The Source of Man's Inner Life Part 4

NOTE ON THE GREEK LANGUAGE: Before beginning this morning’s message, I will begin to show you, to some degree, the advantage of looking up Greek words in your study of the Scriptures. You cannot handle the Scriptures properly if this is not done. Read Romans 9:1-3 with emphasis on verse 3—“For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (NASB UPDATE). The following question must be answered: Would you be willing to go to Hell if God would save some of your relatives and close friends? The average person thinks that this is what verse 3 teaches. Paul was not expressing this extreme measure. No Christian would be willing to go to Hell for relatives or friends. God does not ask us to do that. The truth of this portion of Scripture necessitates the use of the Greek language to find out tense, usage, and meaning of certain words. The Greek verb for “I could wish” is the first person singular imperfect middle indicative of euchomai, meaning to pray, to wish, or to desire. The imperfect verb signifies continuous action in past time. The Holy Spirit led Paul to use the imperfect middle indicative of the verb. The imperfect verb may be used in the progressive, customary, or iterative sense, but it also has special uses. In this verse, the imperfect verb is used voluntatively, indicating desire of attainment; but due to its impossibility, it never materialized. Hence, the desire died for lack of realization. The imperfect tense shows continuous action all in the past time. It helps you to see the flowing stream of history and dwells on the course of the event from its start to its conclusion in the past. Paul was not talking about the present—“I was wishing.” He was stating its occurrence.

Now for Part 4 of the 5-Part series on “The Source Of Man’s Inner Life.” Ecclesiastes 12:1-7—“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, I have no delight in them; before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain; in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim; and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly. Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street. Remember Him before the silver cord is broken and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (NASB UPDATE).

Solomon allegorically described the various stages of human life. The growing, declining, and dissolving stages of man are represented in Ecclesiastes 12:1-7. Man is indebted to God for his life, health, and the powers of his mind; therefore, he should remember his Creator: “Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are his people and the sheep of His pasture” (Ps. 100:3 NASB UPDATE). Christians remember Him not only as Creator but Redeemer. His superintending care of providence, the riches of His grace, His absolute sovereignty, and His authority shall call men into account for the privileges that God has bestowed.

Men are admonished to remember that their bodies are frail and will return to dust, but souls come directly from God and are everlasting. Death of the body is one thing, and spiritual death of the soul is another. Death is not cessation but separation of existence. Physical death results in separation of the soul from the body; whereas, spiritual death is the separation of an individual from God.

The statement “…in the days of your youth…” in Ecclesiastes 12:1 refers to the growing stage of man. As in the spring of the year, he is full of germinating force and promise. Also in verse 1, the words “…the evil days...” refer to the declining stage of life with its many problems. Degeneration of the members of a person’s body was described by Solomon (Eccl. 12:3-6). The dissolving stage of life was referred to in verse 7. The grave is the long home of the body, but not the soul. At death, man’s body, which came from dust, returns as it was. However, his soul pursues a different course.

Traducianists claim that after God’s original creation of man’s soul, He works mediately, not immediately. They affirm that the soul is produced by the law of generation, being as truly derived from parents as the body. Thus, their teaching is that body and soul are conveyed from parents to children.

Traducianism is the teaching that the human soul is propagated along with the body. Creationism is the doctrine that God immediately creates out of nothing a new human soul for each individual born. Traducianists emphasize a horizontal relationship, showing that man in his entirety comes from his parents. Creationists emphasize a vertical relationship, proving that God is active in man’s origin. Theologians have debated the origin of man’s soul through the ages. The Holy Spirit alone can direct a person to the correct understanding of this truth.

Man’s soul is a pure, spiritual substance. According to Scripture, only the nonmaterial substance can survive the death of the material. Consequently, the soul cannot admit a division. The traducianistic view implies that the soul of a child separates itself in some way from the soul of its parents. That assertion can lead to serious error.

