TOTAL DEPRAVITY

Are We Born in Sin?

A Look at Psalm 51: 5

Steve Kissell

“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

New International Version

The notion that we are born in sin is a doctrine that was popularized by one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation named John Calvin. It is commonly referred to as the doctrine of Total Hereditary Depravity and has a large following today among various denominations. This doctrine says that every person is born into the world bearing the sin of Adam and is therefore depraved, i.e., morally corrupt. The “hyper-calvinists” go on to assert that this depraved nature means that a person is totally unable to repent and change his nature unless God chooses to overpower him and makes him repent, and that God has chosen not to overpower most people.

It may be true to say that human beings are inclined to sin, that is, by virtue of our humanity, we have a predisposition or tendency to sin (Calvinists would say that we are inclined to sin because of our “fallen nature.”  If that is true, why did Adam and Eve sin?)  However, the notion that we are born with the guilt of someone else's sin is absolutely false!     Reasons:

This notion contradicts the principle that God holds each person responsible for       his own sin and no one else's.                                                  

    Exod. 32:31-33

2. It fails to conform with the true nature of sin, i.e., sin is not inherited, it is committed.

 a.) Jn. 8:34  “Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.' “  Notice that he doesn't say, “whoever inherits sin is a slave of sin.”  Sin is committed.

 b.) Rom. 6:23  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Wages are earned, not inherited.  Wages are given in exchange for work performed. 

c.) 1 Jn. 3:4  “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (“transgression of the law”)   Again, sin is committed, not inherited; a person sins by transgressing God's law,  not by being conceived. 

 d.) James 1:13-15   Notice the sequence of events that leads to sin:

 1) “ But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” It says nothing about someone else's desires.  

 2) “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin;”  Sin derives from individual desires and temptations, not inheritance.

  3)  “and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” 

Spiritual death for every person is the culmination of this process, not the result of an inheritance.      Spiritual death, then, is not the result of inheriting someone else's guilt. It is the culmination of a process that begins with an individual's temptation and desire, and if continued, results in death. James was completely wrong about this process if everyone begins their life spiritually dead.                                  

 3. It contradicts those scriptural statements that indicate that children are innocent.                                       

a ) Gen. 8: 21  “...although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth;...”    Not from conception or birth, but from youth.

b) Matt. 18:3.   “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.  ”

c) Matt. 19:14    “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”                       

 d)   Rom. 7:8-11.     “I was alive once...sin revived and I died.” (Died in what sense? Must be spiritually — 7:11 “... it killed me.”) Paul insists that he was originally alive spiritually and then he died spiritually. He was not born spiritually dead.”

 e) 1 Cor 14:20.  “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.”

 4.  It contradicts God's view of salvation. The Bible speaks of a person's individual   salvation as:

a) Redemption (cf. Eph.1:7; Titus 2:14). To be redeemed is to be bought back, restored to an original condition. If a person's original condition is depravity, what is the value of  redemption?                       

 b) Reconciliation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:18-19). To reconcile is to restore a previous friendship that has been damaged. If a person is born separated from God,  no reconciliation can take place since no friendship has ever existed. 

c) Rebirth (Jn.3:3-5)   The whole point to being “born again” is to regain the             spiritual condition one had at birth — innocence.

d) Regeneration (Titus 3:5)     The sequence is

1) Generation (conception and birth),

2) Degeneration ( the loss, because of sin, of the innocence present at birth),

3) Regeneration (the restoration of the original innocence for those who are forgiven in Christ.

    All of these terms reflect a restoration of the original state—innocence!

 Passages Misused to Teach Inherited Sin

 1. Psalm 51:5. This is the favorite passage of those who believe sin is inherited. Possible meanings:

 A. This verse could be taken to teach that sin is inherited if one  were to 1) pluck this verse out of its context, and 2) be ignorant of (or ignore) the vast weight of Scriptural evidence that sin is not inherited (see above).

B. The verse could also be taken to mean that David was conceived as a result of his mother's sin. This view would also require us to pluck the verse out of its context as David is lamenting his own sin. Also, we have no other Scriptural support for this view.

C. Some take the verse to mean that David was born into a world filled with sin. Those who take this meaning usually ask us to notice Act 2:8 as an illustration of how similar language is used. There we are told that men from various places heard the apostles speak in their “own language in which we were born.” Clearly they meant, not that they were born speaking a particular language, but that they were born into an environment in which they would be exposed to that language. It's possible that David spoke of being “born in sin” in a similar way.

