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“…Christadelphians believe that man has no inherent immortality. When animal man dies, Christadelphians believe, everything that there is of him perishes. His only hope for the future lies in resurrection … It is not surprising to find, in view of this, that Christadelphianism provides its adherents with no assurance of salvation.”
“... we are concerned with several sects which believe that the Christian Church has been wrong in its formulas. This at once raises a difficult point, because, if they are right, then God has allowed the whole Church to be in error over vital matters down through the centuries.” Whom Then Can We Believe, Maurice Burrell / Stafford Wright, Moody Press, 1976
Adamic Condemnation Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that (margin – “in whom”) all have sinned...for the judgment was by one to condemnation (katakrima) ...Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation (katakrima) (Romans 5:12, 16, 18) There is therefore now no condemnation (katakrima) to them which are in Christ Jesus ... For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2).
“That Adam broke this law, and was sentenced to return to the ground from whence he was taken - a sentence which in effect defiled AND became a physical law of his being, and was transmitted to all his posterity.“ Christadelphian Statement of Faith, Proposition V “That these promises had reference to Jesus Christ, who was to be raised up of the condemned race of Adam...and who, though wearing the condemnednature, was to obtain a title to resurrection, by perfect obedience, and by dying, abrogate the law of condemnation...” Christadelphian Statement of Faith, Proposition VIII Thereis therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus...the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2
Baptism and the Adamic Condemnation Legally, a man is freed from the Adamic condemnation at the time he obeys the truth and receives the remission of sins: but actually, its physical effects remain till “this mortal” (that is, this Adamic condemned nature) is swallowed up in the life that Christ will bestow upon his brethren at his coming. Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian, Vol. XV (1878), page 225
"When, therefore, nations and individuals are said to be in Abraham and in Christ, it is manifest that it must be in a figurative sense. Hence, in thee, in him, and in Christ are figurative expressions, or terms of constitution. They are things of stubborn import. They do not express a feeling, but a relationship..." ElpisIsrael, 14th ed. p. 241
“All mankind are born of corruptible parents into a state of sin. By this natural birth, they become members of this sinful and evil state, and heirs of all its disabilities. By virtue of this birth, they are ‘constituted sinners,’ though they could not help, and had no hand in the matter.” John Thomas, The Revealed Mystery, Part 2 - A Discourse on Eternal Life, p. 24
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Romans 5:18
Two Acceptations of Sin Nature of Man Unamended – “The physical and legal condemnation has been transmitted to all his (Adam’s) posterity and is resident at birth.” Amended – “We are certain of death and prone to sin. We are not held in any way guilty for the nature we bear, because we are not responsible for it: nor are we under any other sentence.”
The Constitution of Sin “The introduction of sin into the world necessitated the constitution of things as they were laid in the beginning...The word sin is used in two principle acceptations in the scripture. It signifies in the first place, “the transgression of the law;” and in the next, it represents the physical principle of the animal nature, which is the cause of all its diseases, death, and resolution into dust. It is that in the flesh “which has the power of death;” and it is called sin, because the development, or fixation, of this evil in the flesh was the result of transgression. Inasmuch as this evil principle pervades every part of the flesh, the animal nature is styled “sinful flesh,” that is, “flesh full of sin;” so that sin, in the sacred style, came to stand for the substance called man. ...men are not only made, or constituted sinners by the disobedience of Adam, but they become sinners even as he, by actual transgression...They are thus doubly condemned...men are sinners in a twofold sense; first, by natural birth; and next, by transgression.” John Thomas, Elpis Israel, Fourteenth Edition − Revised, pgs. 126-131
“The Christ-Deity veiled himself in the Adamic nature defiled by sin, in order that he might condemn sin to death in the nature which, though created “very good,” had legally defiled itself by transgression of the Eden law. This purpose would have been defeated had he veiled himself in a clean nature. To say that the man, Jesus, was corporeally clean, or pure, holy, spotless, and undefiled, is in effect to say that he was not ‘made of a woman.’” John Thomas, The Christadelphian, Vol. VI (August, 1869), page 216
Baptism and the Adamic Condemnation Legally, a man is freed from the Adamic condemnation at the time he obeys the truth and receives the remission of sins: but actually, its physical effects remain till “this mortal” (that is, this Adamic condemned nature) is swallowed up in the life that Christ will bestow upon his brethren at his coming. Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian, Vol. XV (1878), page 225
BUSF / BASF “Doctrines to be Rejected” No. 27: That there is no sin in the flesh.
