Opponents of God`s Omniscience object, saying God would not create a person predestined to become lost but I think it is clear that no one begins life condemned. People earn it as they grow up and choose the devil for a father.
Actually, the apostle Paul reveals otherwise.
As the progeny of Adam, by
nature we are all born enemies of God (Ro 5:10), just as the baby rattlesnakes in my backyard are
born mortal enemies of my children, and must be eliminated. Born as God's
enemies by our very
nature as children of Adam, we are all born objects of his wrath (Eph 2:3), under
just condemnation (Ro 5:18). Because of Adam's trespass altering our
nature--making it
sinful, and forbidden in his holy heaven, God owes us nothing but judgment, just as because the
nature of the baby rattlesnakes makes them
lethal and forbidden in my backyard, I owe them nothing but elimination.
So God does us no injustice in condemning from his heaven the sinful nature we, without choice, are born with, just as I do the baby rattlesnakes no injustice in eliminating from my backyard the lethal nature they, without choice, are born with.
God does not
owe us the ability, against our nature, to repent. He is
justly free to give us that ability
(Ac 5:31, 11:18), or not (2Tim 2:25). For the sake of his holiness and his holy heaven, God owes us only condemnation, just as I, for the sake of my children, owe the baby rattlesnakes only elimination.
Let's look deeper into
Paul's revelation of this in Ro 5:12-15:
from Moses to Adam people died. All death is the penalty of sin (Ro 6:23). But sin is not taken into account, not charged against one, where there is no Mosaic law to break (Ro 4:15, 5:13).
So in what sin were they all involved, and from which they all died?
They were all involved in the sin of Adam (they died by the trespass of
one man, v.15), because they were all
born guilty of the sin of Adam.
And since physical death is the result of spiritual death ["
dying (spiritually),
you will die (physically)"--Hebrew meaning of Ge 2:17], we are all born
spiritually dead in sin (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13).
But note the parallel of God's purpose: to also save the many through the righteousness of one man:
Ro 5:17 - "For if by the trespass of the
one man (Adam),
death reigned through that
one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of
grace and of the gift of
righteousness reign in life through the
one man, Jesus Christ."
I'm okay with that.
But back to Ro 5:12-15:
We do not start life with even the possibility of living it sinlessly, we are
born with, we
begin life with a sinful
nature (Ge 8:21; Ps 51:5; 58:3),
spiritually dead in sin (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13),
by nature objects of wrath (Eph 2:3),
in unbelief and condemned
already (Jn 3:18b-19),
with God's wrath
remaining on those who do not come out of unbelief (Jn 3:36).
Objection:
God cannot justly judge and punish people for all eternity for failing to meet impossible expectations.
God's judgment is not on one's failure "to meet expectation," his
just judgment is on their
sinful nature, which cannot abide in his holy heaven, just as the lethal baby rattlesnakes cannot abide in my backyard, and in both cases the offensive must be dispelled, leaving only one alternative in eternity, Gehenna.
Objection:
Paul never said that Adam’s guilt is placed upon all men.
But he
did. . .in
Ro 5:17-19:
". . .
by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, . . .Consequently,
just as
the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, . . ." (vv.17-18)
". . .through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, . . ." (v.19)
