The Sins Of The Fathers - A Martyn Lloyd-jones Sermon Commentary (part 1 - On Imputed Good And Evil)

I recently listened to this sermon by Martyn Lloyd-Jones titled "Adam's Posterity and Original Sin." In this sermon Reverend Lloyd-Jones discusses the theory of seminal identity and federal representativeness as they apply to Adam's original sin and its consequences to the rest of mankind. This is a theology heavy sermon but these are important doctrines and I think they are worth learning about, particularly as to their potential application (or lack thereof) to Jesus Christ, which I will not spoil for you but the Reverend discusses. But if Adam stands for the archetype of man then what applies to him must, perhaps in a more limited sense, apply to all men (and I believe also women although that is actually not clear, at least not to me).

Do our sins affect all of our descendants? The seminal theory is derived from Paul's discussion in Hebrews where he states that the covenant that Abraham made with the priest Melchizedek was inclusive of all the descendants of Levi (and in my interpretation implicitly all of Abraham's descendants) because Levi was in Abraham when the covenant was made. Therefore, when Adam sinned we all sinned (but perhaps not Eve? I believe there is some discussion in Rabbinical wisdom literature on this and I can't recall exactly what is said but I think they treat life as coming from the seed only, which is counter to our knowledge of genetics but may have some kind of spiritual meaning outside of a physical context). So the implication then is that there is a cascade effect where our actions (good or evil) will play out throughout all the generations of our descendants (my personal feeling is this applies to both men and women). This contention is supported by the fact that our righteousness will be imputed to our children (Proverbs 13:22) and so will our sins (Deuteronomy 5:8-10). However, even though we inherit both the good and the bad effects of our fathers, this is not a death sentence and we can make our own choices and can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ (the modern application of Deuteronomy 24:16: "Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin." ESV))

So what of all of this? If we believe this doctrine of seminal identity (and there is biblical support for it (Reverend Lloyd-Jones has more to say on this and arguments against but I don't want to take his arguments from him)) then we now have an understanding of our responsibilities to all our descendants and we cannot be excused by our ignorance. There is also experiential support for this, as I have heard of a man who went through deliverance for illiteracy and was apparently cured only to find out that his children were also doing better in school concurrent with his improvement (Praise God). So we should keep in mind, that whatever we choose, good or evil, will flow through all of our children and all of their descendants. While this added responsibility can seem burdensome it is exactly this burden that we should seek to carry if we are truly the children of Abraham. Abraham offered up the most important thing in the world to him, his only son Isaac, and we all who are children of the promise are reaping the rewards as a result of his sacrifice (which if you have not read of God did ultimately spare his son). If we are the children of the promise (Romans 9:8), if we are truly in Jesus Christ, then we must take our responsibility to all our future descendants seriously, rejoicing in the fact that our righteousness does not die with us, unlike our material wealth, but goes on after us and pays great spiritual dividends. We should also lament all of our sins and be constantly in a state of repentance, lest they be imputed to our children and their children and so on.

One final note for this post, I do not believe our responsibilities end with our families but rather we are responsible for our communities (i.e. the Church) and so just as Israel made corporate repentance so too we must do for the Church but also understanding that, at least in my opinion, our righteousness will be imputed to the Church at large and so will our unrepented sins. We are all part of the body of Christ and are responsible to each other.

Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that you give us the strength to turn away from all evil and pursue the good, that our blessed righteousness may flow down throughout all of our children and their children and so on until you come again. Moreover, as all in Abraham are inheritors of the promise and thereby bless all nations may we who are blessed in Christ Jesus be a blessing to the Church, our neighbors and all nations through our righteousness that is in Christ Jesus. Amen.

*ESV=English Standard Version

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