The Original State and Fall of Man

Ecclesiastes 7:29 “Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.”

God had created man “upright” which means – straight or just or as Vines described it as “right in His eyes” – The only thing right in Gods eyes would be holy which means God created man in holiness. God said after He finished creation on day six “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good…” Genesis 1:31 which means He was very pleased with it and the only thing God can be pleased with is total perfection. Therefore we must understand as Christians we are washed in the blood of Christ continually making us completely holy in Gods sight. God said that man was created in His image "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:27 and there is no “sinful” image of God. However since the fall of Adam man has lost that holiness because holiness and sin do now combine. However in Christ Jesus we gain back the holiness lost in Adam. “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:24 Paul said the “image” has been renewed in Christ Jesus and that is back to the “upright” state that was lost in Adam "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:" Colossians 3:10 as though we have never sinned a single sin; ever. Oh! How truly blessed we as Christians are.

It was not long after God had created man (the exact time is unknown) that Adam and his wife Eve had sinned against God. Remember our text Ecclesiastes 7:29 it went on to say: “… but they have sought out many inventions.” While Adam and Eve were created holy and blessed more than any of Gods other creations they sought out a way to defile God and man has been doing it ever since and we as Christians also seek these inventions. We will put more thought into inventions to build a way around the scriptures than to just accept it. It is mans goal in life to justify sin or to just belittle it to where it does not matter. There are two things so many today attempts to do to justify sin, (1.) they belittle sin to where it truly is not as bad, or (2.) they belittle our fear of God in order to sin without fear. Adam failed God and the punishment was great (he brought death to all mankind) and our sin is just as awful to God. God doesn’t want us to sin and if we do it draws a divide between us and God. We must always remember God hates sin and while He continually loves the elect He still hates their sin. It was not o that Adam and Eve sinned and it is not ok if we doe either; whether saved or not sin is sin.

The Essential Elements of Human Nature

When we think of the Elements of Human Nature there are two schools of thought among the Baptist; (1.) The Trichotomous Theory and (2.) The Dichotomous Theory. The difference between the two are that “tri” means three and “di” means two or man has a body, soul, and a spirit; or man has a body and a soul and the spirit is the same as the soul. I am a firm believer in the Trichotomous Theory that man has three elements and that would be body, soul, and a spirit. Now I believe the scripture clearly proves that man is a Trichotomy; 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” I also believe this because man was made in Gods image Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” notice the “us” and “our” speaking of the trinity of God. If man was made in Gods image or the image of the trinity then he must have been a Trichotomous being. Now we are going to separate the soul and spirit; when God made man from the dust of the ground he was simply a lifeless molded hunk of dirt, however it was when God breathed the breath of life into man he (man) became a “living soul” Genesis 2:7 "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." God gave man life or as we know it a soul and this soul cannot die but will live eternally either in hell or heaven. Matthew 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The question here must be; if the soul cannot die then what died about man in the fall? It must have been the “spirit”. The spirit is mentioned many times over in the scriptures in relation to death by sin and quickening by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2:1 "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;" it is also the spirit which Gods Holy Spirit works Romans 8:16 “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” the Holy Spirit does not work in the lost because their spirit is dead (corpse dead) to God in other words God does not work inside or in the heart of a lost or dead man. This also makes sense when we die because before the second coming and the glorification of our bodies we stand before God as spirits with souls. Now there are some that say to take 1 Thessalonians 5:23 literally that man is a Trichotomy being means man must have several elements because of Matthew 22:37 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” So here the word “mind” is added to make a fourth but in right thinking the mind would not be considered an Element of Human Nature because it is part of the body when the soul and spirit are separate elements. Or n the Christian it could mean their thinking which would include their spirit or what the scriptures calls the heart of a Christian. While the Lord has many names for the spirit (heart, inner man, and etc.) He never (I believe) combines the soul and the sprit as the same element.

While there are some that may disagree with me on this subject as well as others, I always must follow the scriptures as I see the Holy Spirit teaching me in my spirit. And the mind of my spirit tells me that man is a Trichotomous being.