by Lyndon Conn<\/p>\n
Original sin says we inherited a sinful nature from Adam, but when Adam fell into sin, he didn’t have one. How could Adam pass along something he didn’t have?<\/p>\n
Adam’s sin had catastrophic consequences for the human race, but his sin did not lead to a redesign of the original prototype. Men did not start growing horns or tails as a result of the Fall, and God’s workmanship remains as good as ever (Psalms 139:14).<\/p>\n
After Adam fell, God outlined the consequences of his sin (see Genesis 3:14-19). God told Adam all the bad things that would happen, but he said nothing about passing on a bad gene or a sinful predisposition or a rebellious nature. Augustine has added to the curse.<\/p>\n
Original sin says you were born corrupt, defiled, and lost, but the Bible says we become corrupt and go astray and turn aside. “All have turned aside and become corrupt<\/em>” (Psalms 14:3). Many scriptures describe how this happens (e.g., Psalms 14:3; Galatians 5:4; 6:8; I Timothy 6:10, 21, etc.).<\/p>\n Original sin came to you from Adam by way of your parents, but what if your parents were spirit-filled believers? They would no longer have a sinful nature. One with the Lord, they had a righteous nature.<\/p>\n Did you inherit your parents’ righteous nature? Were you a natural-born saint? No one believes you can inherit your parents’ righteousness, so why do we think we inherited their sinfulness?<\/p>\n If anyone was going to inherit Adam’s wicked gene, surely it was his son. Yet Jesus said Abel was righteous (Matthew 23:35). So were Noah, Lot, and Daniel (Genesis 6:9; Ezekiel 14:20; II Peter 2:7).<\/p>\n The related doctrines of original sin and total depravity say that none of us can reach out to God, but Abel and the other Old Testament saints prove that the unsaved can operate in faith. God is not far from any of us (Acts 17:27).<\/p>\n Original sin says it’s not your fault that you are wicked and incapable of living by faith. You are a hapless victim. Unless God happens to grace you (and who can say if he will?), you are eternally lost.<\/p>\n The devil would love for you to believe this because such a message will leave you unmoved and unchanged. It will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.<\/p>\n The good news declares you have a choice. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin?<\/em>” (Romans 6:1). Do you see? You don’t have to continue in sin.<\/p>\n In Adam, we had no choice, but Christ was “raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life<\/em>” (Romans 6:4). You have a choice. You can choose to walk in Adam’s old way or Jesus’ new way. Choose life.<\/p>\n Here are three ways to tell if a teaching is unscriptural:<\/p>\n Augustine’s doctrine of original sin fails all three tests. There is not one scripture that says we inherited Adam’s sinful nature, and plenty that say otherwise.<\/p>\n Original sin is unbiblical and illogical, but its greatest flaw is the way it portrays God as harsh and unjust. Original sin says the sons are judged for the sins of the father, but this is contrary to the heart of God. Not even under the law-keeping covenant were children judged for their parents’ sins (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:20).<\/p>\n Original sin says humanity was created good but became bad. “You can be made good again, but no matter how good you are, your children will always be born bad.” Huh?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Lyndon Conn Adam sinned without a sinful nature Original sin says we inherited a sinful nature from Adam, but when Adam fell into sin, he didn’t have one. How could Adam pass along something he didn’t have? Adam’s sin had catastrophic consequences for the human race, but his sin did not lead to a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1196,113],"class_list":["post-97993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-inherited-sins","tag-original-sin"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44307,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/hereditary-total-depravity-examining-the-old-testament-proof-texts\/","url_meta":{"origin":97993,"position":0},"title":"Hereditary Total Depravity: Examining the Old Testament Proof Texts","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Melvin Curry via\u00a0Guardian 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23071,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/four-facts-fatal-to-original-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":97993,"position":1},"title":"Four Facts Fatal to Original Sin","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Larry Ray Hafley via\u00a0Guardian 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44579,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/mans-sinful-nature\/","url_meta":{"origin":97993,"position":2},"title":"Man’s Sinful Nature","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve been hearing a lot about man\u2019s sinful nature \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A large number of people in denominations take it for granted that mankind is born sinful. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In other words, people can\u2019t help but to sin because it is a part of our nature. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Philadelphia Confession of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50780,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-is-it-that-we-dont-suffer-for-the-sins-of-adam\/","url_meta":{"origin":97993,"position":3},"title":"How is it that we don’t suffer for the sins of Adam?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21808,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-men-born-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":97993,"position":4},"title":"Aren’t men born sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u00a0all 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19792,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-jesus-be-sinless-when-he-was-born-of-mary\/","url_meta":{"origin":97993,"position":5},"title":"How could Jesus be sinless when he was born of Mary?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97993"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97996,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97993\/revisions\/97996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}You cannot pass on a righteous nature<\/h2>\n
Original sin cannot account for Old Testament saints<\/h2>\n
Original sin says you have no choice<\/h2>\n
The end of the matter<\/h2>\n
\n