Every human being longs for perfect happiness, longs for God, even though one does not realize it: “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.” (St Augustine) But there is also sin – the lie incarnate – in the heart of man. This sin causes man to search for happiness where it can never be found. Sin within us is essential self-delusion.

 

An example of the fruit of the lie within us: A twelve-year-old girl had to have her leg amputated above the ankle, if her life was to be saved. But her father takes her from the hospital and brings her to a “miracle” healer. His friend warns him and urges him to take the child back to the hospital lest the “healer”’s quackery should cause the girl’s death. The father takes offence and stands his ground. A few weeks later, the girl dies. However, even after 20 years the father will not hear a word against the charlatan, and what is more, he hates his good friend. Incomprehensible! This is the fruit of being under the delusion of sin! There are thousands of similar cases.

 

Common sense and objective truth simply do not work here! Original sin is programmed destruction and self-destruction, both moral and physical, temporal and eternal! Some demagogues and philosophers, however, argue that there is no sin! The answer is: So abolish the courts, prisons, just laws, police force and state defence! But the truth is that sin is a reality and it makes the individuals, the whole nations and all mankind unhappy. Who can deliver us from this death? Our Saviour Jesus Christ alone!

 

The reaction of our corrupt nature – the “old man”

What is our reaction when someone tells us the hard truth about the mistakes we make or our bad habits or our neglect of duties in our work or in our family? Our reaction is that we take offence because we hate objective truth.

 

The source of conflicts – subjective truth

There is objective truth, but people have their own subjective half-truth which they cling to. And that is why conflicts arise between people. Therefore, throughout human history there have always been laws in every society which punished those who advocated subjective truth if it seriously hurt others.

 

An example of subjective truth: Hearing the testimony of the husband before divorce, all witnesses present in court fully agreed with him, convinced that he was innocent and had a terrible wife. Then when the wife was speaking, they almost shed tears of compassion, convinced that she was a victim and her husband was a criminal.

 

Today, the whole systems of lies appear which deceive people en masse, so that they lose the sense of distinguishing the objective truth. These include contemporary globalist NWO programmes and ideologies. An example is the so-called gender ideology. They officially lie and deny the most primitive reality that a man is a man and a woman is a woman.

 

This is the fruit of the source of evil and lies, original sin in us, which has its own subjective truth (self-delusion), fails to discern the objective truth and rejects it.

 

The mystery of original sin can be understood only in relation to the cross of Christ and His redemptive death. The Word of God points out two opposite polarities – Adam and Christ. He who abides in Adam is in death and slavery. He who enters into the death of Christ has new life and true freedom.

 

Cardinal J. Ratzinger writes: “The inability to understand original sin, and to make it understandable, is really one of the most difficult problems of present-day theology and pastoral ministry. ‘Freedom’ in the Christian sense is above all freedom from the slavery of sin, and this freedom is in Christ…”

 

The life of God in Christ (Pict. 1)

We were born as children of Adam without the life of God. If we are not born again but continue in this state of spiritual death, we will be condemned for ever. Jesus said: “You must be born again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (Joh 3:6f) How shall we be born again? This means that we receive the Lord Jesus into our life through faith! “To all who received Him He gave power to become children of God.” (Joh 1:12) “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1Joh 5:11-12) Do you have eternal life now? If you have the Son, you also have His life and His righteousness.

 

God created angels, archangels, seraphim… (see picture) The life of these spiritual beings is in nearness to God. But we have been granted higher dignity. In Christ we have life directly in God! St Augustine supposes this to be a work much greater than the creation of heaven and earth, because heaven and earth will pass away but eternal life will never end.

 

Through the cross and death towards freedom

Adam acted on his own, separately from God. And that was the tragedy of Paradise. Jesus, on the contrary, did everything in dependence on God. His programme was: “Father, not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Lk 22:42)

 

We can say that all the works of Jesus done on this earth were based on the principle of death and resurrection, though it was not until the end of His life that the true work of Calvary was accomplished. God will distinguish those as His servants who have gone through death to the basis of resurrection.

 

In Mk 8:35, the Lord Jesus speaks about the mental activity of man and about the necessity of losing one’s soul for His sake and the Gospel’s. Our soul is the seat of our relationships (to ourselves, people, things…). Many times the very thing that we are to lose – and at that moment even our soul together with it – is no sin but rather a hidden affection which through natural inclination changes our right direction. Indeed, human inclination plays an important part in our life, and that is why God sends affliction to purify us. A single look back can often decide everything. We lose sight of eternal values and of the light of God, fix our eyes on vanities, and in a false light lose the kingdom of God.

