Original Sin, the Sin Nature, and what it Means for Us

Original sin, the sin nature, and what it means for us...

The Heresy of Pelagianism is a strong thing amongst many denominations. I have heard this heresy repeated many times by open air preachers like Kerrigan Skelly and Jesse Morrel and some others. Now, whether they are confessing Pelagians? I have no idea, but the tendencies are there in their speeches.

The obvious issue with Pelagianism is the concept of original sin. They reject the idea that man is charged with original sin, and they tell us all men decide to sin. This is an obvious heresy... I've heard multiple times that it isn't fair for us to be held accountable for a sin we did not commit. And then I turn to Joshua 7:

Joshua 7:10 "The Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why have you fallen on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. 12 Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction.[a] I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. 13 Get up! Consecrate the people and say, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow; for thus says the Lord, God of Israel, “There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you.” 14 In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. And the tribe that the Lord takes by lot shall come near by clans. And the clan that the Lord takes shall come near by households. And the household that the Lord takes shall come near man by man. 15 And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be burned with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has done an outrageous thing in Israel.’”

16 So Joshua rose early in the morning and brought Israel near tribe by tribe, and the tribe of Judah was taken. 17 And he brought near the clans of Judah, and the clan of the Zerahites was taken. And he brought near the clan of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was taken. 18 And he brought near his household man by man, and Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken. 19 Then Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and give praise[b] to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” 20 And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: 21 when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels,[c] then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and behold, it was hidden in his tent with the silver underneath. 23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the Lord. 24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The Lord brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor."

Does this seem fair?? No, but it is how the Lord, who is unchanging, dealt with this sin under the law! What changed between then and now? Only thing that changed is that now the Lord is the one judging the man and his family... Achen lost his life, his family lost theirs, even his animals died... Not exactly fair.

I want to close with a walkthrough of Romans 5:

Romans 5:12-21 English Standard Version (ESV)

Death in Adam, Life in Christ
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men[a] because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

- Verse 12 may seem like it assumes that Adam's sin made it "possible" for a man to sin. But in all reality, it made man subject to sin. Sin came into the world by one man (Adam) and brought death (both spiritual and physical) and death spread to all men because all sinned... All men sin, why, because it was in their nature to do so. Verse 13 says sin is not counted where there is no law, and that is true. It doesn't mean sin goes unpunished, or unimputed. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord where no one else did. So just because sin wasn't counted, doesn't mean it wasn't seen. God wiped the earth out for something... Verse 14 says that death still reigned from Adam to Moses, from the beginning of time to the giving of the Law, even though people's sin was unlike Adams. It's my opinion that Adam's sin was different because he had no sin nature, but still sinned. Our sin is different because we were born with the ability and desire to sin.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

- Verse 15 is the defining verse of this whole chapter. The Free Gift is not like the Trespass. Many died (Spiritually) by one man's trespass and many will be made alive (Spiritually) by one man Jesus Christ. Why would the author draw a parallel between a physical death and a spiritual life? He wouldn't! Hebrews contains a truth, it is appointed into all men once to die (Hebrews 9) the author knew this. He wouldn't make a category error. He was pointing out how spiritual death came upon all men and that spiritual life is now made available through one man, Jesus Christ. 16 says the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation... How are we to take this if we are not judged by Adam's sin? We are totally under the condemnation of God for that one trespass. Then verse 17 says that death reigned through that one man, Adam... That is definitively defined as sin nature. But that through another man, Jesus Christ, Grace abounds.

18 Therefore, as one trespass[b] led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness[c] leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

- One trespass led to the condemnation of all men. Therefore one act of righteousness brings justification. By one man's disobedience many were made sinners. Not just a few..  there were no people who chose not to... All were made sinners by that one act of rebellion. By one man's obedience, many were made righteous... Where sin reigned in death, grace reigns in righteousness through Jesus Christ.

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Pelagians need to think through their system. The great exegete, Augustine of Hippo, saw this passage in the light of sinful man, not exalted man. Our sins are grave, yes. And we do have generational sin. Adam was the undeceived man. We are also not deceived. If you want to believe in an age of accountability, that's fine. But don't deny that the children that you have don't knowingly do wrong at a young age... And it's because they were not born perfect. None of us were. We were all born with the sin of Adam.

Soli Deo Gloria!