A Vessel Unto Honour

Do you have to teach a child how to misbehave?

Disobedience is not something we need to teach a child, it is an inherent part of our sin nature.  This is very clear evidence in support of the fall of man.  As soon as Adam disobeyed sin engulfed all of creation.  There became no way of redeeming the flesh without the shedding of blood (which is death). 

“And almost all things are by law purged with blood;  and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

Hebrews 9:22 

God actually offers up the very first sacrifice and uses the animal skin to clothe Adam and Eve (a type of us being clothed with Christ.)

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

Genesis 3:21

“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

Galatians 3:27 

So as a child is born in the flesh, he has no way of avoiding the sin nature;  thus he is from birth, prone to disobedience and sin.

This is why it is written: Proverbs 13:24 “He that spareth his rod hateth his son:  But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”

And

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  It is quite clear that a child must be trained to obey, because disobedience is our natural inclination.

So our sin nature is something we will struggle with until the day we die.  Which brings us to the verge of what Jesus says in the Gospel of John Chapter 3: We either die in the flesh with an encounter with Jesus and become reborn into a new nature; or we suffer through the rest of our days and allow our sin nature to lead the way to eternal punishment.

“For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our lord.”

Romans 6:23