We will now turn to another major doctrine in conflict with scriptures. It is the doctrine of Original Sin held by mainstream Christianity. It is the backbone of Pre-forgiveness of sins, moral transfer, substitution, rewards, and unconditional eternal security (“Once Saved, Always Saved”). All these topics rest solely on the foundation of the doctrine of original sin.

The bible tells us:

If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psa.11:3)

   Mainstream Christianity is actually teaching Reformed Theology. Simply put, it is the false religious system of “Calvinism.” Calvinist theology is well known by the acronym: T.U.L.I.P. It stands for:

1. Total Depravity (also known as “Total Inability.” Man is wicked to the core apart from God’s divine intervention to make them do something good.)

2. Unconditional Election (Basically, God chooses who will be save.)

3. Limited Atonement (Since God chooses who will be saved, there must be a predetermined number of people.)

4. Irresistible Grace (Consequently, those few whom God has selected must be forced to get saved.)

5. Perseverance of the Saints (God will do whatever it takes to make those who were chosen to persevere in holy living.)

   Some denominations may not hold to all five points. They may reject the second, third, and fourth, and cling to the rest.

   It is not difficult to understand that heresy begets another out of necessity. Therefore, we need to do some tiptoeing through this dying tulip. The erroneous belief I will cover here is “Total Depravity.” It teaches that all are born in sin.

   I do not want to get into every letter in the acronym because it would take too much time, not to mention that just a cursory reading of the scriptures, applied with some common sense, should not confuse anyone. However, sad to say, there are people gullible to this teaching whether they are Christian or not. When all is said and done, it leaves the person with a sense of ease because this teaching leaves them with the conclusion that it releases them to take full responsibility for their own sinful actions. Do you know the old T.V. program The Flip Wilson Show? One of his catch phrases was, “The Devil made me do it.” Well, now people just think, “Original sin made me do it.”

   Many who own the platform, so to speak, whether from the pulpits, books, or T.V. land, know how to deceive people by their great pious and swelling words. These accusations may appear to be rough, but Jesus had tougher words for those who would lead people astray (Matt. 23).

   I was running an errand one day and had my radio playing. I was listening to a preacher who said how babies are born drunkards, liars, fornicators, adulterers, etc., but they just do not know it yet. I thought to myself, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I could not believe what I was hearing. I had one preacher tell me personally that babies are born liars!

   The grandbaby of Calvinism is that we are “all born sinners” (the first point of Calvinism – Total Depravity). A man named Augustine blended this doctrine into Christianity about the third or fourth century. He is known as Saint Augustine of Hippo. He was a philosopher and theologian. I dare not call him a saint. Though Augustine was highly educated and a professor of rhetoric, he was also a false teacher.

   This teaching of Augustine involves the idea that Adam’s sin (eating from the forbidden tree) was transmitted to his posterity. He believed that sin is physically and genetically transmitted from the parent to child through sexual reproduction.

   Psalms 51:5 is the buttress for this doctrine that all are born in sin:

"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

   Because of the teaching of original sin, the Catholic Church saw the implications and came up with the bright idea of the “Immaculate Conception” (Mary not stained with original sin). On the other hand, the Protestants claim that sin is passed through the father and therefore Jesus was not stained with original sin (for God was his father). Both defend this doctrine by trying to get support from Psalms 51:5. However, there are a couple of problems with these two views:

1. Jesus was brought forth from his human mother (Lk 1:31). If original sin is inherited from one’s mother, Christ had it (therefore the unbiblical doctrine invented, the “sinlessness of Mary”).

2. Those who suggest that sin is not inherited from the father (because of Adam), cannot use Ps. 51:5 to prove it because it only mentions the mother!

   We are to believe that since sin is transmitted to Adam’s posterity, the entire human race is utterly inclined toward evil from birth and said to be “born in sin.” This makes the person entirely disabled, not able to do good, and intensely wicked to the core. Therefore, the human race sins by necessity rather than by choice.

   Augustine also blended into Christian doctrine the idea of “dual nature.” The term that comes up is “sinful nature,” and this has infected The New International Version which sometimes translates the word “flesh” (SARX in the Greek) to “sinful nature” when trying to support this doctrine of original sin.

   Nowhere is this doctrine expounded upon by anyone in the whole bible. This doctrine plainly contradicts other passages of scripture and wrongly makes God the author of sin.

   When it comes to trying to support this false doctrine of original sin, we often hear, “No one has to teach a baby to be selfish, self-seeking, or demanding." The advocates for inbred sin try to prove we are born with a sinful nature by pointing to babies! A baby crying for his mother is called sin! A baby crying because he is hungry is called sin! A baby wanting his diaper changed is called sin! A baby wanting comfort in his mother's arms is called sin! People, please think about this. What utter lies. The only way a baby can communicate when in discomfort is to cry. Jesus had to do the same to get his mother's attention! Was Jesus, therefore, a constant sinner?

