Eph 927, 929ff 11/1/88, 979f 1/8/89
A. Definition of the Womb.
1. The womb is defined as the uterus of the human female. It is the place where biological life is formed and the old sin nature is transmitted.
2. The womb was dormant in the original creation and did not become operational until after the original sin of Adam and the woman, Gen 3:16.
3. In the original creation, there was no ovulation. Ovulation did not occur until after the Fall.
4. When ovulation occurred and pregnancy followed, the womb contained two things.
a. Biological life in the process of development.
b. The sin nature in the process of transmission.
c. Biological life and the sin nature begin at conception; soul life begins at birth.
5. There is no soul life in the womb. The soul is totally apart from the sin nature and the womb. The soul is never a part of the womb. God, in every case, creates and gives the soul to biological life at birth, not in the womb.
6. Without ovulation, the womb was dormant in the Garden of Eden.
7. When the fetus with biological life emerges from the womb, God gives it soul life, at which point a human being exists. Soul life has never existed in the womb, either before original sin or after original sin.
8. In the original creation of mankind, soul life was created along with spirit life, and inserted into biological life through the nostrils. Hence, all three categories of trichotomy were created simultaneously, totally apart from the womb.
9. So the womb had nothing to do with original creation. Gen 2:7, “Then Jehovah Elohim formed man out of the dust of the ground, and He breathed into the nostrils the breath of lives [soul and spirit], and man became a living soul [soul having life].”
10. In Gen 4:1, Cain was born physically alive and simultaneously spiritually dead at birth.
11. Man creates biological life at conception and is the source of the sin nature. But God creates the soul life outside the womb. Therefore God is not the author of sin. Biological life by itself is not a human being; there must be soul life added to it.
12. Job 33:4, “The breath of God has made me, and the spark of life from the Almighty gives me life.”
a. RUACH-EL means “the breath of God,” and refers to soul life.
b. Job recognized that there is no soul life in the womb, but that God made him a human being by giving him the breath of life.
B. Original Sin.
1. The sin nature is transmitted at conception through twenty-three male chromosomes which fertilize the female ovum. The sin nature is transmitted in the womb as a part of biological life. 2. The woman was deceived in the original sin. The man’s sin was a sin of cognizance.
a. Gen 3:13, “Then the Lord God said to the woman, `What is this that you have done?’ And the woman replied, `The servant deceived me and I ate.’”
b. 1 Tim 2:14, “And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”
c. 1 Tim 2:15, “(But the woman shall be saved through the bearing of children.)...” We’re all saved through the birth of one child, Jesus Christ, when undiminished deity and true humanity were united in one person forever.
3. Our original parents, Adam and the woman, did not have any children in the Garden. Before the Fall, the woman did not ovulate. No ovulation or pregnancy occurred until after the original sin and the fall of mankind.
4. Our original parents acquired spiritual death first and then the old sin nature. The opposite is true with us: first we have the old sin nature and then spiritual death. In dying spiritually, Adam originated the old sin nature.
5. After mankind acquired the sin nature, the woman began to ovulate, pregnancy occurred, and biological life plus the old sin nature occurred in the womb. Biological life and the old sin nature are the only two things that have ever been in the womb.
6. Biological life minus soul life equals no human being. For a human being to exist, soul life must be added to biological life. Therefore, there has never been a human being in the womb. The only life in the womb is biological life. Human life is provided outside of the womb.
a. If anyone says there is human life in the womb, then they are saying that God is the author of sin. God is the author of human life.
b. God can only be the author of human life by keeping human life out of the womb. Soul life is not imputed to biological life until the fetus emerges from the womb. Then soul life is imputed to biological life.
7. There were two mandates given prior to the Fall. But they were not executed until after the original sin and the acquisition of the sin nature.
a. Gen 1:28, “And God blessed them [man and woman], and God said to them, `Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”
(1) They couldn’t be fruitful and multiply until ovulation occurred.
