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Original Sin
The doctrine of Original Sin is the belief that because of Adam’s sin, all men are sinners. And then because of his fall, all men are born in sin and cannot help but to sin, because it is their nature. Although there is truth in this statement that we were all born in sin, I will show problems with such a doctrine. It is not a matter of whether people are sinners before they are born again, or that there is a nature that man has inherited to sin, but of what happens at our physical birth and our re-birth as Christians. There are two different extremes that are taught with this doctrine. The first is the doctrine of original sin as just described, that man cannot help but to sin. This is used to explain the problem of Christians who continue in sin as well. The other is that man not only has a choice whether or not to sin, but that as a Christian he will no longer sin at all, because he has traded his sinful nature for a divine nature through Jesus Christ. I will show scriptures that support both of these theories, and how that there is a balance between the two that prove all scripture to be true and not contradictory. With the support of scripture I believe that the second view is truer than the first, but still requires a balance with the first view. Now let us see what original sin teaches and a few of the scriptures used to support it. Romans 5:12-14 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come”. The definition of Original Sin is as follows: 1. The whole human race sinned in Adam when he sinned. Adam's will was the will of the race, so that all men sinned in Adam and rebelled with him when he sinned. 2. When Adam sinned, human nature was corrupted, so that now all men are born with a sinful nature. 3. This sinful nature is the fountain and direct cause of all of man's sins. Man sins by nature and cannot help but sin. 4. Because of Adam's transgression, all men are guilty, under the just "wrath and curse of God," and are liable to the "pains of hell forever." 5. Even newborn babies open their eyes in this world under the "wrath and curse" of God. They are guilty and condemned from the moment of their conception. These points describe fairly well what the Bible tells us about the state of man before salvation, with the exception of the last point. This view here is a Calvinist view, but Arminians will agree that the first four points apply to all men who are without Christ. One argument that should be brought out is concerning what Jesus has freed us from. Did He come to set us free from sin itself or just the penalty of sin? If original sin is true to the degree that some believe it, then we could only be free from the penalty of sin and certainly not sin itself, because we are not able to ever stop sinning. Although we can see through the scriptures that sin has been passed down from the time of Adam and Eve, we also need to understand what Christ has done for us concerning sin. Romans 6:14 says, “Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” God has extended His grace to us so that we are not bound by the nature of sin any longer. But does this mean that we will never sin? Romans 6:5-7 “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” We who are saved should also be freed from sin, no longer living in sin at all. It is not just the penalty of sin, but sin itself we are to be free from. But the key to this kind of victory in our lives is that we must crucify the old man, which is our old sinful nature. But there are times that the old man rises in our lives. Paul instructed the Christians in the Roman Church to crucify the old nature continually, so that they may be dead to sin. This is something that they had done before, when they got saved. But Paul is instructing them of the need to do this every time the old nature wants to rise up again. It must have been a problem in the Churches for Paul to feel the need to instruct them in this area. So we know that the doctrine of Original Sin is correct in the fact that man is in sin before coming to Christ, and that man still has a sinful nature that wants to rise up after salvation. But after salvation we are to kill the old nature and be dead to it, so that we can live according to the new “divine nature” given to us by Christ. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” He understood that freedom in Christ unto salvation was only possible as we are free from sin through Christ. It is then that we can proclaim as Paul did in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” The old nature is buried, while the new nature is to be alive in us. Salvation is evident through the new nature of a true believer. Tony Evans is a popular radio teacher and strong supporter of the eternal security doctrine. On the subject of Eternal Security on one of his radio programs he stated, “We have a new divine nature, even though we may live the same way as before we got saved. Because it is not our performance, but our birth that gives us a new nature”. It is true that our new nature is based upon our new birth! But the natural result of a new birth is a new way of living: a new nature! As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new”. If old things are gone, and all things are new, then sin could not possibly be a part of our every day lives as it was previous to salvation. A new birth will result in the performance of holy living! To teach that a person can be saved and continue in the same sin as before coming to Christ is absolute heresy! The problem that the doctrine of original sin causes is that it becomes another excuse for many to sin. In addition to the Eternal Security doctrine