George wrote:
Nor do I think that sin is coded
for in DNA. But it seems much too weak an
interpretation of what Paul says in Romans 5 simply to say that those not
descended from
Adam became "accountable" because of him. You would have
a situation in which person X
in Mexico circa 7000 B.C., before Adam sinned in the Middle East, was not
"accountable"
but in which X's son X', born after Adam sinned, was accountable.
That seems entirelt
arbitrary. Could God have held X' accountable & X not?
Sure. But is that really what
you want to argue?
No, it isn't. Restoration and redemption only came by way of
repentance and animal sacrifice from Adam to Christ. Christ, of
course, was the sacrificial lamb, and the means of redemption became
belief in Him and public notification through baptism. Whether
baptism is a requirement can be argued, but I don't want to do
it.
In order to be saved there has to be a means of doing it, and they have
to know what it is. Apparently, those outside the nation of Israel
were outside the realm of accountability. God "winked at"
their ignorance (Acts 17:30).
Salvation comes through evangelization. This can be inferred from
Matthew 23:15, "Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for
ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye
make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."
When one outside the Jewish faith was brought to the knowledge of God, he
became accountable. Because of false teaching, he was
condemned. This unique status for Israel as God's chosen people was
rescinded, or at least modified, at the cross. Christ was appointed
by God as His representative. The second Adam, Christ, was in the
"image of God" (II Cor. 4:4) just as the first Adam, and the
mantle was passed to the followers of Christ.
It does not appear that accountability follows based upon the time frame
in which one lived. Adam did not make all men instantly
accountable. We can infer that people living in the western
hemisphere were also not instantly accountable at the resurrection of
Christ either. "Happy feet" need to reach the people and
tell the story.
Dick Fischer -
Genesis Proclaimed Association
Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History
www.genesisproclaimed.org
Received on Sun Mar 7 18:39:58 2004