(2) There was no need for the perpetuation of the human race until after sin occurred.
b. Gen 2:24, “For this cause, a man shall leave his father and mother.” Adam and the woman did not have a father and mother. So obviously this mandate was designed for after the Fall, even though it was given before the Fall.
8. So the womb existed but was dormant while the man and woman lived in the Garden. Being dormant means there was no ovulation.
9. Part of the judgment of the original sin was ovulation and pregnancy. Gen 3:16, “To the woman, God said, `I will definitely multiply your pain [related to menstruation] and pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth to children.’” There are two kinds of pain in this verse. There is pain from ovulation, and pain from giving birth.
10. Because of ovulation and the function of the dormant womb which began after the Fall, Adam changed the name of the female from ISHAH, meaning “woman,” to Eve, meaning “life." Gen 3:20, “Adam called the name of his ISHAH `Eve [Life],’ because she would become the mother of all living.” Adam called her “Life” because she carried the equipment by which biological life becomes human life at birth.
11. Just as the womb of the woman was dormant at the Fall, so that there was no ovulation, so the sin nature is dormant in biological life until a soul exists. The sin nature does not function until God imputes human life to the soul at birth.
C. Biological Life and Soul Life.
1. There are two categories of biological life: in the womb and in the human being.
a. In the uterus, biological life is developed in three stages: the blastocyst, embryo, and fetus.
(1) When the fetus emerges, God creates soul life and imputes it to biological life.
(2) In the original creation, God created biological life, a body, out of the dust. Then He breathed into the nostrils of the body the breath of lives (human life and spiritual life).
(3) Soul life is given by God. Biological life is developed in the womb along with the old sin nature.
(4) If human life was in the womb, that would mean God is the author of sin. Such a thought is blasphemous and unthinkable.
b. In the human body, biological life lasts until physical death. At death, the soul departs from the body to heaven or hades. Then biological life returns to the dust. The soul returns to God who gave it, Eccl 12:7.
2. Just as there are two categories of biological life (in the womb and in the human body on earth), so there are two categories of soul life.
a. From birth to death in the human body.
b. In the eternal state in heaven or hell.
3. Where soul life resides in eternity depends on one’s attitude toward Jesus Christ. Jn 3:18, “He who believes in Him is not judged, but He who does not believe is judged already, because he does not believe in the unique Son of God.”
4. The exception occurred with the humanity of Jesus Christ.
a. There was a virgin pregnancy due to the fertilization of Mary’s ovum by the Holy Spirit providing twenty-three perfect male chromosomes.
b. In Mary’s ovum, there was biological life but no sin nature.
c. When the fetus emerged, Jn 3:16 was fulfilled. “God loved the world so much that He gave His uniquely-born Son, that whosoever believes in Him should never perish but have eternal life.”
d. When the fetus emerged and God imputed soul life, Jesus Christ became the God-man. There was no Hypostatic Union in the womb. The Hypostatic Union began with the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.
e. The virgin pregnancy provided biological life minus the sin nature. The virgin birth provided a trichotomous human being like Adam. Adam was created trichotomous; our Lord was born trichotomous.
f. In addition to imputing the soul to our Lord at His birth, God the Father also imputed the human spirit to Him since He had no old sin nature.
5. The merging of biological life and soul life at birth has two results: human life and spiritual death. This is why we are born physically alive and spiritually dead.
a. A human being now exists in dichotomous state by the imputation of soul life to biological life. Biological life is not human life until God creates and imputes a soul to that biological life.
b. The human being is under spiritual death by the imputation of Adam’s original sin to the old sin nature that emerged from the womb with biological life. Spiritual death includes at least four things.
(1) A dichotomous status quo of soul and body.
(2) Total depravity related to the functions of the sin nature.
(3) Total separation from God. 1 Cor 2:14, “The soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them because they are discerned by the human spirit.”
