Augustine’s doctrine of original sin says you were born bad to the bone and hostile to God. You inherited Adam’s rebellious and sinful nature and your kids are going to hell.

Contrary to what you may have heard, original sin is not Biblical. This manmade teaching comes straight out of Judaism and was introduced into the church by Tertullian and Augustine. It has been preached by just about everyone (including me).

In my last article I looked at several Old Testament scriptures which are used to support original sin. In this article, I will briefly survey those New Testament scriptures which are (mis)used for the same purpose.

Every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. (Matthew 7:17)

Here Jesus is teaching us how to recognize false prophets. “By their fruit you will recognize them.” Good fruit means a good tree; bad fruit means a bad tree. But what makes a tree good or bad in the first place?

Augustine would say all trees are born bad, but Jesus said some trees are made bad (see Matt. 12:33). If you can be made bad, you could not have been born bad. By the same token, if you can be made good, you could not have been born good.

A young child who does not know right from wrong cannot be judged good or bad. They become good or bad as a result of the choices they make.

That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man. (Mark 7:20–23)

The religious Jews were worried about what they were putting into their stomachs, but Jesus told them to watch what comes out of their hearts. When temptation is received, it gives birth to sin and this happens in the heart.

This has nothing to do with original sin and everything to do with hearts that have become corrupt. Jesus is talking about trees not acorns, men not babies. Babies aren’t tempted to fornications, thefts, and murders. These are grown-up sins for those who have been raised in a world of sin.

No one is good except God alone. (Mark 10:18)

God’s definition of goodness far exceeds our own. There are good people in the world, but no one is as good as God. We all fall short of his glory, we all need divine grace. This is different from saying everyone is born corrupt and bad to the bone.

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

What kind of person prefers darkness to light? Some might say it is those who were stained with original sin, but that’s not what Jesus said. Those who prefer the darkness are those whose deeds are evil.

Think of Adam and Eve hiding in the garden. They weren’t hiding because they had a sinful nature. They hid because they had done an evil deed. “Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:20). Evildoers prefer the darkness because they are afraid of being exposed by the light.

As it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10–12, NIV)

None of us is born righteous, but that doesn’t mean you were born a hell-bound rebel. On the day he drew his first breath, Adam was neither righteous nor sinful, and neither are we. Like Adam, we all get to choose the path we will follow.

Note the words “as it is written.” Paul is quoting the psalms. It was David who said there is none who seeks after God (Ps. 14:2–3). Which is a terrific piece of prose but it is not literally true, for David himself sought the Lord. “I sought the Lord and he answered me” (Ps. 34:4). People like David have always looked for God. We need to take care that we don’t turn beautiful psalms into blanket statements about the hearts of men.

In context, Paul is speaking about the Jews who sought to be righteous through the law (see Rom. 2:17). He is saying that our righteousness falls short of the Lord’s righteousness (Rom. 3:21–23). Compared to God, “there is none righteous.” We all need the righteousness that comes through faith to those who believe (Rom. 3:22).

Paul also says that all have become worthless. (Worthless in the sense that we are unfit for the kingdom of God.) We are not born worthless, we become worthless. We are not born astray, we go astray.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

Paul says all have sinned in the same way he says all have turned aside (Rom. 3:12). Which is very different to the claims of original sin.

Again and again the scriptures declare that we have all gone astray (see Ps. 14:3, Heb. 3:10, 1 Pet. 2:25). “All of us, like sheep, have gone astray” (Is. 53:6). Again, this is not proof of original sin but humanity’s lostness and need for God.

In context, Paul is comparing the Jews who have the law and the Gentiles who do not (Rom. 2:14). Although the Jews have some advantages over the Gentiles (Rom. 3:1), in the final analysis it makes little difference because all of us fall short of God’s glory. We all sin. We all go astray. We all need a Savior.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12)

Paul wrote more about sin than any other New Testament writer, yet he never said we were born with a sinful nature. What we inherited from Adam was a death sentence. “Through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men” (Rom. 5:18).

The key phrase in Romans 5:12 is “all sinned,” which means when Adam sinned we were in him. Adam put himself and his unborn offspring on Death Row. “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned” (Rom. 5:14).

For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners – (Romans 5:19a)

To be made a sinner is to be made a slave. “You were slaves of sin” (Rom. 6:17). Religion says you were born a rebel, but the Bible says you were born a slave. “The whole world is a prisoner because of sin” (Gal. 3:22, NIrV). There are numerous scriptures showing that sinners are prisoners or slaves to sin (e.g., John 8:34, Rom. 6:6, 16–20, 22, 7:4, 14, Gal. 4:7, 2 Pet. 2:9).