The following five points present the erroneous traducianistic theory of man’s soul. Each point will be followed by an answer to their theory—

FIRST POINT: The traducianist’s view of man’s soul states that man was created as a species in two individuals—Adam and Eve (I Cor. 11:8). Since woman is of man, Eve’s body and soul were made from Adam. This teaching states that the Bible does not say Eve’s body was made from Adam’s rib, and then her soul was breathed into it. The fact that the total female was produced from the male favors traducianism. Man is propagated by generation, not by the immediate act of God. This view further states that everything done from Adam’s day to ours is mediately performed, that God’s method is not one of endless miracle. They believe that God works in nature through second causes; He does not create a new, vital principle at the beginning of each separate existence of each separate apple, dog, etc.

ANSWER: Contrary to the traducianary teaching that God works only mediately, Scripture proclaims that He works immediately. Man’s creation cannot be compared with an apple, dog, or any other creature. Regeneration is the immediate work of God without the means of the gospel. Physical life itself is not the product of mere physical causes. God is the Author of life: “For in Him we live and move and exist...For we also are His children…” (Acts 17:28 NASB UPDATE). No matter how intense the desire of a man and his wife to have children, they will never have them unless God grants them that ability. Life is due to the immediate power of God. God’s creative ability is not merely something in the distant past; it continues. Job said, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life” (Job 33:4 NASB UPDATE). Men are admonished to remember their Creator: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth...” (Eccl. 12:1 NASB UPDATE). The Holy Spirit through Isaiah said, “I am the LORD, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King” (Is. 43:15 NASB UPDATE). Israel came into existence “after” Adam was created. Conclusively, God continues to create men.

SECOND POINT: The traducianistic view of man’s soul is that the derivation of the whole man is by means of natural law under Divine providence and supervision. This view states that those who hold the creation view of man’s soul attribute nobler power and qualities to the beast than to man, because a beast propagates the whole of a beast; but man does not produce the whole of man. This view teaches that Adam’s becoming the father of a son in his own likeness and after his image (Gen. 5:3), proves that man is not created by supernatural power. They say that the word flesh designates man in his entirety, body and soul.

ANSWER: A brief answer to the preceding assertion is that Adam became the father of a son in his likeness and after his image, signifying that Seth was like his father. The fact that Scripture does not state that God breathed into Seth’s nostrils and he became a living soul does not disprove that his soul came directly from God. God alone can produce man’s everlasting soul (being).

THIRD POINT: This point of the traducianistic view of the origin of man’s soul is that original sin is conveyed from our first parents to their posterity by natural generation. Furthermore, original sin could not be transmittable to children if parents are not the vehicle for its transmission.

ANSWER: To say that man becomes depraved by natural generation is inaccurate. Parents are not the sole vehicle for the transmission of original sin. In the act of generation, men do become distinct persons. However, natural generation is not the cause of conception in sin. Each person of Adam’s race was involved with him in the fall. Men are naturally generated in sin. When they “begin to be,” they “begin to be” as sinful creatures because of their solidarity with Adam in the fall. Adam’s sin was imputed to the whole human race: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12 NASB UPDATE). The members of the human race cannot be contemplated as existing when Adam did. Nevertheless, they were conceived by God as destined to exist. Anyone who believes in the absolute sovereignty of God will acknowledge that none comes into this world that God did not destine to come. Each person’s existence was guaranteed by the foreordination of the sovereign God. All the members of Adam’s posterity come into existence actually by the process of generation. That is the Divinely constituted means whereby God’s foreordained design becomes effective in human history. It is a capital mistake to interpose the question, When does each member of the human family become actually sinful? The truth is that each person never exists other than sinfully. God eternally contemplated each person as sinful, by reason of his solidarity with Adam in the fall in the Garden of Eden.

FOURTH POINT: The traducianists maintain that Jesus Christ was in Adam as to the substance of His human nature, as all men. He could not have been man if both body and soul were not derived from Mary. They believe that the human nature of Jesus Christ required sanctification before it could be received into union with a trinitarian person. Thus, a complete Christology must have included justification as well as sanctification, because sin is guilt as well as pollution. They say that the Logos could not unite with a nature that had not previously been delivered from both condemnation and corruption of sin. The idea of redemption includes justification and sanctification, and it is conceded that the portion of human nature which the Logos received into union with Himself was redeemed. They say that the justification was proleptical (anticipative) in view of the future, atoning death of Christ. If Christ’s soul was a direct creation of God, the foundation of His service as kinsman Redeemer is diminished to near the vanishing point. They conclude that when Jesus Christ came into the world, His human nature was peccable until it was redeemed; then it became impeccable. By the uniting of redeemed human nature with Divine nature, Jesus Christ as a Person was impeccable.

