1.0
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Some say that sin nature is the natural inclination to sin, that given the choice to do God’s will or our own, we will naturally choose to do our own will. Commentators say that Adam came to possess this inherent propensity to sin and unrighteousness because of his first disobedience and that he also passed this on to his posterity. We disagree that our inclination to sin was due to Adam’s first disobedience. There is nothing magical about his disobedience. Disobedience is just disobedience. If we disobey the Lord’s command today and steal from our neighbor, will our children automatically become thieves in the future? Whatever we do with our lives now, may or may not have any impact on our children later. We may be thieves now, but that does not necessarily mean that our children will also be thieves. Could Adam be any different from us? No. He does not have magical powers and neither do we. But we do agree that we have an inclination to sin. So where did this inclination come from? In our view, it came from the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil that both Adam and Eve ate. Before we begin our analysis, we must highlight that readers would need to have some knowledge of the Bible because this is another topic that is not easy to explain. Nonetheless, we will simplify things to the best of our ability.
2.0
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
2.1
Rom 5:12 (NASB95) states:
(12) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.
2.2
Many commentators have interpreted Rom 5:12 to mean that all men inherited Adam’s sinful nature and that all men are automatically born with sin or into sin. But where in this verse does it say that all men are born with sin or into sin? Where in this verse or even in the entire Bible does it say that all men have inherited Adam’s sinful nature? We have combed through the entire Bible and visited many so-called Christian websites on this topic. While it is possible that we may have missed something, but by the time of our writing this article, we still have not found a single verse in the Bible that clearly states that all men have inherited Adam’s sinful nature. We agree that Adam was the first to introduce sin into the world and because of his sin, death was also introduced into the world. But the introduction of sin into the world remains as what it is – and that is, the introduction of sin into the world. If the Bible did not say that all men are born with sin or into sin, then we cannot say that it did, and neither should we read our own meaning into it. Please note the second part of Rom 5:12 where it says, “…so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Once again, the Bible says that death spread to all men because all sinned. Readers can read verse 12 again to verify. Clearly, it did not say that death spread to all men because of Adam’s sin. It says that death spread to all men because all sinned. Death is upon all of us because all of us, sinned our own sins! We die because we ourselves sinned against God.
2.3
Eze 18:20 (NASB95) states:
(20) The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the the wicked will be upon himself.
2.4
Eze 18:20 proves that Adam and Eve’s sins are between them and the Lord, nothing to do with us. Therefore, all of us die because we have all sinned our own sins. Nonetheless, it is what they ate that gave us all the problems we are facing now. Please continue reading below.
3.0
ARE ALL MEN BORN IN SIN OR NOT? – AN ANALYSIS
3.1
In order to support their argument that all men have inherited Adam’s sinful nature, many commentators have alleged, without any scriptural basis, that all newborn infants are born in sin. And how do they know that infants are born in sin? They argue that if infants are not born in sin, then, they should not die. But since infants die, their deaths are evidence of sin in their lives. And because they are too young to sin their own sins, the sin in their lives, had to be inherited from their fathers, they argued. Well, we disagree with their arguments. Infants and young children die not because of inherited sin, but because of the circumstances surrounding them. It could be poor hygiene, poor health conditions of their parents, abortion, wars, famines, accidents, etc. Their deaths have nothing to do with sins. The argument that babies die due to their sin is strange because some babies die, and some babies live. So, if some die while others live to an adult old age, then sin has nothing to do with their deaths. It is clear as day that babies are completely sinless until their have reached the age of accountability. Once a person understands what is good and what is evil, but fails to do what is good and reject the evil, death will eventually come upon him. This person will have sinned his own sins and the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Every person is accountable for his or her own sin.
3.2
Some might persist with their argument and quote Rom 3:10-18, where it says, amongst other things, that none is righteous, not even one. They would then argue that if not even one is righteous, how then can any young children be sinless? But if they read Rom 3:10-18 in its entirety, they will see that the passage is referring to people who know how to seek God, know how to deceive, know how to curse, know how to shed blood, etc. That passage is obviously not referring to young children who have very limited knowledge of anything. Seriously, how can a baby know what righteousness is, if he does not even know his own name. How can a young child be expected to seek God when his understanding is so limited? Therefore Rom 3:10-18 cannot be applied to babies. It is only when they have grown enough to understand what is good and what is evil, then they will be held accountable. We do not believe that young children are sent to eternal hell fire by God. God is not unjust and neither is He insane. Apart from Rom 5:12, commentators are also known to have used Psalm 51:5 and Psalm 58:3 to prove their assertions. They say that Psalm 51:5 and Psalm 58:3 proves that children inherited their sin nature from their parents and their parents inherited their nature from their parents and so on all the way back to Adam. But we can explain these verses easily. Let us take a look at them.