The Lutheran Confession of Sin reads:

I, poor sinful man, confess to God, the Almighty, my Creator and Redeemer, that I not only have sinned in thoughts, words and deeds, but also was conceived and born in sin, and so all my nature and being is deserving of punishment and condemnation before His righteousness. Therefore I flee to His gratuitous mercy and seek and beseech His grace. Lord, be merciful to me, miserable sinner.

   Imagine, a Christian is a miserable sinner? Sounds more like miserable Christianity for those who believe the lie that we are born in sin. How convenient it is that we can sin and blame it on our nature rather than by our own choices we have made to sin.

   By blaming that we are born a sinner just releases us from taking full responsibility for our own sinful choices and that God should pity us for being born in such a state. Since it is our nature, and we are already condemned at birth for what we are, why should we also be condemned for what sins we do? Imagine being born condemned because of our nature that was not our choice!

   Sin defenders (for lack of a better term) like to use the “doggie logic” by saying, “A dog is not a dog because he barks: he barks because he is a dog.” Therefore, this is supposed to prove that “man is not a sinner because he sins; he sins because he is a sinner.” They do not see the problem in this logic. Do they realize they are not a dog? God created dogs to bark and it is natural for a dog to bark, but is not a sin for a dog to bark. People, on the other hand, can choose to bark like a dog, but this does not prove they are a dog. People do not sin because they are born sinners. They are sinners because they choose to sin.

   God created human beings but he did not create them to sin. Sin is unnatural and against the nature God gave us. A simple lie detector proves this point. If it were our nature to sin, why would people be bothered with a guilty conscience?

   Furthermore, the devil must be unaware of this doctrine of original sin. How so? Because he is wasting an awful lot of time tempting us to sin if sin were natural because we are born with a sinful nature and only acting within our nature to sin. This also means the apostles wasted their time to warn believers to be on their guard against the snares of the devil, lest they are tempted and fall into sin (1 Peter 5:8-9; Eph. 6:11-12). Why give such exhortations if we are born with a sinful nature and do not need the devil to fall into sin?

   Jesus too must have been unaware of this doctrine. Instead of Jesus ascribing sins to a moral connection with the tempter, the devil (John 3:8-10; John 8:44, as well as Paul in Acts 13:10), he should have told the truth instead of deliberately failing to tell them the true reason of why they sin. That is, Jesus failed to tell them they are not responsible for their choices to sin due to a moral connection with Adam.

 Sin is Not A Substance – It is Not In The DNA

   The bible is so clear that sin is not passed onto others. Sin is not a substance. It is not in the DNA. Sin cannot be transferred from one person to the next. The bible simply says that sin is a transgression. It is disobedience to God’s law:

Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4 KJB)

 The word “committeth” means to sin habitually. It is ongoing. The ISV translates it as:

Everyone who keeps living in sin also practices disobedience. In fact, sin is disobedience.

   Those who do not know Christ are called "workers of lawlessness" (“iniquity” -Matthew 7:23).

   Ezek. 18:20 is clear that “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son.” No one inherits Adam's sin, but we do suffer the consequences of Adam's sin. That is a vast difference. Mankind suffers the consequence of Adam's sin as in pain, sickness, and eventually physical death. However, no one inherits Adam's guilt. If a man is arrested for stealing, they do not put the parents on trial. The man is guilty for his own transgression.

 Sin Is A Moral Issue

   Since sin is a moral issue which is a transgression of the law and conscience (1 John 3:4; James 4:17), and babies are not able to make moral decisions, they are morally neutral. They are not responsible for their parent’s sin. Babies are innocent. Children are neither guilty of evil nor worthy of praise until they are able to make their own decisions.

   When anyone sins, they do not do it by necessity, but rather by choice (James 1:13-15). This is why every human is responsible for the 'things done in the body’ and is judged according to what he/she has done, whether it be good or evil (2Cor. 5:10).

   There was a study done some years ago that involved six-month-old babies and the study concluded that babies know the difference between good and evil. They did an experiment involving puppets and the babies showed they had a strong preference to 'good' helpful characters and rejected unhelpful 'naughty' ones. Now, I would not say that babies have the knowledge in the sense that they have the ability to reason, to compute, and to analyze. But God did make us with a nature that is good and upright (Ecc. 7:29), and the law is written upon our hearts (Rom. 2:15), and everyone faces the day when they have to make moral decisions with the knowledge that they actually know the difference between good and evil. To me, the study showed that babies already see the difference because of the innate nature God has given them even though they do not have the understanding yet. (Isa. 7:15-16)

   The bible is clear that is it our iniquities and our sins that separate us from God:

But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, that he will not hear.

   Moral character is never inherited. If this “sin nature” controls our life, please tell me, why blame someone for his or her sinful behavior? How can you or I feel responsible for something that does not spring from our choice but rather governs our choice? We would only be acting within our nature! If the person is only acting within the sin nature God supposedly has given him, as a dog barks because it is his nature to bark, how can we blame the dog for barking and how can a person be blamed for sinning? How can we blame the drunk who runs over a child? According to original sin, his nature was to drink and get drunk; he had no choice!

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