(4) Total helplessness to have a relationship with God.
D. The Genetic Perpetuation of the Sin Nature.
1. Both male and female homo sapiens possess the sin nature, but only the male can transmit it.
2. The male transmits the sin nature in copulation through the twenty- three chromosomes which fertilize the female ovum. This is because Adam committed the original sin of cognizance, while the woman committed the original sin of ignorance, 1 Tim 2:14; Gen 3:16.
3. In conception, the sin nature is transferred to the womb along with biological life. Biological life is developed in the womb in three stages: blastocyst, embryo, and fetus.
4. The sin nature, though dormant, is transmitted through biological life. The sin nature doesn’t become active until a human being exists.
5. Hence, two categories exist in the womb.
a. Biological life being developed.
b. The sin nature being transmitted.
6. Prior to salvation, there are two categories of life.
a. Biological life, which originates with conception in the womb.
b. Soul life, which originates at birth when God imputes soul life to biological life. The merging of the two categories of life makes a human being at birth.
7. Biological life without soul life is not human life. Biological life exists in the womb; human life exists outside the womb.
8. Before the Fall, Adam and the woman were directly created by God. Hence, they received biological and soul life simultaneously totally apart from the womb. So in the Garden of Eden, the womb was dormant. There was no ovulation and no children before the Fall.
9. After the Fall, biological life and soul life were separated; they no longer occur simultaneously. Biological life became mother dependent in the womb. Soul life is God dependent at birth.
10. Therefore, after the fall of mankind, biological life begins at conception and continues in two separate stages.
a. In the uterus, as the blastocyst, embryo, and fetus.
b. At birth, after the imputation of soul life from God, biological life is a part of human life from birth to death.
11. Biological life continues as the home of the soul until physical death, when it returns to the dust as per Eccl 12:7. “Then the dust [biological life] will return to the earth as it was, and the breath [soul life] will return to God who gave it.”
a. Man creation is pregnancy.
b. God creation occurs at birth.
c. Man is the source of biological life and the sin nature.
d. Only God can make a human being.
12. The sin nature is transmitted in the womb through biological life. The sin nature becomes active at birth when God imputes Adam’s original sin to it.
E. Distinctions between Biological Life and Soul Life.
1. Biological life originates at conception and is womb or mother dependent. Soul life originates at birth and is God dependent. Biological life begins at conception; soul life begins at birth. Soul life is a human being.
2. When biological life emerges from the womb as a fetus, God creates soul life and imputes it to biological life so that human life now exists. God does not impute soul life to biological life in the womb.
3. This would mean that temptation from the sin nature and volitional response would exist in the womb. But biological life is not under temptation in the womb. The sin nature is not active in the womb. No sin is committed in the womb because no volition of the soul exists to commit a sin or to succumb to temptation. 4. Biological life minus soul life is not human life. Biological life plus soul life is human life.
5. The distinction between biological and soul life is important theologically, for it emphasizes that God is not the author of sin, temptation, or the sin nature. God would be all three, if there was any human life in the womb.
6. God did not impute soul life to biological life in the womb. For the soul has volition, while biological life transmits the sin nature. If God had imputed soul life to biological life in the womb, then temptation, personal sin, and accountability would begin in the womb.
7. However, as an act of divine integrity, the justice of God put soul life with spiritual death at birth.
8. God deals with the two imputations at birth differently.
a. God deals with biological life in the form of a fetus by imputing soul life to it.
b. God deals with the sin nature by imputing Adam’s original sin to it, since Adam’s sin and the sin nature cannot be separated except in transmission in the womb.
9. The sin nature is transmitted at conception through the twenty three male chromosomes which fertilize the female ovum in copulation.
10. Just as the womb was dormant before the Fall, and spiritual death did not yet exist, so the sin nature in the womb is dormant until birth and the imputation of Adam’s sin.
