The Reign of King Sin
The Bible teaches that there was once a time when man dwelt in paradise. As the pinnacle of God’s creation, man was made in God’s image. Adam, the first man, was without sin. He dwelt in a state of innocence, of equipoise. He could will to choose good or evil. Under the temptation of the serpent, man chose sin, which is lawless rebellion against God, his Creator.
Despite every advantage, man’s willful decision led to his enslavement to sin (Rom 6:6). The Bible personifies sin because of sin’s power and activities. Sin invaded the world of man’s God-given dominion (Rom 5:12). Sin wrested dominion from man, and sin has reigned over natural man ever since (Rom 5:21).
King Sin is at enmity with God. He occupies the mind of men, causing their thoughts to be evil (Eph 4:17). Sin is crouching at the door of every man’s heart, and his temptations vary in degree and diversity. The inclination of the human heart is only evil all the time (Gen 6:5). The heart, under sin’s rule, is wicked and deceitful (Jer 17:9). Men choose sin because of their sin nature, inherited from Adam (Ps 51:5; Eph 2:3).
Despite the fall of man into sin’s powerful rule, the will of man remains intact. Whereas man once had an unchallenged will in the Garden, the bondage of the will is now to man’s master, King Sin. Every decision of the natural man is under the sway of sin. He must do sin’s will, and he does (Rom 3:10–12).
The Law of God helps man to see his plight (Ex 20; Dt 5). Man is totally depraved in the love of sin and sinning (Jn 3:19). Despite being confronted by the Law, man lusts after sin’s vices all the more (Rom 5:20). Man loves the world of sin because sin deceives man into thinking he is a god (Gen 3:5). Sin puffs up the pride of man, and man especially loves this work of sin. Men call this deception self-esteem, but they have no idea the extent of their delusion.
Adam’s sin (original sin) has brought death (Rom 5:12). Adam poisoned the entire race of men (universality of sin), and this poison has killed every single man ever conceived in the flesh (Rom 6:23). This universal death is common knowledge, but sin distorts the truth about death. Instead of agreeing with God’s Word that death is a penalty for sin, men believe the lie of the circle of life.
Deceived people claim that death is a natural part of the process of life. Life has a beginning and an end. They believe death should be embraced, even celebrated. The Bible, however, is clear that death is an enemy (1 Cor 15:26). It is not natural.
In God’s predetermined plan, death was God’s decree of judgment, as a consequence for Adam’s disobedience to God. God promised Adam death for sin (Gen 2:17), and Adam died, being fully responsible for his sinful action. The wages for Adam’s disobedience were paid in full (Gen 3).
Death has been spreading to all men ever since the death of Adam’s soul and subsequent death of his physical body (Rom 5:12). Life in the flesh is a death sentence for all people. As soon as a soul is joined with a body in the womb, death is looming. This is because sin nature is infused into both the body and the soul.
The wrath of God is directed against sin, and because sin indwells every person, all born in Adam are by nature, children of wrath (Eph 2:3). Thus, it is appointed once for a man to die and then comes the judgment (Heb 9:27).
All men have sinned, and all fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). It must be noted that there is no improvement with humanity. Man is not getting better in any way. Man’s corruption is total and irreparable. It is a gross deception of Satan to teach the evolution of man. It is a denying of man’s original state of beauty and innocence. It is a denial of the fall. It is a denial of the extent of man’s corruption. Evolutionary theory is itself evidence, in the case for man’s total depravity.
The Bible’s doctrine of man, sin, the fall, death, judgment, and eternal punishment is an offense to the pride of man. He hates the Bible’s assessment of him because man hates the God of the Bible (Jn 7:7; Rom 1:30), who is true (Rom 3:4) and the truth (Jn 14:6).
The mind of the Christian embraces the truth of the Word of God because it is being taught by the Spirit of truth (1 Cor 2:13, 16), who leads us into all truth (Ps 25:5; Jn 16:13). Doctrines such as these, which were once a great offense, are now believed and agreeable to the saint. The biblical worldview is remarkably liberating because of its truth, but also because one can now make reasonable sense of why there is so much evil round about us.
Trusting in the low view of humanity and man’s bondage to sin is also evidence for one’s conversion to Christianity. An unbeliever reads Genesis 1–3 and laughs at the account of first things. The regenerated believer has the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16), who Himself stated His belief in the account of creation, the fall, and the power of sin in the lives of people (Mk 10:6; 13:19).
The sting of death is sin (1 Cor 15:56), but this is the reason Jesus Christ came into the world. He came to save His people from their sins (Mt 1:21). There is no more fear of death for the Christian because there is no fear of judgment…thanks to Jesus’ death on the cross (Rom 5:8; 8:1).
Sin and death will soon be swallowed up (Is 25:8; 1 Cor 15:54), and the Spirit’s application of Christ’s victory will be complete (2 Cor 2:14; 1 Jn 5:4). The reign of King Sin is doomed, as the kingdom of this world becomes the kingdom of our God and His Christ (Rev 11:15). King Jesus has overcome the world of sin (Jn 16:33) and delivered His people from the domain of darkness (Col 1:13). In this, we are more than conquerors, and we exult in Him who saved us by His blood!
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
May 22, 2022
