Are We Born In Sin?

   As a result of the sin of our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, have we all inherited their guilt? Do we enter life with an unrighteous spiritual status? Although it is impossible to fully address this ancient debate in the space of one short article, we can briefly explore one of the passages many consider central to this question: Romans 5.12-21. In this chapter, the apostle Paul is making the case that Christians can have confidence in their spiritual reunion with God based upon what Jesus did in his death and return from the grave. We were saved by him, and we now rejoice through him.

That’s the context in which Paul begins to write his controversial words, starting in vs. 12: “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…” It is beyond dispute from this verse that the curse of spiritual destruction grew from the garden of Eden and encompassed the world. But how exactly did it spread? Was it because it became an inherited human trait? Notice the last phrase of the verse carefully: “because all sinned.” This echoes what Paul had already written in 3.9-23 and charges that every human has actively participated in the sinful brokenness of the world, whether they descend from Abraham or not. Adam certainly was the first to expose the world to evil and its consequences, but that evil was fed and perpetuated by every one of his descendants. This happened through conscious choice, not through the mere act of birth.

Consider what Paul writes in Romans 5.18-19: “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” If Paul is arguing that everyone automatically enters life as a sinner because of Adam’s actions, then he’s also saying in the same verse that all people will automatically be saved because of Jesus’ work. Yet, Romans is very clear at the beginning of chapter 5 that we are “justified by faith.” Therefore, Paul must mean that just as one man (Adam) opened the door to death for all people, the God man (Jesus) opened the door to life.

Not only that, but the grace that is now coming into the world is much stronger than the death that entered. Paul says as much in Romans 5.17 – “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” We are not born sinful, but we will all sin. However, the power of Jesus to rescue us is, as always, more powerful than the efforts of Satan.

Nathan Combs