11. So when a human being begins to use his soul to learn and think, the sin nature also becomes active. Thought and emotion become the basis for sins.
12. The sin nature originated by Adam’s original sin in the Garden, Rom 5:12ff. The sin nature is part of biological life. Therefore, the sin nature and biological life reside in the womb.
13. Because there is no soul life in the womb, God is not the author of sin.
F. Summary.
1. Biological life and the sin nature begin at conception. Soul life begins at birth. 2. Because the sin nature originates from the twenty-three male chromosomes which fertilize the female ovum at conception, the sin nature is transmitted through biological life.
3. Biological life begins with mother dependence in the womb. Soul life begins with God dependence at birth.
4. If there was any soul life in the womb, then God would be the author of sin which is blasphemous and unthinkable. But because there is no soul life in the womb, God is not the author of sin. Because there is no human life in the womb, the conflict between the sin nature and the soul does not exist
. 5. The sin nature, however, is formed in the womb along with the rest of biological life. 6. Human life does not exist until birth when God imputes soul life to biological life at the point of birth.
7. Biological life minus soul life is not human life or a human being. Biological life plus soul life equals human life.
G. The Bible distinguishes between biological life and soul life.
1. The Bible distinguishes between conception and birth. The distinction emphasizes two different categories of life.
a. Biological life begins at conception and is womb or mother dependent.
b. Soul life begins at birth and is God dependent.
2. Biological life is formed in the womb as the blastocyst, embryo, and fetus, so that at birth, a body is prepared for the human being and some of the mechanics for soul function (the format soul).
a. While physical characteristics are developed in biological life, personality and mentality are being developed in the format soul.
b. The format soul develops with the fetus and possesses the inherent factor of mentality derived from the genes of both parents.
c. The format soul does not imply soul life, but that certain things are formed in biological life that will be used later for thinking, personality, and other activities of the soul.
d. The format soul has no life until God imputes the “spark of life.”
e. The format soul is part of biological life, and does not become soul life until removed from the womb and mother dependence.
f. There are brain cells in the format soul. They are biological, but contain no thought until biological life is combined with soul life at birth.
3. Along with biological life being formed in the womb, the sin nature is transmitted in a dormant state and becomes active at birth.
4. While biological life is formed in the womb, soul life is formed entirely outside the womb.
5. Biological life is not human life until birth, when God imputes soul life to biological life to form the human being. Biological life minus soul life is never a human being.
6. Therefore, the Bible distinguishes between the life at conception manufactured by man, and the life at birth manufactured by God.
7. The sin nature does not function until God imputes human life to the soul at birth. Ps 51:5, “Behold, I was born sinful, and in sin my mother conceived me.”
a. Since there is no human being until birth, birth is mentioned first.
b. When soul life is imputed to biological life at birth, Adam’s original sin is simultaneously imputed to the genetically-formed sin nature, and man is born spiritually dead or “sinful,” the activation of the sin nature. When David said, “Behold, I was born sinful,” he means that he was born physically alive and at the same time spiritually dead.
c. “Sin” [KATAH] refers to the origin of the sin nature, i.e., the twenty-three male chromosomes which fertilize the female ovum in conception.
d. “Sinful” [AWON] refers to the sin nature at birth.
e. David is saying that between conception and birth, the sin nature is in biological life.
f. The womb contains both biological life and the old sin nature.
8. Ps 139:13, “For You created my innermost being [soul life imputed to biological life]; You covered [incubated] me in my mother’s womb [biological life at conception].” The womb is the covering or incubation for biological life during its developing stages.
9. Isa 44:2, “Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you away from [separated from, removed from, out from] the womb.” The Hebrew prepositional phrase MI BETEN means “out from, away from, separated from, removed from” the womb. This is equivalent to the Greek preposition EK plus the ablative of separation from KOILIA. Human life is formed outside the womb.
10. Isa 44:24, “Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, even the One who formed you out from [away from, separated from, removed from] the womb.” MI BETEN is again found here.
