Prayer is always appreciated, dear sister. Yes, I am beginning what the Lord has in store for me to walk in next. That's what it's all about for us in this world: to carry out those works which the Lord equips us to walk in. We are created for these works in Christ after all!

Hi Marathoner, On some other thread (can`t find it) you mentioned how you are now a counselor, which God said would happen and you were amazed. I think God is so good to take you through all that learning with difficult people and now being able to counsel them. I pray that God will continue to give you His wisdom and understanding and compassion for these people. Bless you bro, Marilyn.

I have to apologize again… I am trying to understand what you are saying … but I am not yet able. I don’t know if these comments are / will speak to your concern, but here goes: 1) Before Adam there was no sin. Yes, there was the tree of good and evil but at that time there was no sin. There was the possibility or potential for sin but only as a result of an act by Adam or Eve.    2) So, Adam was borne / created WITHOUT sin .. not born in sin. Only after he disobeyed  God did “sin appear.” He was the only person born without sin.  3) However, after Adam and Eve sinned, every person born was born in sin, and the wages of sin is death.    4) Adam was the ONLY person that could be identified as a “living soul.” God took the dust of the ground and breathed HIS HOLY SPIRIT into him. He became a “living soul.” With NO sin found in him.        5) It was only after he sinned did God have to take back (HIS HOLY SPIRIT back from Adam. Adam did not have his own “spirit” within him (yes, he had a conscience, an awareness, a working mind, but he did not possess a “spirit.” That was given to him by God at his creation.       6) So everyone born after Adam was a “human being,” not a “human soul.” The sin of Adam was therefore imputed into every person that would be born.       7) I am not sure this addresses your thoughts but the sin of Adam is different than any other person that would come upon the earth. The “sin” is no different than what you or I would commit, but because he was born without sin, it is / was different.    Hope this helps and I look at to your response.        

Tell that to those marching off to war, after being conscripted. The Quakers have the right solution.

Death reigned as a monarch reigns from the moment Adam sinned to the moment Moses received the Law, and is still reigning. Paul IS speaking about physical death. There is no need to conflate the context by bringing spiritual death into the frame. This is from the Contemporary English Version, which I hope will clarify things for you. Rom 5:12-21   (12) Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die.  (13)  Sin was in the world before the Law came. But no record of sin was kept, because there was no Law.   (14)  Yet death still had power over all who lived from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. This happened, though not everyone disobeyed a direct command from God, as Adam did. In some ways Adam is like Christ who came later.  (15)  But the gift that God was kind enough to give was very different from Adam's sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God's gift of kindness to many people.   (16)  There is a lot of difference between Adam's sin and God's gift. That one sin led to punishment. But God's gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him, even though we have sinned many times.  (17)  Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.   (18)  Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life.  (19)  Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God.   (20)  The Law came, so that the full power of sin could be seen. Yet where sin was powerful, God's kindness was even more powerful.  (21)  Sin ruled by means of death. But God's kindness now rules, and God has accepted us because of Jesus Christ our Lord. This means that we will have eternal life.