The Genetic Problem of Sin | Sin | Forum

Brian,

Greetings. I am a new member here as you can probably see, I
happened across this site on my iPhone actually by downloading the app and was
very excited about the opportunities this site presents.

Anyway, I can appreciate your thoughts on sin to a certain
extent, but for a large part, if I am understanding you correctly, I disagree.
First of all consider the consequences of what you are saying. If sin is
genetic, as you say, then this means that Jesus, being both fully man and fully
God would have this inherent genetic sin as well. Yet we know that He was
without sin, completely. I mean, the Bible says that Jesus was made in every
way just as we are. Look at Hebrews 2:17, “Therefore, He had to be made like
His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propriation for the sins of
the people.” (NASB) Since Jesus was made like us in all things (but also fully God) it follows that He also would have this genetic code to sin thus making him sinful right? Yet we know this is not true. I also fail to see how it makes sense that mankind underwent a
genetic mutation when this happened because then this leads to the question,
well, if we underwent a mutation then does this mean that we undergo another
one after we become a Christian? But then, what happens when we sin as a
Christian? Do we undergo another genetic mutation again? I would think that
undergoing so many of these would kill the person.

This also raises the question of how Adam and Eve sinned if
they did not in fact have this genetic mutation to begin with. Are you saying
that the only reason we sin is because of this genetic makeup? Cause if so then
we can seem to make no sense of how Adam and Eve sinned since they would be
without this genetic change. It doesn’t seem to me that this idea makes sense
at all nor do I think this idea has a lot of a basis Biblically.

Consider another consequence of what you are saying. Sin is
no longer a choice in this case. It means that mankind or rather all of us are
condemned for something we did not do! We did not eat the fruit of the
forbidden tree. Yet if what you are saying is true then God has punished us for
something we did not commit. This seems very unlike God. Just look at Ezekiel
18:20: “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for
the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s
iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the
wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.”(NASB) It seems to say very clearly that each person is held accountable for their own actions and since Adam is our fathers fathers fathers fathers father…….it would follow that we also should not be held accountable for Adam's sin.

Rather, I think that what makes sin so horribly atrocious to
God, or at least one reason, is that we could have done otherwise. We do not
have to sin, but choose to and God sees this and God is wounded by it to a
degree because He loves us so much. He wants us to come to Him. Sin is also so
horrible because sin cannot be in the presence of God. What I mean by this is
that there will be no sinful people in heaven because God cannot allow this due
to His nature.

Also, you said “Genetics is not an excuse to
sin” I
agree with this statement, however, it is hard to see under your view how this
is true. If we are genetically predisposed to sin then how can I be expected to
do otherwise? For instance, I have no actual control over my gender. This is
determined by my genetics though some people believe otherwise, :). Also,
someone’s intelligence level is determined by their genetics to some extent, as
is hair color and so forth. Their genetics program this way. So if our genetics
program us to sin, then how can we do otherwise?

It just seems to me that God holds us all responsible for our own
actions, and though we all do sin as you pointed out and none of us is without
sin, we are responsible for the actions we take. I fail to see how God can hold
us accountable for something that we had no control over. Anyway, just some
thoughts, let me know what you think when you have the time. Just so you know
this is something I have thought a lot about, but have not come to a complete
resolution yet. I just know that to me this does not make sense. It is also possible that I have misunderstood what you were trying to say. If this is the case then let me know. Have a great
day.