11. Isa 49:1, “Listen to Me, O islands, and pay attention, you peoples [Gentiles] from afar. The Lord called me out from the womb; away from the womb of my mother He named me.”
12. Isa 49:5, “And now says the Lord, who formed Me out from the womb to be His servant....”
13. Ps 22:9-10 is a Messianic prophecy concerning our Lord’s dependence on God’s power under the doctrine of kenosis. “For You are He who brought me out from [removed from, separated from] the womb; You caused me to trust on my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon You out from birth [virgin birth]; You have been My God away from [separated from, removed from, out from] my mother’s womb.”
a. “Cast upon You” is our Lord’s dependence on God the Father and God the Holy Spirit during the Incarnation. There was no God dependence by our Lord in the womb; not until after He became a human being at the virgin birth.
b. The significance of MI BETEN is that there is no human life until soul life is imputed by God to biological life removed from, separated from, away from, or out from the mother’s womb.
c. Jesus Christ was not a human being until God the Father imputed both soul and spirit life to His fetus upon emergence from His mother’s womb.
d. At the point of the virgin birth, our Lord became true humanity. God the Father imputed soul life to His biological life after the viable fetus emerged from the womb. Our Lord was born trichotomous.
e. There is no sacrifice for sin unless the sacrifice is perfect. God prepared a perfect sacrifice for sin by providing perfect biological life to our Lord at conception, and then giving soul life and spiritual life to that biological life outside of the womb at the point of birth.
f. Note that God the Father was not the God of the humanity of Christ until the fetus emerged from the womb and was given soul life.
g. Mary was not to give our Lord His name until after He emerged from the womb. Biological life is not given a human name because it has no human life.
14. Job 1:21, “Then he said, `Naked [biological life] I came out from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
a. “Naked from my mother’s womb” refers to the emergence of the viable fetus from the womb prior to the imputation of human life by God the Father to the soul.
b. “And naked I shall return there” refers to the fact that biological life ends with physical death.
15. Lk 1:15, “He [John the Baptist] will be great in the sight of the Lord; he will drink neither wine, nor liquor. Furthermore, he will be filled with the Spirit yet separated from the womb.” Cf. Lk 1:41, 44.
16. There are two categories of life.
a. Biological life is formed in the womb at conception, and then develops in the womb as the embryo, blastocyst, and fetus.
b. Outside the womb there is soul life, which God creates and imputes directly to biological life. Then biological life plus soul life equals human life.
17. Along with biological life developing in the womb, the sin nature is transmitted.
18. Prior to salvation there are two categories of life in the human being.
a. Biological life originated at conception and is developed in the womb.
b. Soul life originates at birth through the creative act of God.
19. Biological life functions in two stages.
a. In the womb, it is formed through the blastocyst, embryo, and fetus.
b. In the human being at birth, it is the home for the soul.
20. Biological life terminates at physical death. Eccl 12:7, “Then the dust [biological life] will return to the earth as it was, and the breath [soul life] will return to God who gave it.”
21. Soul life also functions in two stages.
a. From birth to death in the human body.
b. From death to eternity in either heaven or the Lake of Fire.
H. Our Lord’s Answer to the Problem of the Womb, Lk 11:26-28.
1. In the context of Luke 11, our Lord is giving a dissertation on demon possession. He speaks of the unbeliever who is temporarily rid of a demon, only to be later indwelt by seven demons. The man did not become a believer, but a legalist. Lk 11:26b, “And the last state of that man is worse than his first state.” Once the man became respectable as a legalistic unbeliever, he was even more desireable for demon possession.
2. At this point our Lord was interrupted. Lk 11:27, “Now it came to pass while He was teaching these things [doctrines], that a certain woman from the crowd interrupted Him and shouted with a loud voice, `Blessed is the woman whose womb carried you, and whose breasts you have sucked.’”
a. This woman made an issue out of the womb. And seeks to put down our Lord by subordinating Him to the womb.
b. This woman could not distinguish between biological life and human life feeding at the breast, because she talked about our Lord inside and outside of the womb as if it were the same thing. She implies that there is life in the womb.