D. I am firmly convinced that what David is actually saying is that he was sinful from his conception. However, the Calvinists utterly miss the point. David (as the context clearly shows) was lamenting his own sin (not his mother's or Adam's). He profoundly regretted his crimes of adultery and murder. So great was his sense of guilt he lapsed into the use of hyperbole (an exaggeration to emphasis a point — “I'm so hungry I could eat a horse”) much like Paul did in 1 Tim. 1: 15 (claiming to be the world's foremost sinner, something he clearly was not).

     David is saying, in effect, that his sins are so terrible and he is so bad, he must have been born bad (“…bad to the bone.”). This is not literally true (remember: David was the man after God's own heart—1 Sam. 13:14)  but simply an exaggeration to emphasize David's remorse.

2. Psalm 58:3 is said to teach that “all men and women are conceived in sin.” This passage teaches no such thing:

 a)  Notice that verse 3 speaks only of the wicked, not the righteous. They, by contrast (vs.10), are  waiting for the wicked to get what they deserve. But where do righteous people come from? What happened to “all men and women are conceived in sin”?

b) What happens to the wicked is not that they start life wicked but that they “go astray;” they are “estranged” (literally, to turn aside)  These words clearly mean that wickedness does not reflect an original condition but a change of condition.              

 This life of wickedness can begin very early (seemingly almost at birth) for those who are not trained correctly by their parents. A child, although innocent at birth, will grow into a savage without training:

 3. Jeremiah 13:23 is said to teach that “all are born sinful.”

It is implied by Calvinists in the use of this verse that the guilt of sin is as inherent as the black skin of an Ethiopian or the spots of a leopard. This is wrong:

 a) This passage speaks of those who are “accustomed (the Hebrew word means taught or instructed) to do evil;” it doesn't say they were born that way.

b)  The passage speaks of their difficulty in changing their ways. If, however, the practice of evil is as immutable as the spots of a leopard, how is anyone ever saved?

4. Romans 5:12-14 is a favorite of the total depravity crowd. This passage, they tell us, teaches that “all are born under the penalty of sin.”  Wrong again!

 a) Verse 12 tells us that “through one man (Adam) sin entered the world, and death through sin,...”     But our Calvinist friends forget to read the rest of the sentence:  “...and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Spiritual death didn't spread to all men because Adam sinned; it spread to all men because all men sinned! If a man didn't sin, he wouldn't die spiritually

b) It is extremely important to read further—Rom 5:14-19.             

Notice that the sweep and magnitude of the effects of Christ's act are at least as great as the effect of Adam's act.  If Adam's sin automatically and universally causes every person to be condemned for something he did not do and had no choice in, then Christ's death on the cross also automatically and universally causes every person to be saved independent of anything he has done or chosen.   Are we ready to accept that?

The truth is, all who follow Adam in committing sin are condemned, and all who follow Jesus are saved. But neither way is automatic; each requires a choice. So pick your leader: choose Adam for spiritual death (unfortunately, all of us do at some point in our lives—Rom. 3:23) or choose Jesus for spiritual life (fortunately, our earlier choice can be revoked. Praise God!).

5. Eph. 2: 1-4  is also said to teach that “all are born sinful.” The statement: “were by nature children of wrath” is taught to mean that we are born “children of wrath.” Not so.

a) The word “nature” can refer to an inherent condition (as in “Mother Nature”) but it does not necessarily mean that. Thayer defines the word “phusis” (nature) as “the nature of things, the force, laws, order of nature, a mode of feeling and acting which by long habit has become nature.”             Notice:

 1) Some activities or attitudes become “natural” because of  habit or long-standing custom. If someone says, “Driving is second nature to me,” we understand the meaning.

 2) The word “phusis” is used in 1 Cor 11:14 — “Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him?”                      

In what sense does “nature” tell us that long hair on a man is dishonorable? Well, not in the “Mother Nature” sense. Mother Nature will grow a man's hair just as long as a woman's. It is in the long-standing custom sense that “nature” tells us males should not have long hair                       

It is in this long-standing custom sense that we were “by nature children of wrath.” The word “children” here is used figuratively (as in Gal.4:28 and Eph. 5:8). We were, because of our custom, i.e., our behavior, objects of God's wrath.                        .

 b) The passage speaks of a sinful lifestyle in which they had “walked according to the course of this world,” and had  “all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind...”. Their sin was not inherited, it was a   result of their own “walk” and “conduct” and “desires.”

Some Questions for Our “Total Depravity” Friends

1. Why would Jesus not inherit the depravity and guilt of sin from his mother Mary? The Catholics have an answer to this —Immaculate Conception (which, by the way, refers to Mary's conception, not Jesus')—but the Calvinists don't.

2. Wouldn't all the children of Christians today (whose depravity has been removed) be born without inherited sin. If we can inherit the corrupt nature of our degenerate parents, then why would we not inherit the righteousness of our regenerate parents?

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