If I was Satan I would cause those who seek salvation to reject God’s Biblical Truth that they are totally responsible for the conduct of their lives, that sin and holiness are the only two options open to them, that they are either with Him or with me, and that the choice is totally theirs to make. I would have them dismiss the above paragraph outright.

If I was Satan I would convince salvation seekers that they are nothing more than religious hand puppets who have no choice but to obey the owner of the hand–me.  I would convince them that sin was miraculously injected into their spiritual dna at conception because their original human father sinned.  I would convince them that his sin gene is eternal, and that it automatically became part of their spiritual dna at conception, and that, like height and eye color, sin is inborn within them, leaving them no choice but to obey its call.  I would give this miraculous chain of events an intellectually-pleasing, high-sounding title which would make those who believe in it feel religiously superior to all who rejected it.  I would call this universally embraced “truth” “Original Sin,” meaning that, like hair color and foot size, their sins are not what they themselves do, but what Adam’s sin gene does to them.  A former U.S. president used Original Sin to explain why he had sex with a White House intern (as well as many other Original Sin victims.  He explained that his continuous sinning was actually not his fault by saying: “These things are always happening TO me.”  Original Sin cannot be explained any better than that.   Just this past week another of his O.S. victims went public.

People in my church system would use Original Sin to explain why sin is as much a part of their as breathing.  Preachers keep he paychecks coming in by assuring their followers of this fact.  Several years ago I overheard an Original Sin proponent assuring his t.v. congregation that they were not to blame for their rebellion against God.  I happened to walk by a room where his service was on t.v. and heard him tell his congregation: “Don’t even try to be righteous.  You’ll just make yourself sick.  You are nothing more than a society of sinners.”  In other words, sin is not something they did, it was something that was done TO them thousands of years ago when Adam sinned.  He then miraculously caused his sin to become part of his offspring’s spiritual dna.  Through Adam’s unwanted “gift” I would dominate my “victims” lives from birth to death.  If I was Satan I would not let my people know that they and they alone determine their life’s walk.  I would make them spiritually and socially liberal so that they could always find someone else to blame for their sins, as well as everything else that went wrong in their lives.

Eve used my blame-deflector system when confronted by God for breaking His Law. She explained her sin by saying that the Serpent (me) had deceived her and caused her to sin.  Which was true.  Then Adam followed her lead by blaming Eve for his sin.  Since that time man has blamed Adam for their sins.  In that my parishioners would have inherited their sin gene naturally, sin would be considered “natural.”

After convincing them that sin was natural, I would create a fake savior whose supposed death would make their sins both inevitable and irrelevant.  I would convince my church that their savior would understand that the Adam-sin-gene-nature connection gave them no choice but to sin.  Knowing this, their false savior would die so that their sins would have no negative effect on their relationship with him and his fake father.  This was the theology used by a Catholic man I was working with who daily regaled me with stories about his sexual exploits.  When I reminded him about what the Bible says about adultery, he informed me that his sins had no effect on his relationship with his god.  He was in good standing with him because “My lady (Mary) takes care of it” (his sins).  Protestants also have their lady who takes care of their sins.  Her name is Grace.

I have a few observations and questions concerning Original Sin.  How did Abel and Noah manage to walk in righteousness following forgiveness of their sins?  Jesus called both of them “righteous” (Mat. 23:5/Heb. 11:7).  He does not call sinners “righteous.”  Abel and Noah were declared righteous because they obeyed God.  How was this possible if Adam’s sin remained within them and forced them to sin?   Also, Jesus said that He had not come to save righteous people.  If all people are sinners, who were the righteous for whom He came?  And how could Jesus expect the prostitute and the man at the pool to “Sin no more” if Adam’s sin had been automatically injected into their spiritual dna at conception and had not been removed upon His forgiveness of their sins?

If I was Satan I would blind church people to the Biblical Truth that they alone are responsible for their sins in that sin is a choice.  Because He is “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34), the Lord’s command to “Sin no more” applies to all who have been justified.  This means that if church people are forgiven, saved and born again as they claim to be, His command to “Sin no more”  applies to them.  If I was Satan I would convince them that the command was merely wishful thinking on His part.

If I was Satan I would blind my parishioners to the Biblical fact that sin is a choice, that Adam’s sin gene was not transferred to them.  I would convince them that on Judgment Day their “Sin happened to me” or “Sin did itself to me” excuse for rebelling against their Judge would be their passport into heaven.  If I was Satan I would have my parishioners spend most of their free time watching t.v., reading novels, recreating, etc.  I would have them spend just enough time in Bible study and prayer to make them feel religious.  Fifteen minutes per day would fill the bill nicely.  I would assure them that all is well if they have taken my imaginary jesus as their savior and joined “the church.”  I would convince them that their false savior, knowing that they are incapable of resisting me, died to make giving in to me okay.  As a safety precaution, I would have them reject anyone who tried to prove to them out of their own Bibles that most of what they hear in church is a lie.  I would paint such a one as a lost soul.  L.J.