Job 2:3 is used by people to make the assertion that God will afflict man without a cause.
Job 2:3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
The following verse is used to support the unscriptural position which actually “Mocks” God.
John 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
I would respond that my opinion was based on the concept of “reaping what we sow”. It is biblically inconsistent to say that Job was afflicted without doing anything to deserve the affliction. Job was disciplined and that discipline was “in vain”. It was not “without cause” or it would then not fit the prerequisite concept of reaping what had been sown. The affliction was “in vain”, meaning that it did not produce the desired effect. To accuse God of afflicting any person without cause is to mock God according to scripture, Galatians 6:7.
Ga 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (KJV)
Although it is not the point of this article, I will briefly mention why I feel that Job was afflicted because I know that this will become an issue. I feel Job was afflicted, in part because He was righteous in His own eyes, Job 32:1.
Job 32:1 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.
Now to resume the article…
The other person would then say – well there are things that we just can’t know – or some such notion.
Holding to the premise that Job must have been reaping what He had sown I would stubbornly cling to my original thinking. My thinking is that Job committed some type of disobedience that brought about the affliction.
So this is generally where the conversation would end, and both of us would politely agree to disagree.
Jesus disciples also originally assumed that the man’s blindness was due to sin. However Jesus said that the blindness was not a result of the man’s sin or the sin of His parents. He said that the blindness was to manifest the works of God. The disciples were right to assume that sin caused the blindness – but it was not the parent’s sin or the man’s sin, but Adam’s sin that brought about this blindness. It does a disservice to the disciples/Apostles to suggest that they were so ignorant of the ways of God as to totally misunderstand the reason for the blindness. The healing was intended to illustrate the works of God.
Joh 9:3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Now I think God has revealed the answer to me, and here it is.
Death reigned from Adam to Moses (Romans 5:14), and the Moses introduced the law by which a person could obtain forgiveness.
Romans 5:12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:13. (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Death still reigns over those who are not aware of or who reject the covenant with God through Christ Jesus, Romans 5:12.
Those who are not partakers of the covenant will perish because of their sin, Romans 2:12.
Ro 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
We are all born spiritually blind and apart from the Law.
We are not responsible for our spiritual blindness before we came to Christ, and our parents are not responsible for our spiritual blindness. However we were still destined to perish before we came to Christ because of the allegorical nature of death reigning over them who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression (Romans 6:14).
The reason Jesus statement is true follows---
The concept of reaping what a person sows is true, and Jesus statement is also true because “Sin is not imputed where there is no law” Rm 5:13.
Ro 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. (KJV)
The Apostle Paul has said the following…
1Co 5:12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
1Co 5:13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
Those who are outside of the Church and unaware of the Law’s of God are not judged with the same judgment as those who are in the church. The church is comprised of those who have accepted Christ as Lord. It is comprised of those who have made a covenant with God involving curses for disobedience and blessings for obedience.
If a person has not accepted Christ they are spiritually blind. The truth is veiled to them (this is God’s mercy – otherwise they would be judged by a law they were not aware of). The laws of the Church of Christ cannot judge them. They are still destined to perish (John 3:16), but they are not judged by the Law’s of God in the same manner as a Christian is judged.
Adam was not spiritually blind therefore His sin resulted in death, Romans 5:12.
Ro 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: {for that: or, in whom} (KJV)
Death reigned from Adam to Moses, Romans 5:13-14. Moses brought in the Law, and death can now be avoided through obedience or sacrifice. When Christ appeared this same Law (summarized by Love, Matthew 22:37-40). was written on man’s heart.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Matthew 22:37. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38. This is the first and great commandment. 39. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: {put: Gr. give} {in: or, upon} (KJV)
Now at this point in the conversation people would remind me that the sins of the Father are not communicated to the son’s.
However they would be wrong because sins are transferred to future generations.
Adam’s sin resulted in sin/death (Romans 6:23) being communicated to all mankind (because He understood and was capable of keeping the covenant with God). He had the Law of God (so to speak) on His heart.
Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The real answer to the question about the Father eating sour grapes and the son’s teeth being set on edge (the transmission of sins), is this.
Eze 18:2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? (KJV)
God said that the proverb would no longer be quoted in Israel. In other words the proverb would not be true among God’s people. However it is still true before a person belongs to God because a person is spiritually blind (the result of Adam’s sin) before that person comes to Christ.
So Adam’s sin is a generational sin and the retribution for that sin (spiritual blindness) is that a veil covers the perceptions of a person. The veil is only removed when a person comes to Christ, 2 Corinthians 3:14.
2Co 3:14 but their minds were hardened: for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remaineth, it not being revealed to them that it is done away in Christ. (ASV)
If a person does not decide to partake of the covenant with God or do not understand the covenant, they are not responsible for their sin and the resulting recompense. They are still destined to perish however, as John 3:16 and Romans 2:12 illustrate. The application of the Law’s of God teach a person not to sin, 1 Corinthians 11:32, Isaiah 26:9.
Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (KJV)
1Co 11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
That is why if a Christian sins, through say alcoholism, they will suffer affliction (meant for correction – 1 Cor 11:32).
An unsaved person can be an alcoholic and they may not receive the same consequences in their lives because unless the law of God is written on his/her heart they are not aware of God’s law. Since they are not aware of God’s law they are not responsible for keeping the God’s law, in other words, where there is no law (which is the case with the unsaved person) there is no sin/violation of that law, Romans 5:13.
Ro 5:13 For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
The reason Jesus could say that the blindness was not the fault of the Man or His parents is because they did not have the Law of God written on their hearts. They were not part of the covenant and were not judged by the Law’s of God because the Law of God was not written on their heart.
I say that the Law was not written on the parent’s heart because of the following verse.
Joh 9:22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
The parents did not have the Law of God on their hearts because they were loyal to the Jew’s instead of God. So the truth of Christ was veiled to them (they were spiritually blind), and they were not judged by the Laws of God. The parents feared the Jews instead of God.
So again if they were not aware of God’s law they were not responsible to keep it. In other words they did not accept the covenant with God, so they are not apt to receive either the blessings or the curses of the Law.
Ro 5:13 For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