Psalm 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they are born... Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Job 25:4 How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, (in whom) all have sinned. continued…
Romans 5:18 Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation (katakrima) Romans 5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners Romans 7:18 In my flesh dwelleth no good thing. 1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
...he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets. Acts 28:23 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. Acts 28:24
“But if the human nature of Christ were immaculate...then God did not ‘send Jesus in the likeness of sinful flesh;’ he did not ‘take hold of the seed of Abraham,’ he did not ‘become sin for us,’ sin was not ‘condemned in the flesh,’ and our sins were not ‘borne in his body upon the tree.’ These things could not have been accomplished in a nature destitute of the physical principle styled ‘sin in the flesh.’” John Thomas, The Christadelphian, Vol. 10, 1873, page 361
“The Christ-Deity veiled himself in the Adamic nature defiled by sin, in order that he might condemn sin to death in the nature which, though created “very good,” had legally defiled itself by transgression of the Eden law. This purpose would have been defeated had he veiled himself in a clean nature. To say that the man, Jesus, was corporeally clean, or pure, holy, spotless, and undefiled, is in effect to say that he was not ‘made of a woman.’” John Thomas, The Christadelphian, Vol. VI (August, 1869), page 216
“So he died for us; but did he not die for himself also? How otherwise could he have been made free from the sin which God laid upon him in sending him forth in the likeness of sinful flesh? Paul says that ‘he that is dead is freed from sin,’ and ‘in that Christ died, he died unto sin once,’ being raised from the dead, death hath no moreDOMINIONover him – (Romans 6:7, 9, 10). Is it not clear from this that the death of Christ was necessary to purify his own nature from the sin-power of death that was hereditarily in him in the days of his flesh?” (Question No. 54) Robert Roberts, The Christadelphian, Vol. X (1873), page 465
“Whatever I have taught by mouth or pen contrary to the view of Jesus Christ herein set forth I now renounce.” • Edward Turney, Thirty Two Questions - Introduction, 1873 ...the last Adam, the Christ, came into the world as free as the first Adam, not under condemnation to death... There was a life as free as Adam’s was when he sprang from the ground a living soul.” With a “free life,” Christ needed not to “offer for himself.” Edward Turney, The Sacrifice of Christ, 1873, page 9
“Blood shedding is never spoken of except in connection with actual transgression.” Robert Roberts Resurrectional Responsibility Debate, April 3, 1894, p. 22
“In the excitement of the debate and under stress and pressure of very subtle and acute questioning, Brother Roberts was led into making statements which were at variance with his former writings. After the second night I made a kind and brotherly remonstrance with him upon the matter. He admitted the mistake and undertook to correct it – which was done when he wrote, immediately afterwards, The Blood of Christ (1895) and The Law of Moses (a series in the Christadelphian 1896, a book in 1898).” G. F. Lake Christadelphians − The Untold Story, 2006, page 30
“We have been made sinners by Adam, but are not sinners until we transgress.” The Christadelphian, September, 1894, p.346 “I am deeply concerned to observe from time to time in The Christadelphian statements upon doctrine which are very widely at variance with the principles it formerly upheld.” G. F. Lake Christadelphians − The Untold Story, 2006, page 31
Allen D. Strickler That the present work of Christ has to do only with sins of actual transgression and the conscience, and not with the body.” Warfare Magazine #2, p. 18 “Christ’s sin in the flesh did not make him unclean or defile him ... If no sin, no offering for himself, only an offering for those who have sins.” Out of Darkness, p. 54, 69
“Christ…; like us, was under no other sentence than the physical law of his being. He needed salvation from death…and bore no disfavor or displeasure at any time.” • Christadelphian Magazine Publishing Association statement on the Nature and Sacrifice of Christ (as published in The ChristadelphianAdvocate, December, 1986)
For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins...And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God... So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest...Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchisedek...Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death... • Hebrews 5:1-7
Who needed not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the peoples: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. Hebrews 7:27 But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people ... Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:7, 12
But when it pleased God, who...called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen...I conferred not with flesh and blood. Galatians 1:15-16 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery...whereby when ye read ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed... Ephesians 3:3-6
And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, AND because of their transgressions in all their sins. Leviticus 16:16
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. • Hebrews 2:14
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:14-15
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin (margin - by a sacrifice for sin), condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4