that teaches that nothing can separate men from salvation, Original sin adds the belief that men will sin by nature and cannot be changed. Therefore, in the understanding of many, a person will continue to sin by nature, and be saved in their sin unconditionally. This is not the gospel message at all! The Bible is clear that there is no excuse for sin, ever! We have the responsibility to crucify the old sinful nature, and to live according to the new divine nature. Ephesians 4:21-24 “If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Again, Paul is now instructing the Ephesians in the same thing. Obviously even the Christians of that day had to battle the flesh and had to continually put off the old nature, and be renewed in the Spirit. That is to say that the old nature rose up (the sinful nature), and they had to crucify it and be renewed in the Spirit. This is not to say that a Christian sins every time the old nature attempts to rise up. But it is through temptations, trials, and issues of life that we have to make the choice of whether to give in to the old nature or to follow the new nature through the leading of the Holy Ghost. Only one of these natures can live and be in control of our lives. It is the Holy Spirit in us that keeps us from giving in to the old nature, because only the Holy Spirit can impart to us a divine nature. But if we give in to the old nature or slack off on our spiritual responsibilities, then we will begin to regress back to the sinful nature. Many people, whether they want to admit it or not, have struggles with this in their Christian life. There always seems to be an attitude, emotions, or responses to situations that could cause us to act in a way that is of the sinful nature. Some responses are only human nature, not being sin: while some are sinful and must be rejected. They are never excusable. Colossians 3:8-10 “But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:” Although we have been changed by the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, there is also a battle between the two natures. But “greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world”, so that we can live righteous and holy lives continually through our new nature in Christ. The more we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the less likely we are to sin, as we are being guided by Him to holiness. It is not a matter of whether we able to sin, as we could from time to time. But through the new nature, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are now able to “not sin”. It is an issue of our willingness to crucify the old nature so that we may not sin, as we trust in Christ to empower us and free us from the bondage and power of sin. Then if we do sin, we must be willing to confess our sins to Christ and repent. Believing that we can be sin-free does not lead to self-righteousness (as many might assume), but rather to total dependency and faith in Christ. As we have a battle of two natures within us for control of our lives, this does not mean that both are in control. Although both fight to live, only one can be in control. As Jesus said, you cannot serve two masters! Some who oppose the doctrine of original sin might many times go to the opposite extreme. They believe that the scriptures teach that a Christian will no longer sin at all after salvation. There is more truth to this theology than many realize or want to accept, but nevertheless, there still are some who go to far extremes. They believe that one sin will send a person to hell if repentance does not come before death. This could also be more true than most people want to accept, but in many cases it is not. Let’s look at scriptures used to support the theory that Christians will no longer sin. John 8:34, 36 “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin...If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” This scripture would be used to show that when we are made free from sin, we are free indeed, and not to go back to it. This is a true statement! We should always remain free from sin. But we must also make the distinction between the bondage of sin, and the temptations that people fall into on occasions. There are so many different attitudes, temptations, and other things that people give into at times. These are not acceptable sins, and none should ever be justified; but the fact is, even some of the most spiritual people can fall into one of these areas, sometimes without realizing it. This is not to say, as many Christians have taught, that we sin every day. This idea is not supported by scripture and should not be even considered. But although we are not “perfect” in keeping from sin, we must do our very best to keep from it completely. And if there is a difference between a “sin unto death”, and a “sin not unto death”, then we must conclude that, “Sin unto death” should never be committed by a Christian, while a sin not unto death might possibly be committed on a more often basis. But yet all sin should be avoided at all times, and should always be given to God in repentance! Repentance is the Biblical key to continuing in salvation “if we sin”. If a sin is committed it seems reasonable to believe that scripture shows that God allows us time to repent of the sin. Other sins committed could possibly be done out of ignorance, wherein a man may not be judged as being guilty of sin unto death. Sin unto death would appear in scripture to be those sins that we are well aware of as being wrong, and therefore to commit such would be rebellion to God, and without repentance would be condemnable unto death. 