Original Sin

 



 Christianity 101
 


















 Articles of Faith
Some of the material
in this lesson was adapted
from


 

 

 

 

Nazarene Website

The Human Condition

 

"What's wrong with people?"
 

"Why do they keep doing such bad things?"


 

Have you ever heard such comments? Or have you ever expressed them yourself? Though the world tries to explain bad behavior with a wide variety of theories, Christians know the predicament and the solution: Sin is the problem; salvation is the answer.


Most of us realize that our lives are not as good as they could be. We have good intentions; we want to do what is right. Still, our best efforts continually to fall short. Worse, sometimes we set out to be a good person, only to find ourselves doing bad things we never dreamed we would do.What makes such good intentions go so desperately wrong? Sin.


The apostle Paul described this very dilemma in a letter he wrote to the Christians in Rome in the first years after Jesus was on earth. In that letter, he said, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not know what I want, but I do the very thing I hate... I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me."  (Romans 7:15, 18b-20)

 

Can you relate?  Does this sound like how things have gone for you?  You've tried to be good, but somehow it never worked?  Don't give up hope. Help is on the way!

 

Christianity 101 (Word in Action 2008)

How did sin get started?

 

The Bible gives us how sin came into the world. Genesis 3 tells the story of how a serpent tempted Eve to eat fruit from the tree which God had forbidden the humans to eat. Both Adam and Eve gave in to the temptation and ate the fruit. This fruit was an act of disobedience to God, and is the first instance of humans committing sin. Before this happened, Adam and Eve lived in a perfect world. Their act of sin set in motion a tidal wave of disobedience to God. Humans have been sinning ever since.


We call this instance of sin "The Fall". Adam and Eve "fell" from their perfect state of grace by sinning. The stain of that fall from grace has been on humanity ever since. 

Christianity 101 (Word in Action 2008)

Adam and Eve's sin changed our predicament.

  

This original sin left humanity spiritually dead and morally corrupt. The disease of sin leaves us unable, of ourselves, to turn to God.  Only as His Spirit awakens and enables us do we become aware of our need and become able to turn to Him.  Here are a few ways we can describe mankind's sinful condition:

  • Propensity towards sin
  • Inclination to evil 
  • Inwardly depraved
  • original sin
  • "We are curved in on ourselves" Luther
  • disposition towards sin

This state of sinfulness constantly leads people away from God and causes them to do harm to others. Such is the condition of every person before he or she comes to Jesus, repenting and asking for forgiveness.

 

 What does the Bible say?
 
The Inner Conflict
We further believe that original sin continues to exist with the new life of the regenerate, until the heart is fully cleansed by the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

Article V

Part I

Orginal Sin

 

We believe that sin came into the world through the disobedience of our first parents, and death by sin. We believe that sin is of two kinds: original sin or depravity, and actual or personal sin.

We believe that original sin, or depravity, is that corruption of the nature of all the offspring of Adam by reason of which everyone is very far gone from original righteousness or the pure state of our first parents at the time of their creation, is averse to God, is without spiritual life, and inclined to evil, and that continually. We further believe that original sin continues to exist with the new life of the regenerate, until the heart is fully cleansed by the baptism with the Holy Spirit.