Bible Question:
Psalm 51:5 in the NIV reads "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.". In the NASB reads "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me." These two translations seem to be not refering to the same sin? NIV: David's sin before he was born? NASB: David's mother's sin in her conceiving him? I see David as not accepting full responsibility for HIS sin in either translation. Ezekiel 20 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." Romans 7:8 "But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died." Without the law there may be sin, but there is no condemnation. Therefore the way I understand the scripture a new born baby at birth is without sin and there is no condemnation. He is although born into a sinful environment, but I am not sure if I would call it his nature. Read Genesis 3:14-19 Man was not cursed. There were two curses: On the serpent and on the ground (earth). Mans physical death was because he was expelled from the garden and did not have access to the tree of life (which was not forbidden to him by God) Genesis 3:22 Why do some christians refer to being born in sin or into a sinful nature and where is the scripture for this? |
Bible Answer: I think that we are born without personal sin; but we are born bearing the effects of the sin of Adam and Eve, inherited by the entire human race, since the sin was committed by the entire human race at the time - Adam and Eve. This innate spiritual weakness, this tendency toward evil, this absence of grace, which resulted from the original sin that the human race committed against God, is generally spoken of as being "born in original sin", though it is really more correct to say "born subject to the effects of original sin". There is no personal guilt involved. |