Question:
Was man created immortal? And did he lose immortality when he disobeyed?
Answer:
Man was created neither mortal nor immortal. He was a candidate for immortality and incorruptibility. If by faith he had perfected the incorruptible character, God would have bestowed the immortal body. An immortal being could not die. If man was created mortal, he was subject to death and, therefore, a sinner. God gave man a perfect physical being with no taint of corruption in him. He gave man His own life, by the power of which, through faith, man could have developed a righteous character. But man held that eternal life of God conditionally, not absolutely. Man yielded to sin and became mortal. But to mortal man, Christ gives eternal life through faith (John 3:16; 1 John 5:11-13), that man may win incorruptible character, and thus immortality, or eternal deathlessness. Immortality is God’s stamp of an incorruptible character.