3.3
Psalm 51:5 (NASB95) states:
(5) Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
3.4
Firstly, Psalm 51:5 was King David’s prayer to God and he was talking about himself. Secondly, a sinful person uttering his prayers to God, being recorded in Psalms, cannot be treated as applicable to all men, rather it should be treated as King David’s opinion about himself. Please note that David did not say, “Behold, all men are brought forth in iniquity.” He said, “Behold I was brough forth in iniquity…” David was referring to himself. Thirdly, we do not know much about King David’s mother; whether she lived a godly life or not, is not mentioned in the Bible. Again, David did not say, “And in sin all mothers conceive their children.” David clearly said that it was his mother who conceived him in sin. The bottom line here is that Psalm 51:5 is not referring to all men, but only to David. So, to say that this verse is applicable to all men is really twisting the Scripture. Let us also take a look at Psalm 58:3 and Psalm 58:10.
3.5
Psalm 58:3 (NASB95) states:
(3) The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.
3.6
Psalm 58:10 (NASB95) states:
(10) The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
3.7
In Psalm 58:3, David talked about the wicked and within the same Psalm in verse 10 (Psalm 58:10), he also talked about the righteous. So there are two groups of people mentioned in this Psalm. It is important to understand this. If David mentioned only the wicked, then this Psalm would provide more weight to the view that all babies go astray from birth, that is, that all babies inherited their sin nature from their parents. But the righteous are also mentioned in this Psalm. And if the righteous are also mentioned, do the righteous also go astray from birth just like the wicked in this Psalm? Clearly not. This is because if they do, they would not be righteous anymore. So Psalm 58 implies that there is a group of righteous people that do not go astray from birth. Otherwise how can they be righteous? And if they do not go astray from birth, then the theory that all babies go astray from birth immediately falls apart. Of course, commentators could persist with their argument and say that it is possible the righteous somehow became righteous sometime later in the lives. But if that argument is used then the same should also apply for the wicked. Who knows if the wicked repents and become righteous later in the lives? This argument too, will fall apart. So to use Psalm 58:3 to say that all mankind go astray from birth is ridiculous. Moreover, David did not say that all men are estranged from the womb and he also did not say that all men go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Those commentators are reading something that is not there at all. Therefore Psalm 58:3 cannot be referring to all men, but to some groups of people in David’s mind. Let us take a look at Psalm 36:7-8 and see how Psalm 58:3 cannot be applied to all men.
3.8
Psalm 36:7-8 (NASB95) states:
(7) How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. (8) They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And you give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
3.9
Psalm 36 was also written by David. So further to what we have been saying earlier about Psalm 58:3, if all children of men go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies, how can they take refuge in the shadow of God’s wings? How can they be drinking their fill in His house? Thus, it can only be that in Psalm 58:3, David was referring to some groups of people, not all men and certainly not all children of men. So far we have covered Rom 5:12, Psalm 51:5 and Psalm 58:3, but apart from these verses commentators have also used Gen 8:21 to prove their assertions. We will address Gen 8:21 as well.
3.10
Gen 8:21 (NASB95) states:
(21) The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
3.11
If readers read Gen 8:21 carefully, they will notice that the Lord did not say that the intent of man’s heart is evil from his birth. The Lord said that the intent of his heart is evil from his youth. The United Nations define “youth” as persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years, the United States define it as those aged 12 to 24, for the European Union and India, “youth” is between 15 to 29, for ASEAN countries and Africa Union it is between 15 to 35 and for China they are those aged between 14 to 28. Unlike Psalms 58:3 which was written by David, Gen 8:21 is a statement from the Lord. The Lord will know how to use the words, “from birth” if He wanted to. The fact that He did not proves that a man’s heart is most definitely not evil from his birth as some have alleged. With Gen 8:21 and the previously mentioned verses, we have covered and addressed all the verses used by various commentators who say that everyone is born with sin or into sin. None of those verses prove that they are correct. They have in fact proven themselves wrong. We wish to reiterate that a human baby is completely sinless from birth. It is only after he has reached the age of accountability that he will be held accountable for his thoughts and actions. Moreover, if all men are born in sin or with sin transmitted from Adam, would not Christ be considered sinful through Mary? And if Christ carried the sin of Adam in His flesh, how can He be a perfect sacrifice for our sins? Therefore, it has to be that Christ is completely sinless from His birth to His death on the cross. Matt 19:14 (NASB95) states: (14) But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
4.0
ACCOUNTABILITY DUE TO KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL
4.1
Rom 7:9 (NASB95) states:
(9) I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died.
