if one chooses, they can be sinless. You have just placed any human equal to God.
You deny the words of the Bible that state “all have sinned” as not to be taken as literal...all I can say is these are the words of God and to deny them is to deny God.
I use scripture quotes because the Bible is God-breathed and the only absolute truth there is.
Honestly you seem to not be disputing me personally but disputing God and for that I will pray for the Holy Spirit to open your ears and your eyes.
God Bless
I am not a Catholic, but was under the belief that Catholics practice infantile baptisms?
From all your quizzing I would ask why does the Catholic church practice it? Or possibly I am wrong on this point.
Enoch and Elijah, in my understanding, will be the Two Witnesses so despised by all the world in the Tribulation. That they were taken up and out of time does not mean that they will never die. They will. And yet they will rise again on the third day, and the world will know.
Going back to your commentary regarding sin, revisit the book of Romans, chapter 8 for a better understanding. Animals were subjected to futility because of the sin of Adam, therefore they and all Creation groans and travails, in anticipation of the coming of the Son of God.
Jesus Christ came to earth as a man in order to atone for the sin of Adam and all his subsequent descendants. He died as a sin offering, the final atonement for those who accept Him.
As far as infants, they are the children of Adam as well, and inherit a sin state, a propensity. They are flawed and fallen, as are we all. They are, as you note, incapable of consciously deciding to sin and are therefore innocents to a degree, but they are certainly subject to death, and the wage of sin is death. I have difficulty with this myself, but do know what scripture says upon the matter. I have a hope that consideration is made, and knowing that my God, our God, is fair and just and merciful, that babes who never had a conscious choice to sin will be accounted as forgiven in Christ Jesus. This I hope and pray in faith.
Does this make sense? Many believe as I do, it's not just my own personal interpretation of scripture.
The wages of sin is death. Jesus was free from sin, so He paid the wages for us with his blood.
That is the single, most important tenet of Christianity.