Did Adam have the Holy Spirit?

The Bible says, "And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:16,17 NIV)

So, before Adam and Eve ate of the tree, they apparently did not have the knowledge of good and evil. But once they ate of it, the Bible says, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:22 NIV)

The word "knowledge" in the Hebrew is 'Yada' and it means to know, to perceive, to perceive and see, find out and discern, to discriminate, distinguish, to know by experience, to recognize, admit, acknowledge, confess, or to consider.

So, in man's original state, he did not have the knowledge of good and evil. Yet those are attributes that you would normally associate with God. So, if Adam had the Holy Spirit in him, then surely he would have the knowledge of good and evil.

Therefore, it would follow that Adam did not have the Holy Spirit in him, though he did live in a state of sinless perfection. Adam lived in a state of innocence, not knowing the difference between good and evil.

The Holy Spirit gives spiritual wisdom. So again, if he had the Holy Spirit, don't you think he would have the knowledge of good and evil?

In fact, Adam may not have even had a conscience, because a conscience is what tells us the difference between wrong and right. And he had no awareness of that, since he didn't have the knowledge of good and evil.

At the new birth, a person is given the Holy Spirit to deal with the need for victory over sin. Adam, before the fall, didn't have any sin to deal with, so therefore he didn't need the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Is the Holy Spirit the same as the breath of life that God breathed into man?

The Hebrew word ruwach is used to designate God’s Spirit in the Old Testament, and sometimes it's also used to designate man’s spirit. However, when God breathed life into Adam, a different word is used, which is neshamah, which means "breath," according to Strong's. This word is used in association with giving life to a human soul. So Genesis 2:7 does not use ruwach, but rather neshamah.

When God created Adam, He breathed into him the “breath of life” and Adam became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). The Hebrew word "nephesh" is the word translated "soul" in Genesis 2:7. The Hebrew word nephesh, although translated as "soul" in some older English Bibles, actually has a meaning closer to "living being"...a living, breathing conscious person, rather than to an immortal soul. According to Genesis 2:7, God did not make a body and put a soul into it like a letter into an envelope of dust; rather he formed man's body from the dust, then, by breathing divine breath into it, he made the body of dust live. In other words, the dust did not embody a soul, but it became a soul—--a whole creature. So, in other words, God gave that body of dust life. Though it's a very poor comparison, it's sort of like the story of Frankenstein, when lightning hit that dead body and it came to life.

1 Corinthians 15:45 says, "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit." The Greek word for "quickening" is "zoopoieo" (Strong's Number 2227), whose word usage includes "life-giving." The Greek-English New Testament shows the literal translation from the Greek as being, "So also it has been written: became The first man Adam - soul 'a living;' the last Adam - spirit 'a life-giving.'" Matthew Henry's Commentary says, "The first Adam was made a living soul, such a being as ourselves. The second Adam is a quickening Spirit..." The first part of the word 'zoopoieo,' which is zoo, or zoe, means “life” in the sense of resurrection life. As a resurrected person (“spirit”), our Lord will “quicken” people or make alive in the resurrection. The second part, 'poieo,' means “to make,” in the sense of produce, construct, form, or fashion. It is equivalent to the Hebrew ‘asah, which means “to make” or “produce by labour.” ‘Asah is used in reference to the manufacture or construction of any thing. Putting these two parts together, we have the basic sense of zoopoieo, “to make alive with resurrection life,” or “to construct alive with resurrection life.”

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 says that He was resurrected from the dead through the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) as the second Adam, and, according to 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, that He will reign on the earth during the Messianic Kingdom until its end when all things return back to the Father.

John 5:26 says, "For as the Father has life in Himself: so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself."

So the Scriptures make a specific distinction between the spirit that animated the first Adam’s soul, “the breath (neshamah) of life” from the Father, and the “quickening” life-giving Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) of the Father that animated His Son’s soul.

