Humanity and Sin

I believe that God created humans, both male and female, on the sixth day of creation (Gen 1:26-28). God created original man, Adam, out of the dust of the ground (Gen 2:7) and God breathed life into him. God created original woman, Eve, out of the rib of Adam (Gen 2:22). They were created righteous and did not know sin (Gen 2:17). Both Adam and Eve were created equal in essence and designed for partnership in work (Gen 2:18). They were commanded to reproduce and to fill the earth (Gen 1:28) and thereby every human is born with these same qualities.

I believe that God creates whole living souls who consist of many interrelated (Mat 26:41, 1 Cor 9:27) and interacting complex components of both material and immaterial (Rom. 7:22, 2 Cor. 4:16), collectively known as a soul (Pro 3:22, Psa 42:1). The immaterial include the spirit that sustains a person in times of trouble (Pro 18:14) and sustains life (Job 34:14-15), the heart that is the deepest fundamental values of a person from which their acts and attitudes come from (Pro 4:23), the spirit that is in fellowship with God (Rom 1:9), and the mind (Rom 12:2). The material includes the flesh that is the physical form of a person (Jer 17:5), and the blood.

I believe that all men and women are made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26-27). The image is precious and bears the basis for human rights and dignity (Gen 9:6) and it makes visible the invisible attributes of God to the whole world.

I believe that sin is the thought (Mat 5:28), deed (Jas 4:17), or character quality (Eph 2:1-3) that does not conform to God’s holy standards.

I believe that God created Adam and Eve to be moral and without sin (Gen 1:31). God told them that they were free to eat of any fruit in the garden of Eden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that was located in the center (Gen 2:9). The serpent deceived Eve and she took the forbidden fruit and gave some to Adam, and they both ate it (Gen 3:1-5) and took shared in sinning against God (Gen 3:6).  They realized their nakedness and felt shame (Gen 3:7) resulting in a sin nature that distorts and damages, while not destroying, the image of God.

I believe that all humans have sin imputed to them because of Adam’s sin (1 Cor 15:22) and are considered to be sinners (Rom 3:23).

I believe the resulting effects are that every person has sinful desires (Psa 52:3).  Everything people think or do is tainted by sinfulness (Rom 7:18) and they will naturally fulfill their sinful desires (Rom 7:19) apart from God’s enabling grace that draws a person close (John 6:44).

I believe that all people are guilty of sin (Rom 3:23). The only suitable punishment for sin is death (Rom 6:23) and all people are already condemned (John 3:18).