Written by Ryan M. McGraw |
Thursday, April 14, 2022
The Bible teaches that sin is our fault, not God’s. While God is in control of every detail of this evil world (Isa. 45:7), He can neither sin nor be tempted by sin (James 1:13). The Westminster Larger Catechism reminds us of three biblical truths about the fall: (1) Adam and Eve could and did fall; (2) this came through Satan tempting them; and (3) they destroyed themselves by it.

Everyone is aware that we live in a sinful world, though not all people recognize that sin is the culprit. Sin shows its effects in the moral evils we see in society, and sin results in “natural evil” in the afflictions and miseries of this life. In light of these unmistakable facts of life, unbelievers often deny that God exists, or that sin exists, or both. Yet even when they ask how a good God could allow evil in this world, they assume that good exists, an assumption that is the backdrop against which we understand sin in the first place.1 This question and related assumption will either drive us back to the good God, who is good and does good (Ps. 119:68) and who is the fountain of goodness, or it will drive us to deny both God and ultimately good and evil. Yet evil still troubles us, and neither the Christian nor the atheist is comfortable living in a world full of evil.

The Bible says that sin and the evil resulting from it came into the world through humanity—through Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:1–7). It describes their alienation from God, which was death to their souls, and the effects of sin in this life (Gen. 3:8–23). It clearly reveals that sin deserves God’s wrath and curse (Gen. 6:5–8), making Noah’s flood an object lesson of the wrath to come (2 Peter 3:1–7). Ecclesiastes 7:29 says simply, “God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” Adam fell from innocence, broke the covenant, and ruined mankind. Westminster Larger Catechism 21–23 summarizes this truth by stating the fact of the fall, its scope, and its effects. In this article, I will focus on the fact of the fall, leaving its effects for later essays. Understanding the fact of the fall is important because it shows us that our real need is not freedom from affliction, but reconciliation to God in Christ.
The Fall into Sin is a Fact
Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, through the temptation of Satan, transgressed the commandment of God in eating the forbidden fruit; and thereby fell from the estate of innocency wherein they were created. (WLC 21)
The Bible teaches that sin is our fault, not God’s. While God is in control of every detail of this evil world (Isa. 45:7), He can neither sin nor be tempted by sin (James 1:13). The Westminster Larger Catechism reminds us of three biblical truths about the fall: (1) Adam and Eve could and did fall; (2) this came through Satan tempting them; and (3) they destroyed themselves by it.
First, God left our first parents to the freedom of their own wills. Only God is unchangeable and unchanging (Mal. 3:6). All other things are changeable, including human beings. While we do not know how a good creature with a good heart could desire evil instead of good, we know that the good hearts of these good creatures did change to prefer evil. No one compelled them, not even God, to follow their own wills instead of His.
Second, Satan tempted them to trust themselves and his word over God and His Word. God told them that they would die (Gen. 2:16); Satan told them they would not die (Gen. 3:4). God had already made them like Himself in His own righteous image (Gen. 1:27); Satan told them that they would become like God through sin (Gen. 3:5). By rejecting God’s prohibition to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they put their faith in Satan’s word instead of God’s.2

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[Christ] suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell. Because we believe that Jesus was a personal actor in space-time history, we deny that his death was merely symbolic. He suffered an unjust conviction and was crucified by the Roman authorities, who knew how to execute people effectively. We thus also deny the swoon theory that Jesus did not truly die on the cross, but only appeared to die and was taken down from the cross alive (as taught by Ahmadi Muslims and some older biblical critics). Jesus not only died but “descended into hell,” meaning that he continued to exist after his death to fulfill God’s purposes. This denies a humanistic account of Jesus as a mere mortal who simply died a martyr’s death and ceased to exist at his death.