 

Why is the life of God so weak in us? Why is this divine life almost not seen? The reason is that we still live in our soul (in our will, intellect…), work and serve by our own might. We do not draw strength from God. An independent soul stands in the way of the new life; therefore we have to lose it for the sake of Jesus.

 

Dependence on God: “For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (2Cor 4:11) What does this mean? It simply means that I will not take any action without relying on God. I will put no reliance in myself. By taking the forbidden fruit, Adam became possessed of an inherent power to act and decide, but that was power independent of God. He thus did the will of Satan rather than the will of God. That is why we cannot act on our own initiative. We must live by His life and from Him we must receive everything. This is the life in the second Adam – in Christ!

 

Legal person: The Catechism puts a question: How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? All these descendants came of a spiritually dead Adam. He who is dead is no longer able to transmit life. He only transmits what he has himself – spiritual death. His descendants are born the same as he is – spiritually dead. All we need to do is get out of Adam and get into Christ. He will then become our life. In a sense, God views Christ in the same way as He views Adam. God regards Adam and everyone who comes from him as a single man. In the same way, He regards Christ as the Head and includes everyone who comes from Him as a single new man who lives by His life. It is something like the legal term “legal person”. Every one of us who have received Jesus as our Saviour and Lord is the component part of this unified person. Whatever is done by the legal person relates to everyone!

 

Two questions and answers (Rom 5:12):

1) What are the two negative realities that entered the world through one man? Sin, and death through sin.

2) How many people did death spread to, and why? All, because all sinned in him. (With the exception of the Mother of God!)

 

If we abide in Adam, we are spiritually dead. If we abide in Christ, we have His life.

 

Sin, the old man and the body (Pict. 2)

“We know that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with (rendered powerless), that we should no longer be slaves of sin… Do not present your members to sin as instruments…” (Rom 6:6-13)

 

There are three important factors in this passage. The first one is sin, the second one is the old man, and the third one is the body. The term “body” does not mean our biological body with its members and the five senses only, but it also means the powers of our soul, such as intellect and will.

 

Sin is personified by a ruler who keeps man bound and forces him to commit all kinds of sins. Man becomes a slave of sin; he is subject to this tyrant and fulfils all his commands.

 

The old man mentioned in the Bible is our nature in Adam. Deep in man there is the love for sin. When a temptation comes, man is pleased to hear its challenge and happily yields to its power. Sin is a powerful factor, and moreover, if it meets with the old man in a particular situation, the outcome is immediate cooperation.

 

In this combination, the two of them search for an instrument and discover the body. Mental powers of the body employ the members. They either cause eyes to look or ears to listen or hands to move. In this way the body fulfils orders dictated by the sin and supported by the old man. The sin is the boss, the old man submits to its commands and the body fulfils them in practice in the form of trespasses. The three of them make unity. They agree with one another. The result of their cooperation is a number of sins committed by us.

 

Crucifixion with Christ, death (Pict. 3)

“Adam became a living soul.” (1Cor 15:45) Through sin he lost communion with God, and what remained to him was only mental (psychical) life which through sin is joined to Satan. He became independent of God like the devil.

 

Independent development of mental life turns man away from God and leads to self-divinization (“You shall be as God, as gods” Gen 3:5). The solution is the death of Christ: “We were buried with Him through baptism into death.” (Rom 6:4) To walk by faith means to put our baptism into practice! If I unite with the power of Christ’s death by faith, here sin and the devil are overcome, and so is the old man.

 

What about the body? The old man is crucified and immersed in Christ’s death; therefore the power of sin cannot control the body. The body no longer listens to sin, nor does it agree with its suggestions. Under these circumstances, the body has nothing more to do, it is no longer employed. My mouth used to constantly criticize but now it no longer works this way, it has lost its job. My feet which used to walk in their own ways no longer do so; they are unemployed too. My eyes, ears and even my whole body have become unemployed (katargethe) in regard to sin.

 

The Holy Spirit, the new man and the body (Pict. 4)

What does it mean to be partakers of the resurrection of Christ? The Holy Spirit renews the power of new life in the baptized soul. The body – i.e. intellect, will and members of the body – then becomes the bearer of this life (cf. Gal 5:25).