Jesus was given life as a human, by the Holy Spirit, therefore His life force as a man is God’s Spirit. The Breath of Life – (neshamah) that we inherit from our parents was never intended to give eternal life. The longevity that was imparted to Adam and Eve was actually through their diet, the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22) [Remember there were two trees, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and the Tree of Life, and they were never told not to eat of the Tree of Life until after the Fall, when the angel guarded it with a flaming sword]. When we receive salvation, we receive the Holy Spirit, which enables our souls to have the same life as Jesus, which is eternal. When God created Adam, He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (neshamah) and Adam became a living soul. This breath of life was never designed to impart eternal life to its bearer. When Adam and Eve disobeyed Him, they were denied access to the Tree of Life, which was the source of food that maintained their longevity (Genesis 3:22).

In the present ministry of the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) by whose indwelling the believer is enabled to live a godly life (Ezekiel 36:26-27), the Holy Spirit is called Ruach HaKodesh, not just Ruach. Ruach HaKodesh means the 'Holy Spirit' or 'Holy Ghost' in Luke 3:16 and 11:13, Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30, 1 Thessalonians 4:8, Titus 3:5, 1 Corinthians 6:9 and Jude 1:20. "Kodesh" is an adjective meaning 'holy.' HaKadosh is a substantive that means "The Holy One," as in Ha-Kadosh baruch hu, or "the Holy One, blessed be He." Ruach HaKadosh would mean "the spirit of the holy one" as in a saint; it is not used for the Holy Spirit. Ruach HaKo'desh means "the holy Spirit" just like har ha-ko'desh means "the holy mountain," and admat ha-ko'desh means "the holy land," and ir ha ko'desh means "the holy city." Ruach Elohim means the spirit of God, found in Matthew 3:16 and 12:28, Romans 8:9,14 and 15:19, 1 Corinthians 2:11,14 and 3:16 and 7:40 and 12:3, Ephesians 4:30, and 1 John 4:2.

From Strong's, the most often-documented word used for "spirit" in the Hebrew Bible is ‘ruwach’ - roo’-akh. Strong (1986: 142). The most common word used in the Hebrew Bible for "soul" is ‘nephesh’ - neh’-fesh. Strong (1986: 105). The most used word for "spirit" in the New Testament is ‘pneuma’ - pnyoo’mah. Strong (1986: 78). The most common world for "soul" in the New Testament is ‘psuche’ - psoo-khay. Strong (1986: 106).

So, in conclusion, the Holy Spirit is not same as the breath of life that God breathed into man.

Were the Old Testament Saints Saved by Faith in the Coming Messiah?

Yes. Isaiah and other books prophesy about how the Messiah would suffer and die and be glorified, so the Old Testament prophets, and those who believed them, looked forward to the coming Christ. The Old Testament Scriptures contained, for them, the gospel message, and faith in that message was how people got saved back then, even though Jesus had not died yet.

The Bible says:
"Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into." (1 Peter 1:10–12)

So the “prophets...who prophesied” longed for the arrival of an era of grace. The “Spirit of Christ” within them was witnessing through them and to them before the work of Christ had occurred, giving them a gospel message that talked about the coming, sufferings, and glory of the future Messiah. So even before the completion of the New Testament, the Old Testament served as the Scripture for Israel, and contained the gospel message.

Acts 3:18 says, "But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled." So the gospel theme was in the Old Testament. It continues through verse 24 and says, in part, "...Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before... which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began."

So the gospel message of salvation was preached in the Old Testament, and faith in that gospel message is how people got saved, even though Jesus had not died yet. Paul explained in Romans 4 that salvation has always been, and will always be, by God’s grace, and received through faith alone. Genesis 3:15 promised that Someone would come to clear up the sin problem created by our first father Adam. As the Seed of the woman, He would be the one to battle and defeat the serpent. Even Abel understood the nature of a bloody sacrifice and the death of a substitute, and because of his faith in God, he was regarded by God as righteous (Hebrews 11:4). God has just one covenant of grace, not two, which was promised right after the fall in Genesis 3:15 proclaiming that the seed of the woman would crush the seed of the serpent.