3. In His reply, our Lord did not directly address the issue of the womb, for Old Testament Scripture already taught that soul life is imputed to biological life at physical birth, and this was known by the Jews. However, He did indirectly address the problem of the womb. 4. Lk 11:28, “For He replied to her, `Wrong! Blessing belongs to those who keep hearing and retaining [metabolized doctrine] the Word of God.’”
a. Our Lord’s first word to her was “Wrong", “On the contrary,” or “You’re absolutely incorrect.”
b. Our Lord addressed the issue of Bible doctrine rather than the issue of the womb. He dealt with her real problem, which was attitude toward doctrine, not the womb.
c. In fact, every problem in life is addressed in the Word of God. If anyone will learn under a pastor who studies, he will find the answers.
d. Bible doctrine, and not the womb, is the true issue. We are not to make an issue out of the womb, but Bible doctrine.
I. The Legal Aspect of the Womb, Ex 21:22f.
1. Jewish law was the greatest law in all of human history, because it was given by God to the Jews. This is the decision of the Supreme Court of Heaven.
2. Ex 21:22, “If men who are fighting, hit a pregnant woman so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury to the woman, the offender will surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand from him; therefore he will pay damages as the judge decides.”
a. Is this miscarriage considered murder? No! It would be murder, if there was human life in the womb, but there is no human life in the womb.
b. Note there is no criminal trial for murder. The husband may only sue for damages. Human law does not deal with biological life, only human life. You cannot have laws that regulate life in the womb, since there is no life in the womb.
c. Governments administer law to the living, not where life does not exist. Government has no juris prudence over the content of the womb.
d. Biological life in the womb is under the control of the volition of the mother. Once human life is imputed by God, then biological life is under the control of what the soul decides. Human life is dependent on the decisions of your soul.
3. Ex 21:23, “But if there is any further injury to that woman beyond the miscarriage, then you will appoint as the penalty a life for a life.”
a. A “life for a life” means a trial for murder. The Word of God teaches that capital punishment is appropriate for murder. Gen 9:5-6; Ex 21:12; Num 35:30; Mt 26:53; Rom 13:3-4.
b. But since there is only biological life and not soul or human life in the fetus in the womb, there can be no death penalty for murder, since miscarriage or forced abortion is not murder. The fetus is not on an equal basis with the mother. It is not a human being. The mother’s life is infinitely more important than the fetus.
c. However, if during the struggle the woman is killed, then the death penalty or capital punishment for murder applies.
d. Biological life minus soul life is not a human being. Only a human being can be tried for murder. Biological life must emerge from the womb and receive soul life from God to become a human being.
d. Miscarriage or abortion involves biological life. Therefore, damages are paid according to this passage.
e. Note that the content of the womb is not regarded as human life.
f. In a miscarriage the fetus is not viable, which is the case in this passage.
4. Isa 42:5, “Thus says God the Lord who created the heavens, and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its vegetation, who gives the spark of life to the people on it, and breath [soul life] to those who walk on it.”
a. NESHAMAH, “the spark of life,” is not developed in the womb, but is given by God at birth.
b. RUACH or “breath” here means soul life.
c. God creates soul life and human life, not man by procreation.
J. The Origin and Purpose of the Womb.
1. The womb, along with Adam’s original sin, is the source of spiritual death. God is the source of human or soul life.
2. Biological life which begins at conception is developed in the womb along with the transmission of the sin nature.
3. Therefore, after the fall of mankind and the original sin, the womb became the initial home of both biological life and the old sin nature. However, biological life never becomes human life until birth, when God adds soul life.
