There’s something wrong with me chemically, something wrong with me inherently.
The wrong mix of the wrong genes, I reached the wrong ends by the wrong means.
Few musicians, much less pastors, seem to understand the human condition as well as Depeche Mode understands the human condition.
Over the course of their career Depeche Mode has written often about the pull of temptation and the inevitable fall from grace.
To Depeche Mode sin and temptation are real.
They can be real fun:
I give in to sin, because you have to make this life liveable.
Depeche Mode (Strangelove)
But sin and temptation can also be real tragic:
If I could just hide, the sinner inside, and keep him denied.
How sweet life would be, if I could be free, from the sinner in me.
Depeche Mode (The Sinner in Me)
While they may not agree on everything, Depeche Mode and God certainly agree about sin.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
God (Romans 3:23)
All of us give in to sin.
All of us have something wrong inherently.
None of us can hide the sinner inside or keep him denied.
When it comes to thinking through Infant Salvation it is this idea – the theology of sin – that causes me so much grief and frustration.
Sin, while easy to commit, is not always easy to understand or easy to communicate.
I know this is supposed to be about Infant Salvation, but please let me summarize why I feel that the idea of sin is so frustrating to my understanding of Infant Salvation.
I promise I will try to keep this brief.
A brief summary of a (conservative/orthodox) theology of sin looks like this.
Because Adam sinned everybody sins.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned
Romans 5:12
As it is written,” There is none righteous, not even one.”
Romans 3:10 (Quoting Psalm 14)
There is no one who does good. The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one.
Psalm 14:1-3
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23
Sin leads to death.
Then God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
Genesis 2:15-17
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.
Romans 5:12
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
(More on this and how it relates to Jude in a bit.)
Jesus died for our sins and believing in Jesus saves us from our sins.
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Romans 10:9-11, 13 (Quoting Joel 2)
And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered;
Joel 2:32
I know there is a lot more to it than that, but I think I hit the high points. And my issue – my frustration – with these high points is this;
Because Jude sinned he needed God’s salvation. Jude was a sinner but had not yet called on the name of the Lord or confessed with his mouth that Jesus is Lord.
This is the core issue driving me to look at Infant Salvation from a theological perspective.
How does Infant Salvation fit into a theology of sin (and salvation)? I don’t yet know, but I hope to answer that question publicly in these posts.
I know this issue can get emotional, but please feel free to comment, to correct me, to disagree, to argue. Please, if you do, keep it civil.
Until next time, which will be sooner than later. I promise.
