Psalm 51:5 "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me."
"Aha! I got you, Pastor!"
He said this to me during a new member class. We had been studying the doctrine of original sin and had reached the proof text of Psalm 51:5.
"I don't have a choice! I was born sinful. How can a good God punish me for something I have no control over?"
Good question. It can be the ultimate excuse. Yet the Bible is very specific about sin. Left on our own, we're doomed, but many of us try to excuse our sin anyway. "My parents got divorced." "I was abused." "My dad was an alcoholic." While these tragic events do impact our adult lives, they do not excuse our sin.
The Bible is also very specific about God's love. He sent His Son, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to the Virgin Mary, to suffer and die on the cross-all because we cannot do anything to save ourselves. Yes, we are conceived and born sinful. But thanks be to God that through Jesus' death and His resurrection we are "recreated" as forgiven children of God. Through Jesus we have new life!
Today's Bible Readings: Deuteronomy 8-10 Luke 4:1-30
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