Although it was not literally written by the original Apostles of Jesus Christ, The Apostles’ Creed has served as a foundational document and liturgical element in Christian churches since the fourth century. It represents the teachings of the Apostles even though they are not its authors. Its authors are unknown. The Apostles’ Creed’s purpose is not to replace the Bible, or to be the only creed for the church, or to reduce Christian truth to its statements. Rather, it summarizes biblical doctrine and is meant to be recited corporately by followers of Jesus. Its affirmations are necessarily part of Christian doctrine, and all three branches of Christianity affirm it (although not with the same interpretation of every aspect). There is spiritual power found in collectively confessing these truths with conviction on a regular basis and it is a good idea to memorize the Creed as well.
Few Americans believe the Apostles’ Creed today, and many outright oppose the God of the Bible and Christian doctrine. Opposition to Christianity is so strong that Aaron Renn, in his book Life in the Negative World, says that Christians must use new strategies to address the current setting, but without altering the biblical message itself. Renn advocates for a “counter-catechesis” to equip Christians to know what they ought not believe, given their Christian convictions in a hostile world. Thus, this essay, “A Counter Catechism.” There is, in fact, more to a formal catechism than the Apostles’ Creed, but many catechisms include it. We start here. After each statement of the Creed will follow what the Creed denies relative to the subject. The judgments are based on the law of noncontradiction: A is not non-A. Or, you cannot affirm anything about reality and its opposite as both being true in the same way and in the same respect.
The Apostles’ Creed and Some of What It Denies

I believe in God,the Father Almighty,Creator of Heaven and earth;

Since God is a personal and all-powerful being, who is the originator and designer of the universe, we deny that God is an impersonal force or principle, as taught in some Eastern religions and occultism. We also deny that God is a mother in the sense of an earth goddess. We deny that God is identified with the cosmos, as taught by pantheism. As Creator, God is transcendent in his self-existent being (Acts 17:15), and we deny that he is one with contingent creation. However, as omnipresent, God is immanent, and is closer to use than we are to ourselves (Augustine). But this doctrine does not compromise God’s transcendence. As Isaiah wrote.
For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy:“I live in a high and holy place,but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,to revive the spirit of the lowlyand to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57:15)
Since God is one God, we deny both polytheism (many finite gods) and dualism (one good god and one evil god). As God said to his people, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). We further deny that there are many gods, but we worship one of them as supreme for us (henotheism). This is the teaching of Mormonism. As Isaiah proclaimed:
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,“and my servant whom I have chosen,so that you may know and believe meand understand that I am he.Before me no god was formed,nor will there be one after me. (Isaiah 43:10)
2. and [we believe] in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord,
Since Jesus Christ is God’s only Son and our Lord, we deny that any other supposed god or savior has attained his exalted status (Matthew 11:27; John 14:6; Act 4:12; 1 Timothy 2:5). We further deny any teaching that denies Jesus as God’s only Son and our Lord, whether explicitly (such as Islam and Baha’i Faith) or implicitly (all non-Christian religions). Jesus was not an avatar (as are Hindu saviors), a manifestation of God (as in Baha’i Faith), a mere prophet (as taught in Islam), a mere sage (in the tradition of Buddha or Lao Tze or Confucius), nor was he a deluded mere mortal (atheism and much of Judaism).

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,

Because Jesus was supernaturally conceived by the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:26-35), we deny that Christianity can dispense with this doctrine and still be Christianity at all (theological liberalism).
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If a pastor suspects that a fellow elder is abusing his office in any way, he must stand between that false shepherd and the precious sheep. Too often elderships have been accused of circling the wagons and protecting their own at the expense of Christ’s blood-bought sheep. It is not the job of shepherds to protect other shepherds. Shepherds are tasked with the work of protecting the sheep. 

To the ancient mind, the unattended sheep would be seen with the same horror as we would view an unattended child.  The world of the sheep was dangerous. Some would seek to destroy and consume the sheep. The sheep found protection in the midst of the flock, but especially under the watchful gaze of a loving and attentive shepherd. Christ’s sheep live in a world filled with predatory men and ministries.  False prophets propagating a false gospel abounded in the day of the apostles and the warning sounded that such would always be the case. Zechariah addresses the dangers of false doctrine and the lies that people are susceptible to believe when he says, “They are in trouble because there is no shepherd.” (Zech 10:2)  What is the job of the shepherd in this regard? It is, at the very least, threefold. The first duty of the pastor to protect his flock is to feed them with the truth. The best way to prevent an embrace of a false gospel is an affectionate and knowledgeable embrace of the true gospel.  The second aspect of protection is the faithful exposure of false teaching and, in some cases, of the false teachers themselves. You see this in a passage like 2 Timothy 2:16-18: “But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort,18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.” The false doctrine is exposed and those teaching it are identified.
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