4.2
Verse 9 above is essentially saying that the strength of sin comes from the Law. Without the Law, there would be no sin. Paul lived after the Law was given so when he said that he was once alive apart from the Law, he was referring to the time when he has not reached the age of accountability. As a child he was sinless. So what about those people who lived before the Law was given? Why did death reigned from Adam to Moses? If the Law has not been given, there should be no sin, is it not? Yet there was still sin even without the Law. Let us take a look at Rom 5:12-14 again.
4.3
Rom 5:12-14 (NASB95) states:
(12) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned – (13) for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. (14) Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
4.4
Rom 5:12-14 does seem contradictory and inconsistent. But it is not. Verse 13 says that before the Law, sin was in the world but sin is not imputed (i.e. charged, counted or calculated) because there is no law. This begs the question, if sin is not imputed, why was there still sin in the world? Sin should not have existed because there was no Law. Yet sin still existed. Some would probably put forth the argument and say that the reason sin existed at that time was due to Adam’s first sin. But Rom 5:12 has already stated that death spread to all men because all sinned, not because Adam sinned. All sinned their own sins. Adam is not magical, he could not have spread his sin or his so-called “sin nature” downward to everyone. It is simply not possible. If every person spread their sins and their sinful nature downwards to their posterity, then the last person of the family line would have so many sins piled on him and his sinful nature so powerful that he would make Satan blush. It is a ridiculous theory with no support from Scripture. So how did all men sin even without the Law at that time? They sinned because they instinctively did the things of the Law even before it was given. This is because the One who gave the Law was not Moses but the Lord Himself who is before everyone and everything ever existed. Readers will be convinced when they read Rom 2:12-16.
4.5
Rom 2:12-16 (NASB95) states:
(12) For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; (13) for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. (14) For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, (15) in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, (16) on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
4.6
Rom 2:12 states that all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law. So it really does not matter whether a person is a Jew or a Gentile, whether that person lived before Moses or after Moses, all of mankind still falls under the Law. This is because men instinctively do the things of the Law, even when they do not have the Law. They show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them. And if men break the law, they sin their own sins and they die because the wages of sin is death. The only time man was completely free from the Law, free from sin and death, was when Adam and Eve have yet to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At that time, they had no knowledge of what is good or what is evil. All they had to do was to obey only one command, that is, not to eat from the said tree. But after they ate from it, everything changed. The first sign of their heightened knowledge and intelligence was when they suddenly realize that they were naked and started sewing fig leaves together to make covering for themselves. So what is so significant about eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The name of the tree tells us what God wanted us to know. In other words, it is obvious that the eating from it gave Adam and Eve, and their posterity the same ability to know what is evil and what is good. This is how everyone who descended from them instinctively knew good and evil, and did the things of the Law. In Gen 6:5 (NASB95) states: (5) Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. As readers would already know that right after Gen 6:5, the Lord decided to wipe out all of the mankind with the flood. Again, this is evidence that it does not matter whether people live before Moses or after Moses, it does not matter whether the Law was given or yet to be given. The Lord was able to see into their hearts as clear as crystal, whether they were good or evil, righteous or unrighteous. Nothing escapes Him then and nothing escapes Him now. Gen 6:5 states that the wickedness of man was great on earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Every intent was evil then and every intent is still evil today, apart from those who practice on a daily basis, conforming to the image of His Son, of course (Rom 8:29).
5.0
CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY
5.1
Sin nature is that natural inclination to act against the laws of God. Almost the entire Christendom from ages past till today, says that we inherited this natural inclination to sin from Adam and Eve right after their first act of disobedience. They used Rom 5:12 to support their views. But it is our opinion that they have misinterpreted Rom 5:12. It is true that Adam was the first to introduce sin into the world. But introducing sin does not mean that all men are born with sin or into sin, and neither does it mean that we have inherited the natural inclination to sin from Adam. Rom 5:12 is clear that death spread to all men because all sinned. We repeat, death spread to all men because all sinned. We sinned our own sins and our own sins have nothing to do with Adam. All of us have sinned our own sins and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). From the moment we reach the age of accountability, we are accountable to God for how we live our lives.