4. This explains Ps 51:5, “Behold, I was born in iniquity.” David means he received the old sin nature at the time he received human or soul life. He was born spiritually dead and physically alive when God imputed human life to his soul and Adam’s original sin to his old sin nature.
5. God in His matchless grace gives soul life, but at the same time, in His justice, God must give Adam’s original sin to the sin nature.
a. The sin nature demands an imputation at birth, and receives the imputation of Adam’s original sin.
b. For when Adam sinned, he sinned for the entire human race, Rom 5:12ff.
6. So while biological life emerges from the womb at birth, God breathes into the fetus the breath of life, which is how we become human beings. There is no action by God while biological life is in the womb. There biological life depends on the mother. God dependence does not begin until one emerges from the womb and human life is given by God.
7. Therefore, a person becomes a human being at birth with the imputation of soul life from God to the biological life which emerges from the womb, and the simultaneous imputation of Adam’s original sin to the sin nature. This means man is born physically alive but spiritually dead.
8. By contrast, in original creation everything came from the hand of God simultaneously, i.e., body (biological life), soul, and spirit.
9. Man is said to be two things while in the Garden: innocent and perfect.
a. “Innocent” means that biological and soul life were created simultaneously totally apart from a sin nature. Only two people were created innocent: Adam and Jesus Christ, the last Adam.
b. “Perfect” means that man was given a human spirit for fellowship with God.
10. When Adam sinned, he lost the human spirit; it was replaced by the sin nature. His remaining soul life was in the status of spiritual death.
11. But the womb was never designed for soul life. Therefore, no human being has ever existed in the womb.
K. The womb can only contain biological life.
1. Biological life originates at conception, is developed in the womb, and becomes the carrier of the old sin nature, for the sin nature is transmitted only in the womb. In the womb, the sin nature is totally separated from the sovereign decision of God.
2. Man made the decision to sin against God, thus creating the sin nature. The sin nature of Adam is perpetuated in the womb.
3. At birth, God imputes soul life to biological life. But that biological life contains a sin nature and must be judged, as it was for each of us by Jesus Christ.
4. When we received the imputation of human life, we received the judgment of God, which was the imputation of Adam’s original sin to the old sin nature.
5. Outside the womb, the human being comes into existence physically alive but simultaneously spiritually dead.
6. So we are born dichotomous, with only a body and soul. However, when we believe in Jesus Christ, we become trichotomous, because we gain a human spirit, 1 Thes 5:23; Phile 25.
L. Trichotomy and Dichotomy.
1. In the original creation, mankind came from the hand of God as a trichotomous human being.
a. The body came from the dust as biological life. There was no sin nature in that biological life because man was created innocent and perfect. Perfect God can only create perfection. This was the only occasion when biological life was not related to the womb. That was because there was no old sin nature, no original sin as yet.
b. The human spirit was created by God so that mankind could have fellowship with God and understand things related to God, i.e., spiritual phenomena.
c. The soul was created by God so that a rational creature could rule the world.
2. Therefore, in the original creation, mankind was trichotomous and did not need salvation. However, this trichotomous human being had free will, which was tested by God with one prohibition in the Garden.
3. The two trichotomous human beings in the Garden became dichotomous when they both committed an original sin. The woman committed an original sin of ignorance; that’s why she became the childbearer. The man committed an original sin of cognizance; that’s why he passes down the old sin nature to his children.
4. When trichotomous man sinned, he became dichotomous, having a body, soul and old sin nature. The body and the sin nature form biological life in the womb. The soul is given to mankind outside the womb when the fetus emerges at birth.
5. Dichotomous mankind is spiritually dead and needs salvation. Salvation is provided through the Hypostatic Union by which Jesus Christ, the God-man, who is undiminished deity, becomes true humanity in the same person forever.
6. Through the virgin pregnancy and virgin birth, the biological life in the womb of Mary had no sin nature. This was possible because the Holy Spirit provided twenty-three perfect male chromosomes instead of the usual old sin nature provided from the male through copulation.