God Elects Some And Leaves The Rest To Their Own Sinful Devices

The Bible says prior to salvation, all people are dead in sin--spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-3). In this state of death, the sinner is utterly unable to respond to any spiritual stimulus and therefore unable to love God, obey Him, or please Him in any way. Scripture says the mind of every unbeliever "is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:7-8). That describes a state of total hopelessness: spiritual death.

The effect of all this is that no sinner can ever make the first move in the salvation process. This is what Jesus meant in John 6:44, when He said, "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him."

This is also why the Bible repeatedly stresses that salvation is wholly God's work.

-In Acts 13:48 we read, "And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed."

-Acts 16:14 tells us that Lydia was saved when, "... the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul."

-Romans 8:29-30 states, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

-Ephesians 1:4-5,11 reads, "Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will ... also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will."

-Ephesians 2:8 says even our faith is a gift from God.

-In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, the apostle Paul tells his readers, "God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation."

-Second Timothy 1:9 informs us that God "has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity."

If God's choice of the elect is unconditional, does this rule out human responsibility? Paul asks and answers that very question in Romans 9:19-20. He says God's choice of the elect is an act of mercy. Left to themselves, even the elect would persist in sin and be lost, because they are taken from the same fallen lump of clay as the rest of humanity. God alone is responsible for their salvation, but that does not eradicate the responsibility of those who persist in sin and are lost--because they do it willfully, and not under compulsion. They are responsible for their sin, not God.

The Bible affirms human responsibility right alongside the doctrine of divine sovereignty. Moreover, the offer of mercy in the gospel is extended to all alike. Isaiah 55:1 and Revelation 22:17 call "whosoever will" to be saved. Isaiah 45:22 and Acts 17:30 command all men to turn to God, repent and be saved. First Timothy 2:4 and 2 Peter 3:9 tell us that God is not willing that any should perish, but desires that all should be saved. Finally, the Lord Jesus said that, "the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out" (John 6:37).

In summary, we can say that God has had a special love relationship with the elect from all eternity, and on the basis of that love relationship chosen them for salvation. The ultimate question of why God chose some for salvation and left others in their sinful state is one that we, with our finite knowledge, cannot answer. We do know that God's attributes always are in perfect harmony with each other, so that God's sovereignty will always operate in perfect harmony with His goodness, love, wisdom, and justice.

(Thanks to John MacArthur for this information.)

Election, Free Will and Evangelism

If man comes to Christ through only free will, and not through the sovereign election of God, then that means when you (if you are a Christian) witness to someone, if they do not accept Christ, it is at least partially your fault, because if you had done a better job presenting the gospel, they might have come to Christ. So therefore, their eternal damnation could be in part because you did not do a good job evangelizing. So therefore, from that perspective, we are partially responsible for someone's salvation or damnation. If the lost person is free to choose or reject the gospel, and if it is completely up to them alone, then if the Christian who is witnessing to them doesn't present the gospel in a way that persuades that lost person to want to accept it, then that Christian presenting the gospel is at least partially at fault, because if they had done a better job, that lost person might have been saved. When a Christian witnesses to people and presents the gospel to them, and people do not respond – if that Christian really thought that it really depended on them (the fact that the lost person didn’t respond), it is feasible that the Christian could possibly even become extremely depressed and, in guilt and anguish...well, I could even imagine an extreme instance where a Christian who believed that, might even go home and pull out a knife and plunge it into their heart because they were such a failure, and because that lost person, or those lost people, going to Hell would be partially their fault, because their gospel presentation was not compelling enough.

On the other hand, if salvation is up to God's sovereign election, then when we witness to someone, all we are responsible for is to tell them, and we don't have to worry about the outcome, because that is up to God.