Religion says your greatest need is to be forgiven for the crime of being born, but your greatest need is to be free. “I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin… Who will set me free?” (Rom. 7:14, 24).

Jesus did not come to convince rebels to change sides. He came to set the captives free (Luke 4:18).

Perhaps you have heard it said, “You’re not a sinner because you sin, you sin because you’re a sinner.” But what makes us sinners in the first place? It is not a sinful gene; it was Adam’s disobedience. “Through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.” Your disobedience doesn’t come into it. Humanity was condemned because Adam sinned.

Why do sinners sin? We might ask why do slaves act like slaves or prisoners act like prisoners? A prisoner who acts like a prisoner, doesn’t know any other way to live. He has forgotten how life was on the outside. It’s the same with us. We were born into a world captive to sin. We act like sinners because that is how the world teaches us to act.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh (Romans 7:18a)

From this verse some conclude that our flesh is evil or that we have a sinful nature or a sinful parasite. Your physical flesh is not evil. The members of your body can be used as instruments of righteousness or unrighteousness (Rom. 6:13). When Paul says nothing good dwells in me, he is saying “My flesh is incapable of living the good and spiritual life that I desire.” That which is imperfect can never achieve perfection.

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3)

Augustine loved the phrase sinful flesh. The phrase appears dozens of times in his writings, but the phrase appears only once in the Bible.

To say Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh is to say he came to earth disguised as a sinful son of Adam. The Son of God was not a sinner, but he looked like one in the sense that he came in human form. The virgin-born man from heaven entered the prison of sin dressed in flesh like any other prisoner.

The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. (Romans 8:7, NKJV)

Augustine would say that a mind that is hostile to the things of God is proof of a sin gene, but Paul is contrasting two ways to walk. We can set our mind on carnal concerns or we can fix our minds on the things of the spirit (Rom. 8:6).

You do not need a sin gene to explain why humans sin. Consider the first woman. Like her husband, Eve was flawless and without sin, yet she sinned. With her God-given freedom Eve chose the wrong path and went astray.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins. (Ephesian 2:1)

In our natural state we are excluded, shut out, and disconnected from the life of God (Eph. 2:5, 4:18). We are born mortal which is to say we are condemned to die. “In Adam, all die” (1 Cor. 15:22). Our greatest need is to be raised from the dead to new life and this happens when we put our faith in the Author of Life (John 3:15–16, 5:24).

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. (Ephesians 2:3)

Before we were born again we were by nature children of wrath. This is a figure of speech. We were children of disobedience; now we are children of God. We used to have one kind of nature; now we have another. Paul is not saying that babies and children are under the wrath of God.

Contrary to what Augustine might say, you do not need to repent of the crime of being born and your children are not bound for hell. It’s true that Adam put himself and his unborn descendants on Death Row, but Last Adam demolished the prison that held us.

Because of Jesus, every one of us has the same choice Adam had. We can yield to sin and become slaves again, or we can trust God and live.

—–

If you want to learn more, check out my ebook on Patreon and E2R’s Supporters’ page.

Since publishing my article refuting the doctrine of original sin, several readers have asked “What about this scripture?” Some people seem to think Augustine’s doctrine of original sin is biblical. It isn’t. Original sin is an old Jewish teaching wrapped up in Christian jargon.

Augustine taught it, not Paul, and we would do well to get rid of it.

For those who came in late: Original sin says you inherited Adam’s sinful nature. You were hardwired to rebel. (Too bad if your parent’s were believers with a new nature.) Before you drew your first breath, you were hostile towards God and bound for hell.

There is no question that sinners have a sinful nature and that we all need to be saved from sin, but Augustine went further. He said we are born corrupt, and that we inherited a rebellious streak from our forefather Adam.

“This is why we need Jesus,” say some. “This is why we need to be born again.”

Except the sin gene is a myth. Jesus did not come because you inherited a bit of bad code. He came because you were dead in sin and in need of new life. The difference is subtle, but the implications are massive.

Original sin has got us speaking lies over our children. This diabolical teaching cripples people with guilt.

Let’s take a quick look at some of those scriptures that are used to prop up original sin.

