Westminster Confession of Faith Adult Sunday School class Chapter 6: The Fall of Man, of Sin, and the Punishment Thereof

1. Theology of the
Westminster Confession
Adult Sunday School
2017

2. The Fall of Man, Sin, and
the Punishment Thereof
Sin and the Savior
WCF
6

3. The Fall
• Our first parents (Adam and Eve) were seduced by
Satan,
• And ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil
• God permitted this to happen
• According to His wise and holy counsel, having
purposed to order it to His own glory
• They both fell from righteousness (up to this point
they were obedient) and communion with God,
• Becoming dead in sin,
• And wholly defiled in all faculties and parts of body
and soul
WCF
6.1-2
Sin and the Savior

4. Fallenness and God’s glory
• Here we have the Fall and the doctrine of total
depravity
• One part of God’s plan of proclaiming His glory
was to display His mercy:
God bound all men over to disobedience so
that he may have mercy on them all
(Rom 11:32)
• How amazing of God to use Satan’s ploy to
display “the depths of the riches of the wisdom
and knowledge of God” (Rom 11:33)
WCF
6.1-2
Sin and the Savior

5. Death and total depravity
• The Fall led to spiritual death, and physical
death, and decay in all our parts – total, or
radical (radix), depravity
The heart is deceitful above all things…who
can understand it? (Jer 17:9)
As in Noah’s day, so in ours: …every
inclination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil all of the time (Gen 6:5)
To the pure, all things are pure, but to the
defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but
both their minds and their consciences are
defiled (Tit 1:15)
WCF
6.1-2
Sin and the Savior

6. The root of all mankind
• The first two paragraphs of Chapter 6
summarize the Bible’s teaching on the Fall of
Adam and Eve
• The second two paragraphs address our fall into
sin
• We have here the (1) Imputation of Guilt and
(2) Conveyance of a Corrupted Nature
• This is what we call the Doctrine of Original
Sin: the guilt of Adam and Eve, and their
corrupted nature are passed down to all of
their descendants (that’s you and me)
WCF
6.3-4
Sin and the Savior

7. Fairness and representation
• We might stop to ask, “Is this fair, that guilt is
imputed to us?”
• Remember that Adam is our Federal Head, our
representative
• If he was the best of mankind, do we think
we could do any better?
• Example of Federal Head: If the king of a
country declares war on another country,
what does that mean for all the citizens of
that country? It means we ALL go to war –
that’s the way it is. “Fairness” is moot.
WCF
6.3-4
Sin and the Savior

8. Imputation and federal headship
• Even with the Imputation of Guilt, we have
again another example of the wisdom of God,
and the riches of His mercy:
• If Guilt can be imputed from a federal head,
then this makes possible that righteousness can
be imputed from a new federal head
• Christ is the new federal head for all those who
believe, and His earned righteousness (He
perfectly obeyed all of God’s commands) is
imputed to all who have union with Him
• Without the Principle of Imputation, we are left
on our own to answer for our sins
WCF
6.3-4
Sin and the Savior

9. Original and inherited sin
• The Conveyance of a Corrupted Nature: it’s like
genetics – if Daddy and Mommy have “O negative”
blood type, then all the kids will have “O negative”
blood type
• You can only pass on what you have, and now that
Adam and Eve both have corrupted natures, that’s
what they pass to the next generation. There is no
way of escape, unless God performs a supernatural
act (which He will at Christ’s Incarnation and
Resurrection)
• The phrase “ordinary generation” simply points to
the fact of ordinary procreation
WCF
6.3-4
Sin and the Savior

10. Inherited sinfulness
• Paragraph 4 addresses the fact that from
original sin comes actual sins.
• “We sin, because we’re sinners.” Our natures
are corrupt, so therefore we commit acts of sin
(sins of commission, and sins of omission).
• From the state of sin comes a life of sin: All
have turned aside; together they have become
worthless; no one does good, not even one.
(Rom 3:12)
WCF
6.3-4
Sin and the Savior

11. Remaining corruption
• So far, we have heard Bad News from the WCF
• It gets worse before it gets better!
• Paragraph 5 teaches we have the corrupted
nature all the days of our lives – that’s why we
continue to struggle with sin
• Christ has pardoned all our sin
• He acts within us in mortifying (putting to
death) sin
• Yet even in this state of being sanctified, sin
is still properly called sin, and we continue
to sin
WCF
6.5-6
Sin and the Savior

12. Remaining corruption and
the wrath of God
• If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us. If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If
we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar,
and his word is not in us. (1 Jn 1:8-10)
WCF
6.5-6
• Sin is still properly sin, and in and of itself,
deserves the wrath of God. The unregenerate
are bound over to His wrath, made subject to
death with all miseries spiritual, temporal
(during our lives now) and eternal. Such were
we before Christ’s mercies freed us from this
body of death (Rom 7:24-25)
Sin and the Savior

13. Summary of key points
• Our first parents fell from righteousness and
communion with God due to their disobedience
• They became dead in sin, and fully corrupt in
their nature, body and soul
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Sin and the Savior
• To all their children, they passed on a corrupt nature,
and God also imputed Adam’s guilt to all
• We sin, because we’re sinners
• Our corrupt natures may be pardoned, and are being
“put to death”, yet they still produce sin in us all the
days of our lives
• Sinners face the miseries of sin, and the full wrath of
God, now and forever

14. Consider and discuss
1. What are some ways the doctrine of original sin is
misunderstood? How is this doctrine maligned?
2. Describe the intellectual (or “noetic”) effects of
sin? How can you be sure your fallen mind’s
description is accurate?
3. Why must federal imputation first be received as
“bad news” before it can be appreciated as good
news.
4. Why do you think people struggle with the
doctrine of original sin and inherited sinfulness?
5. In what areas of life do you feel your remaining
corruption most acutely?
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Foundations

15. Memorize
Therefore, as one trespass led to
condemnation for all men, so one act
of righteousness leads to justification
and life for all men. For as by the
one man's disobedience the many
were made sinners, so by the one
man's obedience the many will be
made righteous.
Romans 5:18-19
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Foundations

16. Going deeper
Books
• Andrews III, Reddit. Sin and the Fall. (Beginner)
• Madueme, Hans and Michael Reeves, eds. Adam, the
Fall, and Original Sin. (Intermediate)
• Blocher, Henri. Original Sin. (Advanced)
Articles
• Sproul, R.C. Adam’s Fall and Mine.
• Horton, Michael. The Fall of Humanity.
• Articles on Original Sin and the Fall at Monergism.com.
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Foundations