5.2
Let us assume for a moment that God really wanted to test Adam and Eve to see if they would obey Him. Let us assume that God told Adam and Eve not to eat from an ordinary lemon tree and if they eat of it they would die. And let us assume that Adam and Eve disobeyed, ate the lemon leading to eventual death to be coming upon them in due time. Then God cast them out of the garden of Eden and prevented them or anyone else from eating from that ordinary lemon tree. After a while, Adam and Eve produced some children. So now the question is, will these children also inherit the natural inclination to sin from Adam? There will be many people who will say, “Yes, because of their parent’s disobedience.” But if readers were to ponder about it carefully, they will realize that it is only an ordinary lemon tree. Are these people saying that if Adam disobeyed God by eating an ordinary lemon tree, all of his children are going to somehow magically inherit this sinful inclination from Adam? Who gave Adam and Eve such abilities? Not God definitely. This is because it is not stated anywhere in the Bible! It sure does not make any sense at all. Now we have come to our key point (please do not miss this point), from the moment Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (not lemon tree), God said in Gen 3:22, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil...” So it is not the sin nature or some natural inclination to sin that we inherited from Adam, but the knowledge of good and evil. Well, clearly, this ability is not a low level ability but God-level ability (Gen 3:22). And that ladies and gentlemen is why we die because if you know that something is evil and you do it, you sin, and if you know that something is good and you did not do it, you still sin. Even a person’s thoughts can be read by God (Gen 6:5-6) and it really grieves Him.
5.3
The so called natural inclination to sin comes from the flesh of the person. The phrase, “sin nature” is incorrect because it is not exactly a nature, that is, it is not an inherent character of man. More accurately, those sinful inclinations comes from the flesh. Every person is made up of the inner man and outer man (2 Cor 4:16) It is the inner man (human spirit) that controls the outer man (his body that is made of flesh and bones including his brain). Do men and women do what is required by God’s word or do they listen to their own flesh? Please see Matt 26:41. It is the flesh that is always inclined to sin and it is the flesh that is weak and affected by the slightest of things. If a person is hungry or thirsty, does it produce covetousness, such as coveting someone else’s food and drink? If a person sees another beautiful person, does it produce lust? And the list goes on and on for all kinds of things in all kinds of situations. That inclination to sin is always there but we must not obey it (Rom 6:12). Therefore if Adam did not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we would not have known or understood the law instinctively. In other words (and to put it bluntly), if everyone is sinning like nobody’s business, without the ability to understand what is good and evil, nobody could be faulted. And even if God in His wrath punished everyone, nobody would have understood the reason because the knowledge of good and evil is not in us. But now since that knowledge is in us, there is no more excuse. Rightfully, no country in the world should throw a child below the age of 5 into jail because he or she stole something from someone. This because logic tells us that the young person is too young to understand his or her own actions. The same applies to Adam and Eve before they ate from the said tree. If they disobeyed and ate from an ordinary lemon tree, only Adam and Eve will die because of their disobedience. But because they ate from a tree that allowed them to know good and evil, they transferred their ability to their posterity. So once again, we did not inherit Adam and Eve’s sinful nature, but we did inherit their heightened level of intelligence. Every sinful nature (or sinful inclinations of the flesh) is peculiar only to that person, and it cannot be passed down. If it can be passed down, then the last person of that family line will have so many sinful natures, he would exceed even Satan himself, is it not? This is a sad and disappointing theological error, that Bible teachers must correct.
5.4
In this final section let us look at Rom 7:14-15. These two verses alone should be enough to tell us how impossible it is to be 100 percent sinless. But Rom 7:14-15 is not an excuse for Christians to live a life of sin. For more explanations of this please read our article titled: “What is the meaning of Rom 7:21-25? An excuse to sin?” Therefore, we ourselves are to be blamed for our own sins. We also cannot give the argument that God should not have given us a weak body that is susceptible to sinful inclinations because He did warn Adam and Eve NOT to eat from the tree that would make them know and understand what they are doing or even thinking in their most inner thoughts. So because now they and their posterity know what they are doing and did not do (or think) the right thing, they sin. This is the reason why there is no escape from hell for all men. And this is also the reason why God had to send His own Son to save His own sheep. For without Christ death on the cross, even His sheep whom He had chosen from a long time ago will not be saved.