What is original sin?
Scripture never uses the phrase "original sin," yet it constantly describes the thing the phrase points to: a race that starts life already ruined by what the first man did. Commentators are careful here, because the term means different things to different people — so the first question is always what someone means by it.
The Term
The words are a human summary, not a Bible quotation, and one writer traces the idea to a quiet detail in Genesis: Adam was made in God's likeness, but his son was born in Adam's likeness.
F. B. HoleThe term "original sin" may not be found in the Bible, but the truth conveyed by the term is there right enough. In Genesis 5:3 we read, "Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image." Originally he had been created in God's likeness, but he did not reproduce himself during his brief time of innocence... He fell first and then fathered children in his own likeness as a fallen creature... All his descendants came into the world sinners in their very constitution. That is what is meant by "original sin."
Commentators differ on how much weight the phrase can carry. Some caution that it is a theological term, not a scriptural one, and that people use it loosely:
Morrish Bible DictionaryThis term is often used by theologians, but they are not agreed as to its meaning. It is not found in Scripture. Man has derived an evil nature from Adam, but his sins are his own. Death passed upon all men because of Adam's sin, but all have sinned. Rom. 5:12.
Two Things In It
Pressed for a definition, one writer separates what the term actually holds — and it is not imitation of Adam.
J. N. DarbyAs to original sin, it is well to say what we mean by it, as men's thoughts differ widely. We read that "by one man's disobedience sin entered into the world": there we find that the sin of Adam put him in this position. There are two things in what is commonly called original sin. It does not consist in following Adam, but that I am alienated from God, and also that I have an evil nature.
Root And Fruit
Much confusion clears once two words are kept apart. Scripture speaks of sin, the source inside us, and sins, the acts that come out of it — and God does not treat the two the same way.
The Bible TreasuryIt is necessary to carefully distinguish between sin and sins — the root and the fruit. We all have sin in us, as we all have committed sins, and the latter are the fruit of the former. They are most clearly distinguished in Scripture... Sins are forgiven, sin has been condemned in Christ as sin-offering on the cross... In Romans 8:3 this is called "sin in the flesh." But this is never said to be forgiven — God has condemned it in the sacrifice of Christ.
Proof In Every Life
You do not need a theology book to see it. One writer answers the objection that infants die though they have committed no obvious wrong.
James BoydBy natural generation we are all in Adam, for we all derive from him, and from him in his fallen, not in his innocent, condition... To this it may be replied that infants die, and that open acts of sin can scarcely be put down to their account. Quite true. But leave them alone for a very little time, and you will find that in every one of them a very strong will quickly shows itself. And what is that? Nothing else than sin. Sin is lawlessness: it is doing one's own will.
God's Answer
Because the trouble is a nature and not just a record, improvement is the wrong remedy. The cross dealt with it by sentence, not pardon.
L. M. GrantIt is "sin," not "sins," that is in question here. "Sins forgiven" and "sin in the flesh condemned" are two truths very different in character... The nature has been condemned in the cross of Christ. It has already proven itself incorrigible, incapable of any change, fully opposed to God. Nothing could do for it but crucifixion: it could not be forgiven, could not be improved, and must come under condemnation.
That is why a fresh start from outside is required, and why moral effort cannot supply it.
C. H. Mackintosh"In the flesh" and "on the platform of nature" mean one and the same thing; and so long as you are there and thus, you cannot please God. "You must be born again" — renewed in the very deepest springs of your being... It is not by self-improvement but by new birth that we reach the blessed kingdom of God.
Summary
- Origin — Adam fell first, then fathered children in his own fallen likeness; his descendants arrive sinners "in their very constitution."
- Content — The term holds two things together: I am alienated from God, and I have an evil nature.
- Reach — It shows in every life, even before open wrongdoing; leave a child alone briefly and a strong will appears, and that will is sin.
- Remedy — Sins are forgiven; sin in the flesh is not forgiven but condemned in the cross of Christ, because it cannot be improved.
- Result — Since the flesh cannot please God, the answer is not self-improvement but new birth, and a new nature given by God.