Ultimately, the salvation of souls depends upon the Lord God, and he has graciously given us the opportunity of being instruments in the accomplishment of his work. We (if we are born again, regenerated Christians whose lives have been radically transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit) are called to partner with Him and share in the great and glorious work of the Great Commission. We get the easy part (telling), and He does the rest. No higher calling could any individual ever have than being a co-worker with the Lord.

Engaged To Be Married To Christ

"And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)

The Greek word translated "deposit" (arrabon) speaks of a down payment that was made to secure a purchase. The moment you were saved, the Spirit of God became the down payment on God's final installment of your eternal glory. In modern Greek, arrabon includes the idea of an engagement ring, a deposit securing something in the future. The Holy Spirit is our guarantee that Christ will come again and take us with Him. In that sense, we can view the Holy Spirit as God's engagement ring to his Church, a sign of His deep love and His guarantee to keep His promises. Jesus and His Father give us a guarantee of His promise to marry us. If that marriage in Heaven does not happen between Him and us, then God did not honor His guarantee. So, if a person can lose their salvation, then God is a liar.

Christ purchased us. If He purchased us, He owns us, and we cannot get out of it. Therefore, a person cannot lose their salvation, because Christ bought them. He did not purchase every single person, for if He did, then every single human being would go to Heaven. He only purchased the Elect. And if He purchased us, then our belonging to Him has to do with Him, not with us. “It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” (Romans 9:16)

Salvation is the work of God, not of man. It has to do with the sovereignty of God. The fact that salvation is the work of God, and not of man, works to the praise and glorification of God. But if it is up to man, then it works to the praise of man.

Election: The Most Difficult Doctrine To Accept

I have not posted any blog article here for the last seven months. But yesterday, a Facebook Friend prompted me to write a new blog article, so here I go. I will also try to schedule several new blog articles every few days, at least for a few weeks or so, as well. One thing that theologians and Christians have disagreed on for centuries, I think, is Free Will vs. Predestination, or Election vs. Free Will, or Calvinism vs. Arminianism. Well, I'm going to devote the next few blog articles on this, and I know that there are many Christians who will disagree with me. But then, I've learned that, no matter who the person is, if you spend enough time with them, you will eventually disagree over something. No two people on this earth agree on every single subject; eventually, they will disagree on something. And when it comes to the things of God, even though a born again or regenerated Christian knows God personally, no human being understands God's nature to its fullest extent. Otherwise, God would not be God. God is unique and unequaled. So, with that in mind, let's proceed.

I used to believe that God 'elects' or 'chooses' some for salvation simply because He knows the future, and He knows who will accept Him and who will reject Him. However, if I could look fifty years into the future and see who will be President then, and say that I will elect and choose who will be President fifty years from now, it's really not me electing or choosing him, just because I merely know who will be elected and who the people will vote for fifty years from now. My knowing who will be elected to be President fifty years from now is not the same thing as my choosing and electing and controlling who will be President fifty years from now. Therefore, mere foreknowledge is not the same as choosing or electing. Knowing what will happen in the future is not the same as causing it to happen.

I now believe that, if God chose no one to be saved, then everyone would go to Hell, and God would be perfectly justified in allowing that to happen, because we all fully deserve Hell, so that would be completely fair to send everyone to Hell.

However, God is not only just and righteous; He is also love. So, to demonstrate His grace, mercy and love (for His glory), He chose a remnant to be saved.

In the Bible, a remnant was always saved...for example, only Noah's family was saved, while the rest of humanity was drowned in the Flood. Only the Jews were chosen in the Old Testament, while all other nationalities were left to follow after their false gods.

If God allowed all men to be saved, then there would be no real justice, because there would be no real and true and final punishment for sin. However, if God sent all men to Hell, then He would not be loving.

So, He chose some to demonstrate His love/mercy/grace upon, and some to demonstrate His justice on. On the surface, it seems unfair to us, but we need to remember that God is sovereign, He owns us all, and He can do with us as He pleases. And He is perfectly just to allow any or all of us to go to Hell if He wants, because all of us are wicked and rebellious sinners. So He has no obligation to do even the slightest good for any of us. Yet He sends rain on the just and the unjust, and He saves some of us, even though He is not obliged to.