 

“That He would grant you to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner (new) man, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Eph 3:16)

 

In this passage again, there are three important factors. The first one is the Holy Spirit, the second one is the new man, and the third one is the body (heart). Sin, which was personified as a slave-holder and tyrant, gives place to the Holy Spirit who now comes to power. “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit!” (Rom 8:9)

 

The new man mentioned in the Bible is our new nature which we received when we were born anew (Joh 3:7).

 

When through an act of faith and love the old man (Adam) is immersed in Christ’s death in a particular situation, it means that at this moment the power of the risen Christ (new man) is activated. The reactions of the new man are very different from the reactions of the old man. He no longer listens to the temptation of sin, never provokes the body to do evil. The new man opposes sin as resolutely as possible, and is deaf to its suggestions. So this is in the first place no head-on fight with sin or outward mortification of the flesh, but rather a change of nature through faith. In this new combination, the Holy Spirit and the new man likewise search for an instrument and they use the body. Thus the body fulfils the orders inspired by the Spirit and accepted by the new man. The Holy Spirit has now taken power in place of sin (the former boss). The new man now submits to the orders of the Spirit and the body fulfils them in practice by doing the will of God. The three of them make unity, agree with one another, and the result of their cooperation is the fruit of the Spirit (see Gal 5:22).

 

The new life does not work (Pict. 5)

It is not enough that we were baptized, turned away from the world and received Christ as our Lord, and it is not enough that we received the fullness of the same Spirit as the Apostles. We also have to live by the Spirit and that is a fight! “We are not contending against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age.” (Eph 6:12)

 

Living a new life is conditioned by “walking by faith” (Rom 6:11). As soon as I stop keeping watch (cf. Mt 26:41), through my lukewarmness the old man automatically comes down from the cross, “revives”, paralyzes the new life, takes power (see Pict. 5) and makes the body an instrument of sin again (cf. Rom 7:5).

 

That is why again and again through an act of repentance and faith we have to enter into the death of Christ (cf. 2Cor 4:10f), otherwise the old man will breed jealousy, pride, murders, adultery etc.

 

Christ paid for our sins with His blood on the cross. Our old man (Adam) was crucified together with Him. Christ became the satisfaction for our sins as well as for our Adam-nature. On that day on the cross, there were not only our sins but also our nature. When Christ was crucified, we (our Adam-nature) were crucified too. Provided that we understand this single point, the rest will be clear: “I (Adam’s nature) have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I (ego) who live, but Christ lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)

 

Walking by faith (Pict. 6)

Unless the old man is on the cross, Christ does not live in me (Pict. 5). If in a particular situation the old man is on the cross and immersed in death with Christ through my vigilant faith (Pict. 6), sin does not influence the body and “Christ lives in me” through the Holy Spirit. This is walking in the Spirit, the life of victory, the life of freedom! This is what we need to learn to live first of all in the interior prayer. “Could you not watch with Me at least one hour (daily)?” (Mt 26:40)

 

“He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? You are not your own; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit.” (1Cor 6:17-20)

 

The example to us of the life in Christ is the Apostle Paul: “In all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God… by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God… as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” (2Cor 6:4-10)

 

“To restore all things in Christ” (St Pius X)

The source of our faith is Christ. Unless we have a relationship with Christ, we have no power. There is no sense in just superficially deducing or discussing things.

 

Therefore, true Christianity encourages us in the first place to enter into a relationship with Christ through conversion and true repentance. Once you enter into this relationship, you can start to follow Christ and only then live theology in practice.

 

Conclusion:

The mystery of original sin can be understood only in relation to the cross of Christ and His redemptive death.

The Word of God points out two opposite polarities – Adam and Christ.

 

He who abides in Adam is in death and slavery. He who enters into the death of Christ has new life and true freedom!

 

The existence of original sin in every human being is the most fundamental reason why pagan religions cannot save anyone but, on the contrary, keep man in darkness and delusion. Only the faith in Christ and communion with Him through baptism make man a child of God. “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (Joh 14:6)

 

In Christ,

 

Copies to: Bishops of the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches; Mass media

 

Download: Repent, and believe in the Gospel (Mk 1:15). Part 3: Original sin (in Adam) and deliverance (in Christ)