Sin Is not Imputed Where There Is No Law (Romans 5:13)

One of the reasons babies go to heaven is sin is not imputed to them. Romans 5:13 says, "Sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law." The law brings sin, and sin brings death. If there is no law, there should be no sin. There was no law between Adam and Moses, but people still died because of original sin: "Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam" (Romans 5:14). Babies die in the womb because of original sin.

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00:00 Sin Is Not Imputed Where There Is No Law
14:10 Lesson One: Babies haven’t committed disqualifying sins.
23:29 Lesson Two: Sin nature is different than sinning.
27:15 Lesson Three: Sin is not imputed to babies.
44:32 Lesson Four: Babies die because of original sin.

Babies Have Not Disqualified Themselves

By disqualifying, I mean disqualifying from heaven. Babies haven’t committed sins that disqualify them from heaven, such as those in Romans 1:20-21. We will start at Romans 1:18 for context.

Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron’s Way of the Master’s strategy involves helping people recognize their sinfulness, so they see their need for the Gospel. Paul takes this approach in Romans. He explains the Gospel in Romans 3 and 4, but before that he shows us our need for the gospel by convincing us of our sinfulness:

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

This helps us understand what the gospel does: it delivers us from the wrath of God. The end of the verse says people “suppress the truth.” People can only suppress truth that is known to them. If they were ignorant of the truth, they would not be able to suppress it. The truth they suppress is that that there is a Creator. They deny that God exists.

Romans 1:19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

The truth that God exists “is plain” or obvious. It is not difficult or complicated to believe that God exists. Instead, it is difficult or complicated to believe that God does NOT exist. God plainly revealed his existence through creation:

Romans 1:20a For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

“Have been clearly perceived” is similar to “is plain to them” (verse 19). Creation makes the evidence for God overwhelming:

The painting is evidence there is a painter.
The building is evidence there is a builder.
The invention is evidence there is an inventor.

Similarly, creation is evidence there is a Creator. Because of the greatness and majesty of creation, it is evidence that the Creator is great and majestic. The verse identifies two things we can learn about God from his creation: he has “eternal power and [a] divine nature,” because only a being with these qualities could create a universe like ours.

Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

The universe gives God’s glory. Creation is the display case for his beauty and attributes. When Isaiah received his famous vision of the throne room of God immediately before his commissioning, he described what the angels were saying:

Isaiah 6:3 One [Angel] called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; THE WHOLE EARTH IS FULL OF HIS GLORY!”

The angels recognize that creation itself reveals God’s glory and they worship him for it.

Babies Are Not “Without Excuse”

Because the evidence for God is so strong, when people deny it, they [have no] excuse:

Romans 1:20b So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

The verse says “they knew God” because creation revealed it to them. There are no atheists. The problem is not that man does NOT know God. The problem is that man does know God...

Read the rest of the blog post: https://www.scottlapierre.org/sin-is-not-imputed-where-there-is-no-law/