7. Therefore, the virgin pregnancy was followed by the virgin birth, resulting in our Lord Jesus Christ being born trichotomous. Our Lord was born with biological life. To that biological life God the Father could do what He did for Adam: He could breathe into His nostrils the breath of lives.
8. Therefore Jesus Christ was born as Adam was created, perfect and trichotomous, and He remained perfect and trichotomous, qualifying Him to go to the cross and become the one, perfect sacrifice for sin. 1 Pet 2:24, “He who knew no sin [trichotomy] was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” His human body was the sacrifice.
9. Therefore, on the cross Jesus Christ was judged for the sins of the world, so that anyone who believes in Him can become trichotomous through regeneration.
a. Salvation is the work of God, the function of the grace of God. Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace are you saved by faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”
b. God the Father gave the world a trichotomous human being as a sacrifice for sins. When John saw Jesus, he said, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
c. Jn 3:16, “For God [Father] loved the world so much that He gave His Son, the unique One, that whosoever believes in Him should never perish, but have eternal life.”
10. Therefore, the virgin birth is very important as the mechanics for providing the Savior of the world.
a. The virgin pregnancy means the development of biological life in the womb without a sin nature.
b. The virgin birth means that the humanity of Christ in Hypostatic Union was trichotomous.
c. Since no sin nature was transmitted in biological life, there could be no imputation of Adam’s original sin at birth.
11. Therefore, when anyone believes in Jesus Christ, at that very moment of faith and faith alone, the new believer goes instantly from dichotomy and spiritual death to trichotomy and eternal life. This is called regeneration.
a. Regeneration is God the Holy Spirit creating a human spirit. The human spirit was never connected with the womb. With the creation of the human spirit, God the Father imputes eternal life to that human spirit. This is regeneration, or being “born again.”
b. Nichodemus thought you had to go back into your mother’s womb to get a human spirit. But Jesus said, “No, it’s a spiritual birth.”
c. Neither the soul or human spirit have ever been a part of the womb. Only your body and spiritual death are part of the womb.
M. Conclusion. 1. There is no soul life in the womb. There has never been any soul life in the womb either before or after man sinned.
2. Soul life or human life existed in Adam before the function of the womb in ovulation and conception, and totally apart from the dormant womb.
3. Soul life or human life is always the creative act of God at birth, which means that God is never the author of sin.
4. Soul life or human life develops in the body after birth, while biological life develops before birth in the womb. Biological life is womb or mother dependent; soul life is God dependent at birth.
5. There is no human being in the womb, for mankind does not exist until birth.
6. Soul life or human life begins with mankind in the status quo of being physically alive and simultaneously spiritually dead.
7. Biological life minus soul life is not human life or a human being. Biological life plus soul life is a human being.
8. The sin nature does not become active until God imputes human life to the soul. The old sin nature is not active in the womb. Since there is no human life in the womb, the conflict between the sin nature and the soul doesn’t exist in the womb, just as bodily functions do not exist in the womb. Only after birth, when we become human beings, is there a conflict between the soul and the sin nature.
N. Summary.
1. Biological life and the old sin nature begin at conception. Soul life begins at birth.
2. The content of the womb is twofold.
a. Biological life in the process of development.
b. The sin nature in the process of transmission.
3. There is no human life in the womb, Isa 44:2,24; 49:1,5; Job 1:21; Ps 22:9-10. 4. Human life is formed at birth by that imputation which combines soul life with biological life.
5. Since the old sin nature resides in the womb but human life does not reside in the womb, God is not and cannot be the author of sin.
6. The conflict between volition of the human soul and the old sin nature does not exist until after birth, because there is no human life in the womb.
7. Biological life minus soul life is not human life or a human being. Biological life plus soul life is a human being.
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© 1989, by R. B. Thieme, Jr. All rights reserved.
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