I Corinthians 15:22 - Are We Born Free?

I Corinthians 15:22
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

Message: Are We Born Free?

Time: Four years prior to writing the letter we know as 1 Corinthians, the apostle had spent eighteen months in Corinth, so he was intimately familiar with the church and many of its congregants. Paul penned his letter in AD 55, just as he was planning to leave Ephesus for Macedonia. Paul made it clear that he was willing to risk the good opinion of some in order to help cleanse the sin that tainted the church.

What the Lord is Saying:

This lesson raises an interesting question that has been debated over the years, namely whether man is born a sinner or born free. In this lesson, I will follow the lesson given by RC Sproul and his series Willing to Believe and the 3rd lesson Are We Born Free?.

Man is born a sinner
In I Corinthians 15:22, it states very simply that in Adam (due to his sin) all die, and coversely in Christ all will be made alive. On both fronts mankind is not the beginning of sin nor the end of sin - meaning it is through two men. We become part of sin by Adam sinning and we can be clear of sin through Jesus. Thus, after Adam sins, mankind is now a sinner. The secret to me was being in the garden. Once he is thrown out of the garden, he loses his goodness. And then only in Christ can we be made alive again.

Man is born with a good nature
Rather, mankind believes man's nature is fine or good. Therefore, life is about improvement and attainment and making our lives more comfortable, more safe, more contented, and eventually more entertained and pleasurable. And we think we are the one's that make this happen.

Pelagius
There was a British monk names Pelagius who lived 354-420. He was very concerned about moral laxity in the church. Pelagius was from the British Isles and he traveled and lived in Rome (Italy). He was concerned about the cavalier attitude among the Christians and the Clergy in the City. He was zealous for the achievement of righteousness. Thus, he was similar in a way to Pharisees and like the Puritans of today. Their motives were to restore the covenant of truth. Eventually the Pharisees became self-righteous and this is similar to the thinking of Pelagius.

What provoked Pelagius was a response to Saint Augustine's prayer - "O God, grant what thou commandest and command what thou thus desires." Pelagius was fine with the last part of this prayer, but not the first. The problem he had was Augustine saying 'grant' or give me the gift or help me or provide me the grace to be able to do what you command. Augustine believed man is unable to obey the commands of God unless God grants him grace. But Pelagius thought that whatever God commands is an obligation for man to obey.

He thought that man is just and God only commands us to do something we are able to do. But Augustine thought that the effects of the fall meant we lost our power to complete obedience. Adam had it in creation, but Adam fell and with his fall the entire race fell and so now we are born with a sin nature and we are no longer morally able to obey the law of God perfectly. Thus, in light of the fall we need grace whereby God forgives us. Pelagius thought that Adam was created good. He had the freedom or power to obey or disobey - to do good or evil. When he chose to do evil, that choice did not change his nature. Thus, every person is born in the same condition that Adam was born into. Thus, sinning changed our nature. Rather than Augustine saying that we are born sinners. Thus, according to Pelagius man can do good or evil. Sin affects man, but not at the core. A Gallup Poll among evangelicals responded that 2/3rds believe they are basically good.

Thus, when Adam sinned, Pelagius thought nothing was transferred onto the human race.

Pelagius was not opposed to grace and there is nothing wrong with praying for grace, but grace facilitates obedience or righteousness. Thus, with the help of grace it is easier to live a live of moral perfection. It helps, but it is not required.

He went on to argue that some people can live perfect lives and many have lived this way without the benefit of grace. Paul says, "There is none righteous, no not one." Instead many are righteous is what Pelagius thought.

What is at stake here is the entire concept of our salvation. With Pelagius grace is not completely essential. It paves the way to legalism in which man can be righteous in and of themselves. Thus, self-righteousness. Thus, it makes us wonder the need even of Jesus and being declared just by Him. Thus, we are justified by our own righteousness and our own free will. Thus, the chief way that Christ works is providing us an example of how to live. Jesus shows us the right way to achieve righteousness.

But before we can be saved, we first must understand our need for salvation and we must understand we are debtors that cannot pay the debt. But, Pelagius says we can pay the debt. Augustine saw this as a heresy. Thus, is grace a prerequisite for salvation or an aid?

Promise: We must have a strong, biblical doctrine of sin otherwise our view of ourselves will be stronger than it should be. Only in Christ can we obey, but many think like Pelagius that God only puts forth a command if he thinks his people can do it. But as sinners we cannot do obedience apart from Him and therefore he is just to condemn us.

Prayer: Lord, there is a fine line in this discussion between truth and lie. There remains a tendency in people to believe they are good and that You are simply the conductor telling them what to do and then sitting back to see what will happen. God you are holy and I am not. I can only be holy with your aid and you working through me. Help me to champion this message. Help me to focus n this truth in my life.