"Confessing Original Sin"
"Confessing Original Sin"Lord's Day 3 Q&A 6,7 May
4, 2003 AM
A. Difficult enough to confess how sinful we are; now we must confess that this is no
one's fault but ours
B. Part of our sinful nature is to blame others for the misery we're in. We must resist
that, or blame God
"CONFESSING ORIGINAL SIN"
I. The Cause of Man's Misery is Man's Fall Into Sin
A. Reformed Christianity has clear, confessional, testimony of this truth.
1. The HC has us confess this clearly in Q&A 6,7.
2. Other Reformed creeds make the same confession on the basis of the Scripture.
B. The fall of man is the cause of man's misery. We understand that in this way:
C. We must understand two fundamental truths here;
1. First, for the fall, God is not to be blamed, although God ordained the fall (see WCF)
2. 2nd, Adam's sin is our sin. Here we bow before the humbling truth of original sin (I Cor. 8; Rom. 5)
IL The Church Must Make this as One of Her Basic Confessions
A. Without the truth of creation in God's image and man's fall into sin, we lose everything important
B. The threat of this loss in our generations is great; thus, let parents and teachers maintain
C. But the profit of confessing this is great:
1. Crushed by the knowledge of our sin, we are humbled, cry to God for mercy, and in God's forgiving grace have power to live towards God.
2. But we have this only when we say: "It's my fault."
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Lord's Day 3:6,7 Parallels in Reformed
Creeds
The Belgic Confession (1561),
Article 14
Of the Creation and Fall of man, and his
Incapacity to perform what is truly good.
We believe that God created man
out of the dust of the earth, and made and formed him after his own image and likeness,
good, righteous, and holy, capable in all things to will, agreeably to the will of God.
But being in honor, he understood it not, neither knew his excellency, but willfully
subjected himself to sin, and consequently to death, and the curse, giving ear to the
words of the devil....
Canons of Dort (1618-1619), Heads
3 & 4, Articles 1-3
Article 1. Man was originally formed
after the image of God. His understanding was adorned with a true and saving knowledge of
his Creator, and of spiritual things; his heart and will were upright; all his affections
pure; and the whole man was holy; but revolting from God by the instigation of the devil,
and abusing the freedom of his own will, he forfeited these excellent
gifts; and on the contrary entailed on himself blindness of mind, horrible darkness,
vanity and perverseness of judgment, became wicked, rebellious, and obdurate in heart and
will, and impure in his affections.
Westminster Confession of Faith (1647),
Chapter 6, Articles 1-6
(Confession of the Presbyterians in the United Kingdom, spiritual cousins of the continental Reformed; differed from our forefathers mainly in the matter of church government)
I. Our first parents, being seduced by
the subtlety and temptation of Satan, sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit. God was
pleased, according to his wise and holy counsel, to permit this their sin, having purposed
to order it to his own glory. (word order changed slightly)
Second Helvetic Confession (1566)
(confession of the Swiss Reformed, and adopted by most other Reformed in Europe)
8:1. Man was from the beginning created of God after the image of
God, in righteousness and true holiness, good and upright; but by the instigation of the
serpent and his own fault, falling from goodness and uprightness, he became subject to
sin, death, and divers calamities; and such a one as he became by his fall, such are all
his offspring, even subject to sin, death, and sundry calamities.
8:3. And, what is more, even as we do grow in years, so by wicked thoughts, words, and
deeds, committed against the law of God, we bring forth corrupt fruits, worthy of an evil
tree: in which respect we through our own desert, being subject to the wrath of God, are
in danger of just punishment; so that we had all been cast away from God, had not Christ,
the Deliverer, brought us back again.
8:8. Other questions, as whether God would have Adam fall, or whether He forced him to
fall, or why He did not hinder his fall, and such like, we account among curious questions
(unless perchance the frowardness of heretics, or of men otherwise importunate, do compel
us to open these points also out of the Word of God, as the godly doctors of the Church
have often-times done); knowing that the Lord did forbid that man should eat of the
forbidden fruit, and punished his transgression; and also that the things done are not
evil in respect of the providence, will, and power of God, but in respect of Satan, and
our will resisting the will of God.