ChristadelphianBooksOnline
The Agora
Bible Articles and Lessons: A

Andrewism

ADAMIC CONDEMNATION AND THE LORD'S INVOLVEMENT IN HIS OWN SACRIFICE

The following outlines the beliefs of JJ Andrew concerning the state of man after the fall, our Lord's involvement in his own sacrifice and being in Adam and in Christ. Quotations are from "The Blood of the Covenant".

I.	Adamic Condemnation -- two aspects of Sin.
	(a)	Physical -- transferred to all Adam's descendants because they were in his loins when he was condemned. JJA says that we are not guilty of this offense, but we must be justified from it. "Just as Adam's descendants were in his loins when he partook of the tree, so they were in his loins when he was judged and condemned... The descendants of Adam were condemned before they were born... Owing to this fact, all men are liable as soon as they are born to be cut off by death" (BOC 5). JJA said that the apostle Paul calls this condemnation (that all men are born under) "the Law of Sin and Death". Adam, because of his sin, had incurred a violent death. Since all his descendants sinned in him, they deserve, whether actual transgressors or not, a violent death in execution of the "Edenic Law" (BOC 24). "All under it are, by birth, 'children of wrath' and as long as they continue under it they are 'dead in trespasses and sins'; everything that they do is the offspring of sin, and is itself sin, for 'the plowing of the wicked is sin' (Pro 21:4); God is angry with them 'every day' (Psa 7:11) ; and if they died under the Law of Sin and Death, they die under the wrath of God from which there is no escape" (BOC 29). Sacrifice (shedding of blood) is necessary to take away sin in its physical and moral aspect. If this sin is not removed then the gates of the grave are closed. (This is the key step in reaching the point that only the baptized will be raised.) "Sacrifice is as essential to take away sin in its physical, as in its moral aspect; a violent death is the punishment due to the one as well as to the other; physical sin is as powerful to keep closed the gates of the grave as is actual transgression" (BOC 7).
	(b)	Moral sin -- acts of transgression which deserve punishment. These acts incur the same wrath and punishment from the Father as the physical sin that we are born with. See quote above.
II.	How did this affect Christ and his involvement in his own sacrifice?
	(a)	Because Christ was a descendant of Adam he was born with the same physical sin (sin-in-the-flesh) that all Adam's descendants are born with. Christ therefore suffered the same consequences. See the quote above from BOC 29. He possessed sin physically but not morally. His death was required to take away / cover this physical sin that he was born with.
	(b)	Christ's death justified him from this condemnation. Had he not shed his blood, the Law of Sin and Death would have kept him in the grave. "Christ was, by his shed blood, justified from the condemnation under which he was born, therefore those who are sprinkled with his blood at baptism are then justified from the same condemnation. That is, the divine disfavor under which they were born and which continued until the time entering water is then taken away" (BOC 27). "It was not possible, according to the 'Law of Sin and Death', for Christ to be freed from Adamic Condemnation without the shedding of his blood, and after this event 'it was not possible' according to the 'law of the spirit of life' for the grave to retain him... when he came out of the grave he was 'justified from sin', though still flesh and blood, and he was immortalized as a result of that justification" (BOC 26).
	(c)	The sacrifice of Christ was the payment of a penalty. This penalty was the violent death that Adam deserved but did not pay. "Adam was threatened with death on the day that he sinned, but God by an exercise of mercy, provided an animal on which was inflicted the literal death incurred by Adam. But to be of any service in the ablution of death, it had to be substituted by a sacrifice of a higher order" (BOC 7). "If Adam had obeyed he would have fulfilled the righteousness of God, and would have experienced the blessing implied in the Law by not dying. But having disobeyed the penalty of the Law must be inflicted. If it had been carried out on Adam there would have been no human race, and as a consequence no sinners to save. But God in his mercy provided a descendant of Adam on whom to execute the penalty" (BOC 24). That violent death was inflicted on Christ, and was the result of the Father's anger. "As all his descendants 'sinned' in him (Rom 5:12), they deserve, whether they be actual transgressors or not, a violent death in execution of the Edenic Law" (BOC 24). "(Christ), though free from personal transgression, submitted to that which was the inevitable result of his Father's anger against sin, physically and morally, thereby exhibiting the perfection of righteousness. After passing through the ordeal he was able to say from experience, 'the Lord's anger endureth but a moment: in his favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning' (Psa 30:5)" (BOC 25).
III.	In Adam/ In Christ
		JJA believed that one came out of Adam and into Christ at baptism. He saw the terms as identifying a change in legal relationship (not necessarily in moral relationship). He saw this legal change as having the power to bring one out of the grave for judgment. "When does this take place? At Baptism. In what sense do believers pass out of Adam? In the same sense that they pass into Christ. Is it accompanied by a physical change? No; the change is one of relationship. What is the immediate effect of this? They are imputed with the righteousness of Christ rather than the disobedience of Adam. What is the effect in relation to the future? That death as a result of Adam's disobedience cannot prevail over them. When, therefore, the relationship of any toward that offense is altered their relationship toward its consequence is altered. In what way? By keeping them from entering the grave? Not necessarily; but, should they enter, by bringing them out" (BOC 30,31). " 'In Adam all die.' Who are they? Those who have not been transferred out of Adam and into Christ. 'In Christ shall all be made alive.' This is a totally different class. Although they die due to Adam's sin they do not die in Adam. Having been washed and justified they die in Christ, and while in the grave they are 'dead in Christ' and because Christ rose, they will rise. He rose through the 'blood of the covenant' and they will rise through the same" (BOC 32). "The Ecclesia, or called out assembly, is composed not only of the few chosen but of the many called. Against none of these will the 'gates of Hades prevail'; for Christ will use the 'keys of Hades' to release them from the grave, because as the church of God he hath purchased them with his own blood. But, against those who, since the establishment of his 'church', have not entered therein, 'the gates of Hades' will prevail" (BOC 31).

Summary

All men are born deserving a violent death because of Physical Sin (sin-in-the-flesh) inherited from Adam.
Not only do they deserve death, but God is literally angry with them. Everything that they do is sin.
This Physical Sin is as powerful to keep the gates of the grave closed as moral sin.
Because Christ was born with physical sin he was alienated in like manner from his Father. Christ's death provided a justification from the sin he inherited from Adam.
A violent death was the penalty incurred by Adam for disobedience. That penalty could not be carried out or the human race would have ceased to exist. Therefore God slew animals instead, and Adam and Eve lived. The animal sacrifice had to be supplemented by one of a higher order. This was accomplished in the sacrifice of Christ, who paid the penalty Adam rightfully should have paid.
In Adam and In Christ describes a legal relationship that changes at Baptism (one passes out of Adam and into Christ). When one comes into Christ the consequence of Adam's sin is changed, so that if they die they will be brought out of the grave.

(Adapted from Gary Burns)