The way I look at it is that all of us, as fallen, corrupted, rebellious sinners, were headed for Hell. But God, demonstrating His love, chose some of us to be saved from Hell. The others are left to their own free will, and free will, left to its own, will reject God every time, because the heart is wicked and deceitful above all things, and those who are dead in trespasses and sins are unable to have saving faith in Christ, because they are spiritually dead, and a dead person is unable to do anything. The spiritually dead, lost person is also blinded by the god of this world (Satan) and cannot see the Truth, and therefore, will never accept Christ. To accept Christ would be to submit to a Being (God) Who is the Ultimate Authority, and a person in rebellion against God is never going to submit to God, because they are in rebellion. Only the Holy Spirit can open that blind person's eyes, and therefore, it takes intervention by God to enable them to accept Christ. And God never fails, because God is all-powerful.

The offer of salvation is extended to all: “whosoever will.” But God chose some for salvation and left others in their sinful state. The Bible is full of instances where God chose a remnant. God saves some, and leaves the others alone, leaving them in their own rebellion. Anyone is free to come to Christ if they choose, but God insures that a remnant will indeed come to Him, and the rest He leaves up to their own free sinful will, but in that sinful free will, they reject Him.

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will — to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." (Ephesians 1:4-6)

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." (Ephesians 1:11)

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." (Romans 8:28-30)

"Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory—even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?" (Romans 9:10-24)

The Most Important Message In The World

TheMostImportantMessageInTheWorld

Guilt and forgiveness

It has been months since I have posted anything here on my blog site, due partially to spending so much time on Facebook; partially to my computer having died and having it worked on for several weeks now (apparently only the hard drive is recoverable, and I will probably lose all the data on it) and currently using an incredibly old and unbelievably slow, extremely lagging computer in its place that I kept around only for emergencies; and partially due to having to work 9-10 hours a day.

So, since I’ve probably lost all 6 faithful blog readers that I used to have (j/k, LOL), I figured the best way to attract readers again is to write something that is very controversial and might lead some to get angry and upset. So here goes (tongue-in-cheek).

Now, I don’t expect any non-Christian to agree with this, and I expect that quite a few Christians would also disagree (some even angrily) with me on what I’m about to say. But I believe that what I am about to say is completely true.

Modern psychology teaches that you need to forgive yourself. This is man’s wisdom, and to a non-Christian, it would make complete sense. However, nowhere in the Bible does it teach that you need to forgive yourself. Nevertheless, this teaching (as has some other New Age teachings, teachings from psychology, etc.) has seeped into the Church.

Actually, a Christian does not need to forgive themselves, because, biblically, you are unable to forgive your own sins, and only God can forgive your sins! Of course, you can forgive someone else if they have offended you, but if you have offended God, then only God can forgive you, because only the offended party can forgive the one who has caused the offense. What the Christian needs to do is to fully and completely trust in and accept God’s forgiveness through Christ. For God’s mercy is able, through the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross, to remove all guilt and sin. If you are still feeling guilt, then either you have not truly and fully repented of your sin and asked Christ to forgive you, or else you have not fully trusted in Christ’s forgiveness.

“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him.” (Psalm 103:10-11)

We must first realize that all of us are sinful:

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

“…every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood…” (Genesis 8:21)

“All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” (Mark 7:23)

“… though you are evil…” (Luke 11:13)

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)

However, to those that come to Christ in repentance, God is merciful:

“But if from there you seek the LORD [in Hebrew, ‘Yahweh’] your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. For the LORD [‘Yahweh’] your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.” (Deuteronomy 4:29-31)

The mission of God’s mercy was to send Christ Jesus the Messiah (God the Son) to save people from God’s wrath by paying the price that we so justly deserve to pay…in other words, to take our place, and take our punishment upon Himself:

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:4-5)

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)