When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. (Genesis 5:3)

Adam was made in the image of God, but Seth was made in the image of his sinful father, or so says original sin. Adam started out in the likeness of God but was remade into something sinful and satanic. From then on humanity has been made in the image of Satan. This is blasphemous. Jesus was “made in the likeness of men” and there was nothing sinful or satanic about him (Php. 2:7).

“According to his image” means the same thing as “after their kind,” a phrase which appears repeatedly in the creation account (e.g., Gen. 1:24). Cattle give birth to cattle, and humans give birth to humans.

Adam had no earthly father so he was made in the likeness of God (Gen. 5:1). Seth was different. He had a dad. To say he was made in Adam’s likeness is to imply he was made in the likeness of God, as we all are. “Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God” (Luke 3:38).

I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth… (Genesis 8:21)

After the Fall of man, humanity became obsessed with sinning (Gen. 6:5), and by the time of Noah the world had become so wicked that even young people were practicing evil. Does this prove that babies and children inherit a sinful nature? It proves they do not. If children were born hardwired to sin, their evil behavior would not have been remarkable. They would’ve been evil from birth, not youth. This verse teaches that sinful inclinations are learned and in the days of Noah people learned to sin from a young age.

There is no man who does not sin… (1 Kings 8:46, 2 Chr. 6:36)

This passage is the Old Testament version of Romans 3:23: “All have sinned.” The scriptures consistently declare that all have gone astray and fallen short of the glory of God. We wander, we drift, we fall. Scriptures about our propensity for sin do not prove the existence of a sin gene as much as they portray humanity’s lostness and need for salvation.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5)

David does not say he was born with a sinful nature but that he was brought forth in iniquity or in a state of sin. Like the rest of us, David was born on Death Row, a prisoner in need of a Rescuer. In essence, David is saying the same thing Paul says in Romans 5:19. “Through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners.”

David wrote Psalm 51 after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. He knew he was a sinner. But instead of making excuses – “It was my sinful nature that made me do it” – he cried out to God for grace and mercy. “Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loving-kindness” (Ps. 51:1). These are not the words of a rebel. This is the cry of a man who had relied on the Lord from the womb (Ps. 71:6).

The wicked are estranged from the womb. These who speak lies go astray from birth. (Psalm 58:3)

Apparently this verse proves that all of us are born with a sinful nature and estranged from God. Only the passage says no such thing. It’s the wicked who are estranged from the womb. Read this verse literally and it sounds like some people start out bad while others don’t. Which is like saying some people are descended from Adam but others aren’t.

Psalm 51 and 58 are often used to prop up original sin, but the man who said “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” would have been repulsed by this doctrine. David did not see himself as a born rebel. Unlike the wicked who are estranged from the womb, David came out of the womb praising God (Ps. 22:10). He understood that we are shaped in the womb by God and not sin. God alone is our Maker.

You have been called a rebel from birth. (Isaiah 48:8)

“You were born corrupt and a rebel from birth. Isaiah says so.” Read this passage in context and you will see that Isaiah is not talking about babies but the nation of Israel. Jacob was a rebel, his sons were rebels, and the new nation of Israel rebelled against the Lord almost as soon as he brought them out of Egypt.

The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. (Jeremiah 17:9)

A heart that distrusts the Lord is a treacherous heart, but when does the heart become treacherous? Does it happen in the womb or later? Jeremiah answers this question in verse five: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord.” Our hearts mislead us when they lead us away from the Lord.

Adam had a choice to follow God and so do we. But if we turn away or depart from the Lord, we set ourselves up for disaster. When we sow to the flesh we reap destruction (Gal. 6:8). But the moment we turn to the Lord, he gives us a new heart with new desires (Eze. 36:26).

There are no passages in the Old Testament that say we inherited Adam’s sinful nature, but there are plenty of scriptures refuting original sin.

In my next article, I will look at those New Testament scriptures which are (mis)used to support Augustine’s bad doctrine.

—–

Never miss an article. Sign up as an email subscriber:

The doctrine of original sin is one of the most damaging lies ever inflicted on the human race. Developed by Tertullian and popularized by Augustine, original sin says we all inherited Adam’s fallen nature.

There is no question that sinners have a sinful nature and that we all need to be saved from sin, but Augustine went further. He said we are born corrupt, and that we inherited a rebellious streak from our forefather Adam.

You were born spiritually dead and rebellious at heart. From the moment you drew your first breath, you were inclined towards sin, utterly depraved, and hostile towards God.

What is original sin?

