Posts Tagged ‘inherited sins’
What is “federal headship”?
Question: I really enjoy the content you put out. Very straight and to the point. What do Calvinists mean when they talk about “federal headship?” I’ve heard someone mention this in a podcast in an episode on Calvinism. I had not heard the expression until listening to the podcast. Answer: Calvinists believe that Adam’s sin…
Read MoreCalvinism in Psalm 51?
by Matthew W. Bassford During my time as a preacher, I studied with people from a wide variety of religious backgrounds. Of them all, the people who knew their Bibles best were unquestionably the conservative Calvinists. They approached the Scriptures with a different perspective than ours, but the most devoted of them spend as much…
Read MoreIf babies are not sinners, then why do some babies die?
Question: Hello, The Bible says for the wages of sin is death. If you claim that babies are not born sinners why do babies die? Thanks Answer: “Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting…
Read MoreI’m afraid my past sins will affect my child
Questions: Hello, I am a 25-year-old married woman, and I am currently pregnant with my first child. My husband and I have been together for five years and married for over two years. When we were first together, I was at a very low point in my faith. We were not abstaining from sex. I…
Read MoreSo there is not a sin gene?
Question: Dear Jeffrey, Can you, if you get the chance, please confirm my understanding from one of your sermons Infant Baptism? This is the first time ever, I’ve heard the thought we didn’t inherit sin, and I’m staggered by that. So there is no sin DNA? We don’t sin because we are from Adam and inherited…
Read MoreDoes God Create Sinners?
by Jerral Kay Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash Catholics and Protestants teach that God creates sinners. They say that all babies are born totally depraved, wicked from birth. The Bible does not teach this. Jesus was born totally human, coming from a sinful mother, and according to their doctrine, all humans inherit sin from…
Read MoreDoes Jesus forgive all our sins: past, present, and future?
Question: Dear Brother in Christ, Greetings in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I went through your website and especially the questions and answers, I want to say that by God’s grace and His enabling you have done a good job. The answers to most of the questions are apt and scripture based. …
Read MoreHow is it that we don’t suffer for the sins of Adam?
Question: Hello, I am a baptized believer. I often use your website, so a big thanks to you all for the great work being done. I have one question about the doctrine of the sin of Adam. Mostly we hear that we do not suffer for the sin of the father. However, Adam sinned and…
Read MoreThank you for the well-thought-out piece on Psalms 51:5
Question: I just read your article or answer regarding Psalms 51:5 and the prepositional use therein. Thank you for the well-thought-out and researched piece. I have been in agreement with your position for many a year. Thank you for posting it and for your expression of the gift placed in you. Answer: I’m glad you…
Read MoreHow did sin spread if it was not inherent in men?
Question: Hello! I agree with your belief that the Bible does not speak of inheriting a “sin nature” from Adam. If you wrote your own version of the Bible, how would you translate Romans 5:12? Or, can you explain how death “spread” to all men, since it’s our own personal sin that brings death? How…
Read MoreIs man inherently evil?
Question: I recently had some questions on man’s sinful nature. I have been through a worldview curriculum that taught this. They used the books Frankenstein (whose world view is that man is basically good), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (whose world view is that man is inherently evil and cannot change himself), Know What You Believe (by Paul E. Little), Know…
Read MoreIf we are not born sinful, then why does everyone sin?
Question: Dear Mr. Hamilton, I’m a bit confused. It is possible to keep all of God’s commandments, but I thought people will never be perfect on earth — only God is perfect. Or does God demand perfection? But then we’re not made right with God by our works. We are made right with God because…
Read MoreInfant Baptism
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/InfantBaptism.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 7:7-25 I. Historians will admit that infant baptism did not appear in the church until the second or third century A. Roman Catholics 1. “There is no express mention of the baptism of infants in the New Testament” [Question Box, page 23]. 2. “It is difficult to give strict proof from the…
Read MoreAre we already married because we committed fornication? What happens to the baby that was conceived?