1 John 5:16-17 “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.” Most Christians say, “Sin is sin”! But according to John this is not always true. Nevertheless, sin displeases God and we cannot continue in sin! If we refuse to repent then we are in rebellion, which God classes with the sin of witchcraft. If we commit sin that we know displeases God or we commit even small sins that we know displease God, then we are in rebellion. To sin a sin that is not unto death will not send a person to hell, since they may be ignorant of their sin or how to deal with it at the moment. But rebellion is condemnable sin that is without excuse, no matter what the sin may be! In the case of all these types of sins “sin is sin”! If we are truly saved then we will not sin willfully. And not without falling from salvation! It is not that a true Christian cannot sin, but that they will not willfully sin. Any true Christian who does commit such sin will confess such sin through true repentance, lest they lose their salvation through their rebellion to Christ. 1 John 3:6 “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” If this is to be interpreted that a true Christian will never sin, then if we do fall into sin, then the scripture says that we have not seen Him or known Him. Surely we should know if we have experienced true salvation in our lives. But how many Christians are willing to say that they have not sinned since they have become a Christian. This scripture is not talking about a one-time act of sin, but a lifestyle or habitual sin. It is speaking to those who claim to have gotten saved, but continue in the same old lifestyle without any change. The word “abide” means to remain or continue. In this case it means to continue in Christ, in which to not do so is only possible through the continuance of sin, having never let it go to begin with. If a person claims to be saved but they never stop sinning, then they never got saved to begin with. This particular scripture refers to those who continue sinning, and does not indicate that a true believer will never sin at all. But a true believer will by nature keep from habitual and willful sin completely, unless they allow the old nature to rise up within them. According to John, the evidence of a true believer will be evident by the fact that he or she does not sin habitually, willfully or continually; but not necessarily referring to a possible occasional fall. To fall into sin is certainly possible for Christians to do fairly often. But true Christians will also repent quickly! 1 John 1:6-10 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” This passage needs to be read very carefully. John is giving a contrast between those who say they are saved but are not, and those who are truly saved and show it through their lifestyles. If we walk in darkness and say that we have no sin because we said a prayer once or attend a good Church, then “we lie and do not the truth” and “we deceive ourselves”! When he says that “if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves”, he is writing this to those who are not saved to begin with, and not true believers. The contrast here is between the unregenerate and the regenerate. It is only said of the Christian that they will be cleansed of all sin, but does not give the indication that they cannot or will not ever sin. “Free will” still applies to the Christian after salvation. But if we do sin, we must repent of that sin, lest we fall away. There still is no justification for sin. 1 John 3:8 "He that committeth sin is of the devil.” This is the person who lives under the bondage of sin or refuses to repent of sin in their life; those who say they are saved while they walk in darkness, as in 1 John 1:6. They may claim to belong to Christ, but if they continue in habitual sins then they prove that they are not of Christ, but of the devil. If we all sin every day as Calvinists say, then we are all, “of the devil”. But then on the other side of this issue, if we could live without ever sinning at all, then we wouldn’t even have to be concerned about fighting the old nature and keeping it down. There is a balance to this issue, but we must be careful not to lean toward justifying sin that is condemnable by death! Sin should never be given an excuse! Sin will destroy all who partake in it! The issue in this scripture is not a one-time sin that might be repented of, but willful and habitual sins while calling ourselves Christians. 1 John 5:18 “And we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” The true Christian will not live in sin, nor will he do certain things that are not of the divine nature. This is not to say that the Christian cannot sin, or that he will never stumble. This is saying that there is a new nature that the Christian has obtained, and that it is the new nature of every Christian to no longer sin. But there are always the little things, which only God knows; things that can cause one to stumble into sin. These do not indicate sinful lifestyles, but things we go through in life, learning experiences, spiritual growth, human nature, etc. We may fail a test of faith, but if we sin we must confess to God. No sin will be justified in God’s presence! It is not hard for many to confuse the sinful nature with human nature. Sinful Nature is something that we all inherited through the fall of man. But human nature is part of our creation. In our human nature we have been given emotions, which might be manifested with different attitudes. This is why Paul said the “be angry and sin not”. Anger is a part of our human nature that can be expressed without sinning. Being creatures that were created in the image of God we can read of God’s anger throughout the scriptures. Of course we would never assume that God’s anger was sinful! In