Inherited sin

Romans 5:18-19
"Then as one man's trespass (sin) led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous." 

Last week I wrote a few posts on the topic of sin. Those post sprang out of the thought that becasue of God's grace in the lives of His creation, humans are most times not as sinful as they possibly could be. Those posts last week and the great questions that came out of them has led me to explore in more detail some of the doctrine of sin. Tomorrow I want to write through the truth of total depravity or radical corruption. Today I want to write through the truth of original sin or inherited sin.

Simple put, we are born in sin. Now this definitely means when we are physically born, we are born into a sinful world. But when the spiritual truth of being born into sin is stated, it is pointing to the Biblical truth that when someone is born physically, they are born with a sin nature or born under the guilt of sin. As the verse stated above shows, when every single human is born, they are born with the sin of Adam not only as part of their nature, but they are born into the state of being guilty of sin. Because of Adam''s sin, every single human after was born already condemned to eternal death and condemnation. This also points to the truth that every single human is also born with a sin nature and a bent to sin, thanks to Adam's original sin done in the Garden of Eden. David in Psalms 51 points to this reality, when he says that he was conceived or brought forth in sin or iniquity. David understood that from the every beginning of his life, he was a sinner who was not only condemned to sin but also was bent to sin. Not only does David record this fact, but earlier in the chapter 5 of Romans Paul makes it clear when he states, "sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, so death spread to all men becasue of all men sinned". This verse could not be any more explicit in the fact that becasue of Adam's sin, all men are born sinners, with a sin nature that leads to condemnation and death, and becasue they are born with a sin nature they have a bent to sin, a desire to sin, and a self-gratification nature. And this truth that we are born in sin with a sin nature and desire to sin and condemnation already placed on us, has 2 more important truths we must consider.

1) Because of our sinful condemned nature we totally lack any spiritual good before God. This truth is scattered all over the Bible. Jeremiah 17:9 points to the truth that "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it". Paul adds to Jeremiah in numerous places. Ephesians 4:18 states, "darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God becasue of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart." Also Romans 7:18, "I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, my flesh". And finally Titus 1:15, "to the corrupt and unbelieving nothing is pure, their very minds and consciences are corrupted". This tells us that any good appeared done, before Christ, is not really good at all but something else all together. Yes we might look morally good and "help the old lady across the street", but without God we can do not good and have no spiritual good to stand on before God.

2)Because of our sinful condemned nature, that is imputed upon us (we are made sinful), we can never desire or want God. Since we are born into a sinful state that is already condemned, we need God to do the work in us, in order to get God. Simply put, we need God to work in us first in order to be saved and chose God. Or to say it another way, becasue of our sinful born state, we will never chose God. Both Paul and Jesus make this very clear. First, Jesus states, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last" (John 15:16). Paul adds to this in Romans 3, "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one". And the interesting thing with Paul is that in making his point, of never choosing God on our own, points and quotes David in the Psalms. So becasue we are born in sin, with a sinful condemned nature, that is totally opposite and against God, we will never in our own chose God. God must first act and work in us to fix the problem.

So the doctrine of inherited sin is deep. Not only does it show from the Bible that we are born with a sin nature that is already condemned, but it points the the reality that without God, we are all destined for death. This is a doctrine though, as Christians, that should bring us great comfort, hope and encouragement. We as Christians now desire God and can also do good before God. We can be comforted that we are no longer under the condemnation of God becasue He worked first in us to fix the problem and gave us the desire for Him. We can have hope in that as Jesus said, He chose us to bear fruit that will last. And we can have great encouragement knowing that even when we were born in sin, God chose to work in our lives to get past that nature and call us to be one of His children and removed that deadly condemned sin nature and gave us the ability to do good before Him. And all of this then should motivate us to go and tell others their need and Jesus solution.

Sin is real. Condemnation is scary. Being born in sin, with a sin nature that will never chose God, feels hopeless. But we have a Savior who chose us, solved the sin and condemnation problem, and sustains us even now in bearing much fruit for Him. That should bring us hope, courage, and gratitude. And that is why we need to know and cherish this doctrine of inherited sin.