Question: Praise the Lord! I have a fiancee. We were both born-again Christians, but we fell into the sin of sex. Due to that sin, my fiancee is now pregnant. Initially, some advised us to have an abortion, but we didn’t do that because we knew it was a sin. We asked for forgiveness from…
Read MoreCan a child baptized without his parents’ knowledge feel the presence of God?
Question: If a child was baptized as a baby without the parents’ knowledge but raised in a Jewish home, could that child feel the presence of God without knowing it? Answer: There are too many false assumptions in this question. One does not need to be baptized to feel God’s presence. God’s presence is known…
Read MoreMan’s Sinful Nature
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/MansSinfulNature.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. I’ve been hearing a lot about man’s sinful nature A. A large number of people in denominations take it for granted that mankind is born sinful. 1. In other words, people can’t help but to sin because it is a part of our nature. 2. The Philadelphia Confession of Faith (p. 7-8) states…
Read MoreHereditary Total Depravity: Examining the Old Testament Proof Texts
by Melvin Curry via Guardian of Truth, January 1, 1987 Hereditary total depravity is generally associated with Augustinian and Calvinistic doctrine. John Calvin, following in the footsteps of Augustine, taught that all men sinned in Adam, and, consequently, every human being, except Jesus Christ, possesses from birth a totally corrupt sinful nature. Calvinists are saddled with…
Read MoreI liked your article on whether sin is inherited from Adam
Question: Dear Minister, I liked your article on whether sin is inherited from Adam. I have been reading Moody’s Handbook of Theology and found the arguments by many theologians on this issue, including Calvin, to be questionable at best. Thanks for your post. Answer: You’re welcome. I’m glad you found it useful.
Read MoreWere Adam and Eve married?
Question: Hello! This might be a dumb question but someone brought it up today at school and it was a little confusing. If premarital sex is a sin, Adam and Eve weren’t married, and they had sex. So is that why we are all born in sin? Answer: Actually, it is a very good question.…
Read MoreYour explanation of Psalms 51:5 was just what I was looking for
Question: Hello brothers and sisters, Just wanted to drop you a note of thanks and appreciation for the work you do with your website. I was looking for a concise explanation of the various translations of Psalm 51:5. Imagine my joy when I found a church of Christ on the first page of my Yahoo! search.…
Read MoreWere Hezekiah’s sons punished for their father’s sins?
Question: It’s quite clear that the Bible says the fathers are not to be punished for the son’s sins and the sons not to be punished for the father’s sins. However, throughout the Old Testament, we see that when a king sinned, because either they repented or because of a prior promise to their fathers…
Read MoreHow could Christ die for sinners if we don’t inherit sin from Adam?
Question: Hi, I came across your website doing a bit of research regarding sin and the choices we make. I am a little confused by your statement that we are not born sinners. I am under the understanding that sin has been passed on through Adam and Eve, e.g. irrational sin. If we are not…
Read MoreTotal Hereditary Depravity and Ezekiel 18:20
by Bryan Sharp “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezekiel 18:20). Guilt is never transferred from one…
Read MoreTotal Depravity or Total Inability
by Terry W. Benton Calvinism is commonly summarized and remembered by the use of an acrostic formula using the word TULIP. The first letter stands for “Total Depravity” or “Total Spiritual Inability”. Let me let a Calvinist explain what is meant by this term. “Total depravity is a concept that everyone including the elect and…
Read MoreDo Men Have a Sinful Nature?
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/DoMenHaveASinfulNature.mp3 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Ephesians 2:1-10 I. Romans 3:23 – Why is it that everyone sins, barring Jesus our Lord? A. A dominant teaching among the denominations is the idea that people are born sinful. 1. The Westminster Confession gives a popular view: “Our first parents, being seduced by the subtlety and temptations of Satan,…
Read MoreOriginal Sin
https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/OriginalSin.mp3 by Ed Myers
Read MoreIf we all start out innocent, then why doesn’t everyone make good choices?
Question: God makes all people the same, right? All people start out the same as a little baby, in innocence. So why is it that some people decide to follow God and some don’t? One might draw from that question that maybe it’s because God is pushing some people more than others to follow Him.…
Read MoreSince man is created in God’s image, how can he have a sinful nature?