the make-up of our human nature we have the ability to choose, which is our free will. This is evident by the fact that Adam “chose” to eat of the forbidden fruit. It was not his “choosing” that was sin, but his “choice”. As Christians, we have the ability to choose whether we will be controlled by the sinful nature or live according to the divine nature. The Bible tells us that that old nature must be killed! We can also see that even our new nature can suffer through neglect. Both of these natures may live or die, dependant upon our decisions. But the human nature never dies. It is with us throughout our lives on earth, no matter how sinful or how spiritual we might be. The human nature is neither sinful nor spiritual. It is simply the way God made us. But it is through our human nature that we may have poor reasoning that could cause us to sin. It is also through our human nature that we might make some wrong choices (choices that are not sinful), and thus give the appearance of sin in our lives. I need to be very careful in explaining this, lest anyone might try to use it for excuse to sin. It is rather my purpose in explaining this to give an understanding of why it is that so many people will say that we all sin every day. It is because we do not “all” sin every day. What many people will call sin is not sin, but human nature. But human nature can and will surely lead us to sin if we are not careful to be led by the Spirit. The Bible says in 1 John 5:17 “All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.” Romans 14:23 “…for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” It is true that sin is sin, no matter what it is, because God hates all sin. But how is it that there could be a sin unto death, and a sin that is not unto death? Christians must never partake of the sin unto death, because it is the very life that we had been delivered from. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We must live in the freedom given to us by Christ, never to return to the old way of bondage. But the sin that is not unto death we can all be guilty of at times. The Bible says in Romans 14:23 “…for whatsoever is not of faith is sin”. This would include discouragement, fear, bad attitudes, lack of faith, and any other attitudes that are not of faith. Because faith will not have these things involved in it. These are things we have to learn and overcome in life; not direct rebellion to God’s Word. But the sin unto death would include a lifestyle of faithlessness, adultery, fornication, drunkenness, and any other act of unrighteousness that we know is wrong; from the simplest sins to the most serious in our own minds. Many of these sins are not something that happens out of nowhere, in a moment of time. They are linked to areas in the heart that have not been dealt with. Lust can lead to fornication and adultery; covetousness can lead to greed, selfishness, and mammon, etc. It is not that we cannot or will not commit such a sin that is unto death, for many have. But all sin, whether unto death or not must be repented of once it is acknowledged. Another possible example of sin not unto death could be something not done or not changed in a Christian’s life, without knowing it was wrong. James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” If a person knows something in their life is not right, and they choose not to change, to them it is sin, because they did not do that which was good and right in God’s eyes. And rebellion is a sin unto death. Ignorance is not necessarily sin unto death. 1 John 3:9 “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” The key point of discussion in this verse would be that the Christian “Does not commit sin” and “he cannot sin”. It is easy to understand the fact that a Christian “does not sin”, which would be explained the same as the previous verses. But what about the part that says, “he cannot sin”. Is this saying a true Christian is not capable of sinning after true salvation? This scripture is saying that when we have been saved and regenerated by the Holy Spirit, we cannot sin when in this state. A person cannot be filled with God and be sinning at the same time. The new nature of man in Christ cannot sin! It is the old man that will rise up that will sin. Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” If a Christian has a problem with sin, then he or she must find the root of the sin and deal with it before God. If any are in Christ, they are to be a new creature, without sin. If they try to live with both natures, one will overcome the other before long. Since a true Christian is one who lives a holy life, the natural result of holiness is to be free from sinning. If a Christian is not free from sinning he is not holy. And if he is holy, then he is not sinning; therefore it is said that a true believer cannot sin. Otherwise he would not be what he claims to be at all.
We must always be careful how we live our lives, living them according
to righteousness and holiness. Original sin has become a copout for many
people to allow sin in their lives, while still being called a Christian.
Some people may struggle with sin and have need of inner healing or deliverance,
while others simply don’t want to let go of their sin. Sin is something
that all mankind will have to deal with, but we are mistaken if we use
it for an excuse, that it is just our nature. God wants to change that
nature in every man, from a sinful nature to a divine nature, through
the power of His Spirit. Then it is up to each and every individual to
be filled with the Spirit continually so that they may crucify the old
man and be renewed in Christ. 
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Calvinism