Are children born in sin?

 

   "Among whom also we all once conducted

   ourselves in the lusts of our flesh,

   fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of

   the mind, and were by nature children of

   wrath, just as the others" (Ephesians 2:3).

Take note of the phrase, "by nature children of wrath."

Our friends who endorse Calvinist theology insist that this little five-word phrase supports the doctrine of hereditary total depravity. That is, they believe Paul here affirms that all people not only inherit the effects of Adam's sin (e.g., physical death-Romans 5:12), but they also acquire the guilt of his transgression in the garden:

   "Adam's transgression was not confined to

   himself, but was transmitted, with its long

   train of dire consequences, to all his

   posterity."/1

   "Since the fall of Adam all men are born

   with a depraved nature, with sinful

   propensities."/2

   "Our first parents being the root of all

   mankind, the guilt of their sin was imputed,

   and the same death in sin and corrupted

   nature were conveyed to all their posterity,

   descending from them by ordinary

   generation."/3

   Don't miss the import of these statements,

   because they suggest that all of us are born

   with a morally corrupt and totally depraved

   nature.

   "Even infants bringing their condemnation

   with them from their mother's womb, suffer

   not for another's, but for their own defect.

   For although they have not yet produced the

   fruits of their own unrighteousness, they

   have the seed implanted in them. Nay, their

   whole nature is, as it were, a seed-bed, and

   therefore cannot but be odious and

   abominable to God. Hence, it follows, that

   it is properly deemed sinful in the sight of

   God; for there could be no condemnation

   without guilt."/4

But is this what Paul was actually saying in the text?

Are we all born in sin as these authors suggest? The answer is an unequivocal, "No." Reason with me from

Scripture:

Sin is something a person does. "Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). What law of God do babies transgress by simply being born into the world?

If a person inherits a sinful nature from his parents, then Jesus was born a sinner since he was a descendant of Adam (Luke 3:23-38). And yet Scripture affirms, "For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens" (Hebrews 7:26).

If a person inherits a sinful nature from his parents, could he not also inherit a righteous nature?  If not, why not? After the Flood, eight righteous people departed from the ark to re-populate the earth (cf.

Genesis 6:9-10; 7:1; 1 Peter 3:20).  

Exactly how did these eight righteous individuals impart a totally depraved nature to their offspring?

(All of the wicked and depraved people of the world had drowned (cf. Genesis 7:21).

Children are not born evil.

   "And Jesus called a little child to Him, set

   him in the midst of them, and said,

   'Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are

   converted and become as little children, you

   will by no means enter the kingdom of

   heaven'"(Matthew 18:2-3; cf. 19:14; Luke

   18:16; Deuteronomy 1:39; 1 Corinthians

   14:20).

 by Mike Benson

_______

1/ James Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers, 226.

2/ Augsburg Confession

3/ Easton’s Bible Dictionary, 1090

4/ Carradine, The Old Man, 71-72