ANSWER: To believe the preceding traducian declarations would discredit the Lord Jesus Christ. He could not be the impeccable Savior if original sin is transmitted from parent to child. Christ did have a human nature, but His soul was not derived from Adam. The human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ did not require redemption. It was brought about by the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit; hence, it was completely immune (apart) from original or Adamic sin. The Savior was not involved in the guilt of apostasy as are other men. To say that men are guilty of Adam’s sin because they are partakers of Adam’s essence but Christ is not guilty, although He partook of his essence, would be a contradiction. Participation of essence involves community of guilt and depravity in the one case as much as in the other. The Lord Jesus Christ did not share, like all other men, in the guilt and pollution of Adam’s transgression. That was possible because He did not share the same numerical essence which sinned in Adam.

FIFTH POINT: Those who embrace the traducian view of man’s soul believe they would be liable of the charge of materialism if they maintained either of the two following propositions: (1) Man’s soul is originated by propagation (the first origination of the soul). (2) The soul is propagated by natural reproduction. They do strenuously contend, as do those who embrace the creation view of the soul, that the soul is the product of creative power. Nevertheless, they say that power was exerted once, on the sixth day of creation, not millions of times subsequently. They believe God created Adam’s soul; so the soul was by the creative power of God; but the exercise of that power ceased with Adam. They assert that man’s soul is transmitted by a psychical act, not a physical act. Thus, they seek to avoid the accusation of having a materialistic concept of man’s soul.

ANSWER: Souls are not material. If they were derived from the bodies of parents, they would be material. Bodies can be killed but souls cannot. Bodies are subject to physical death, but souls are not subject to death in that sense. Souls do not generate souls any more than angels generate angels. If souls could be generated by parents, they would be divisible. Nevertheless, man’s soul is indivisible. Man’s body does not subsist alone, but his soul does. Man does not generate the whole of his species. Those who accept the traducian view of man’s soul believe that those who hold the creation view make God indirectly the Author of evil. They say that according to the creation view, God takes a pure soul, places it in an impure body, and it becomes impure, making God the Author of evil. This is one of their strong arguments. Contrary to that opinion (1) contamination does not occur upon the soul separately, but upon uniting the soul to the body. Therefore, the uniting of soul with body constitutes man a child of Adam. Adam was not body alone. Uniting of soul and body formed Adam. (2) Adam’s nature became corrupt without God infusing any evil thing into it. Likewise, Adam’s posterity becomes corrupt when soul and body are joined without God infusing any evil thing into it.

Advocates of peccability believe that the Holy Spirit produced an unholy nature. In this day of “scientific humanism,” men are trying to put God in their little box; but God is larger than nature. Job said, “Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one!” (Job 14:4 NASB UPDATE). On pages 9 and 10 of his book Sin, Salvation, and Service, J. B. Moody said, “The child of Bethlehem was begotten of the Holy Spirit, but being born of a regenerated woman, with the remains of depravity still in the flesh, there may have been a taint of the same depravity imparted to her Child, which made it possible for Him to sin and to suffer for sin…. He can sympathize with us in the depravity which He could have gotten only by heredity.”

There is no such thing as a fallen nature. The word “fallen” must be applied to a person—not to a nature. The angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35 NASB UPDATE). Therefore, the Son of God overshadowed by the Most High is the manner of God’s manifestation (I Tim. 3:16), the residence of the Godhead (Col. 2:9), and the method of redemption (I Pet. 3:18). If Christ in the flesh was capable of sinning, the following would be true: Mary was stained with unchastity; and Christ was the seed of man rather than the woman, was like all other men, was not the Mediator, was not free from original sin, would have had to pray “Father forgive Me,” and would have had to have a new birth.