This is how John Calvin (1509–1564) defined original sin:

Original sin may be defined a hereditary corruption and depravity of our nature, extending to all the parts of the soul, which first makes us obnoxious to the wrath of God, and then produces in us works which in Scripture are termed works of the flesh.

The key word is hereditary. The doctrine of original sin, as taught by Augustine, Calvin, et al., says you inherited a rebellious streak from your forefather Adam. Adam was a rebel which makes you a rebel. Before you were born, you were inclined to sin and disobey God. You were born bad to the bone and bound for hell.

“Men are born vicious,” said Calvin, as a result of the sin that Adam inflicted on upon his descendants.

The Lutherans agreed saying that all men, “from their mother’s womb, are full of evil desire and inclination, and can have by nature no true fear of God, no true faith in God.”

I disagree.

Like you, I grew up believing I was a natural born sinner inclined to rebel. It was obvious, wasn’t it? Just look at how I struggled with sin.

But around the time my children were born I began to question this teaching. “Is this little treasure really a hell-born brat?!”

After more than 15 years of studying this, I have come to the conviction that Augustine’s doctrine of original sin is a manmade and thoroughly unbiblical teaching.

(If you’re interested in how I got here, check out my ebook entitled Original Sin: What Does the Bible Really Say? on Patreon.)

To clarify, the issue is not whether people are depraved, corrupt, and defiled, but whether we are born that way. Were we born corrupt or did we become corrupt? Did we enter the world sinning and rebelling against God, or did we go astray along the way?

Those who preach Augustine’s doctrine of original sin swing for the hereditary answer. Our sinful nature is essentially a sin gene, an inherited disposition towards sin, and we are all born with it.

Again, there is no question that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, and there is no doubt that Adam’s transgression had consequences that affect all of us (see Romans 5). My issue is with Augustine’s suggestion that after the Fall humanity was essentially remade or rewired to sin.

Scriptures used to support original sin include Gen. 5:3, 8:1, Ps. 51:5, 58:3, Jer. 17:9, Mark 7:23, Rom. 3:10–12, 5:12, 19, 7:18, and Eph. 2:1 and 3. I address these scriptures in my new book, but today I want to look at some other scriptures.

Scriptures refuting original sin

Original sin says you were shaped by sin in your mother’s womb. You were born defective and rebellious on account of Adam’s bad genes.

The Bible paints a different picture. Many wonderful scriptures show that you were handmade by God. Here’s a taste:

Your hands shaped me and made me. (Job 10:8).

You have been my God from my mother’s womb. (Ps. 22:10)

Your hands made me and formed me… (Ps. 119:73)

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb… (Is. 44:24)

God made you. He shaped you, fashioned you, and knitted you together, and he did a great job:

I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well. (Ps. 139:14)

Augustinian tradition says you are defective and broken, but the Scriptures declare you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You are a one of a kind special.

Where does the sin gene figure in this? It doesn’t. Adam’s sin affected the ground and everything that comes out of the ground, and this is why death is experienced in our physical bodies.

But your body is merely a home or earthsuit that you wear and which will one day be upgraded. The real you – your spirit and your mental faculties – comes from God (Job 32:8).

For you formed my inward parts. You wove me in my mother’s womb. (Ps. 139:13)

Your outward parts may be aging and broken, but your inward parts are first-rate because God doesn’t do shoddy work. You are not a mistake because God doesn’t make mistakes.

“If original sin is not true, why is the world such a mess?” This verse explains it:

Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (Ecc. 7:29, NKJV)

God did a good job making humanity, but we ran after evil schemes and corrupted ourselves. We are not born corrupt but we become corrupted by the deceitful desires of the old self (Eph. 4:22), the pollutions of this world (2 Pet. 2:7, 20), and tradition and religion (1 Pet. 1:18–19). Behind all these sources of corruption we see the influence of the devil (see Eph. 2:1–2).

Original sin is one of those doctrines that sounds biblical but isn’t. It combines words and phrases from the Bible in ways that contradict the Bible.

The key differences between this manmade doctrine and what the scriptures actually say are summarized in the Table below (click on the pic for a bigger version).

Original sin has been around so long it’s hard to imagine an alternative, but the Bible has been around longer and the picture it paints is clear as day.

—–

Other articles on original sin:

• Old Testament scriptures used to support original sin
• New Testament scriptures used to support original sin
• The religious origins of original sin
• What is the true significance of the virgin birth?
• Are your children natural born sinners?
• What happens to unbaptized infants who die?
• Has original sin made you a bad parent?
• Six reasons why original sin cannot be true