Question: Since we were created by God and in His image, how is it possible that we have a sinful nature? Answer: The Bible doesn’t use the phrase “sinful nature.” It is the New International Version that substitutes “sinful nature” for the word “flesh” in many places. In doing so, it introduces a concept not…
Read MoreWhy is Romans 5:13 in parenthesis in the King James Version?
Question: This came up recently: Romans 5:13 is in parenthesis in the King James version. Could you please explain why? Answer: The parenthesis was added by the translators, both in the King James and New King James versions, to emphasize that this is explaining the charge made in Romans 5:12. Paul stated, “Therefore, just as…
Read MoreWhat does it mean that everyone has the law written on their hearts?
Question: I was debating some people about inherited sin. They all feel it is true. Even in Baptist and Calvinist references when it quotes Romans 7, the part of once alive without the law, they say it was probably when Paul was a child without understanding. Anyway, when it says God’s word is written upon…
Read MoreIs teaching that sin is not inherited misleading?
Question: Please go back to the Bible. What you say in this article is not in any way biblical and so is misleading. Sin is inherited. All are born sinful. The Holy Spirit is the way our hearts are opened to God. And I am not Salvation Army – simply an evangelical Anglican. We must…
Read MoreYou make no attempt to understand the Salvation Army
Question: I just read with much displeasure the article, “Can Christians Help Support the Salvation Army?” I am admittedly somewhat biased as a third-generation Salvationist, but I found your posting quite misleading. It makes no attempt to understand the Salvation Army doctrines and looks simply to highlight doctrinal differences with other denominations. A few points…
Read MoreWhy was Jesus born of a virgin?
Question: Some people try to explain that Jesus was born to a virgin because if he born like us he would become sinful. They then conclude that men are born sinful. I know that men are not born sinful. But I cannot able to explain to them the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Please explain…
Read MoreAren’t men born sinful?
Question: I’m just emailing about a little something I found in an article of yours. It’s answering a question about where the Word talks about all men being equal. Not to be picky, but it says in the article we are all born without sin, which isn’t true. One of the basic concepts of Christianity, as…
Read MoreIsn’t sin the tendency of human beings to do evil?
Question: I am particularly disturbed by the concept of Original Sin. The article mentioned that there is no original sin and every baby is born sinless. This is an Islamic concept. All along, I had been taught that sin entered into the world through Adam. The sin here is normally referred to as the tendency…
Read MoreInherited sin has been taught for so long, if you teach otherwise you’ll confuse people about the Christ
Question: I am a believer, but I think many many believers cannot accept your point on the inheritance of sin. The original sin belief has gone on for so many centuries, this teaching is so common in almost every modern church, that to teach otherwise might harm the effort of teaching Christ to the world. I…
Read MoreHow could Jesus be sinless when he was born of Mary?
Question: As Mary was the mother of Jesus, she was also, like all of us, a descendant of Adam and Eve. Even though Mary was a virgin, she was in human flesh as Adam and Eve and of sin nature. How can it be said Jesus was without sin after having come into the world…
Read MoreFour Facts Fatal to Original Sin
by Larry Ray Hafley via Guardian of Truth; December 6, 1984; Vol. XXVIII, No. 23; pp. 713, 716 The doctrine of original or Adamic sin states that every person is born in sin. Because of Adam’s sin, all men are corrupt and guilty of sin at birth. Note the testimony of the Philadelphia Confession of Faith:…
Read MoreWas David a Sinner at Birth?
by Jimmy Mickells “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). Those who teach and try to prove that one inherits the sin of Adam use this verse as a proof text. Does it really say that David was born a sinner because of what Adam did…
Read MoreAre Babies Born Sinners?
Clem Thurman via Gospel Minutes, Vol. 57, No. 5, Feb. 7, 2008. QUESTION: I have a friend that believes that all babies are born into the world as sinners because of Adam’s sin. Could you please discuss this for me? ANSWER: The idea of the “original sin” of Adam being passed on to all mankind is…
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