Wherefore, as by one
man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. – Romans 5:12
There are a growing number of people today who are lured into
the fatally deceptive belief that men are inherently good in themselves. They promote that the influences of the world
have subjected man to give in to sin. This then gives them the false perception
that right and wrong are relative to intentions, motives, and the end
result. However, the Bible gives
explicit facts about the nature of man’s fallen state. We are made in the image of God but Adam’s
disobedience gave way for sin to creep in and corrupt mankind as attested by
verses 18-19, “Therefore as by the
offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the
righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners…”
Sin is Conceived In Man. David explained that his conception
had involved sin as Psalms 51:5 proved, “Behold,
I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” We as
David have a sin nature when we are born;
it is not something we learn afterwards. Our actions only express what
our nature is. The sin nature is the basis for all sinful habits. Without
understanding the source of sin one cannot understand nor give the solution
correctly. The Law is not the answer, it points to the problem, it is
diagnostic but it is not the cure.
Sin Comes From Within Man.
We do not just make up our mind to sin or make a mistake and go from
being perfect to being sinful. Ephesians 2:3 says, “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by
nature the children of wrath, even as others.” Sin has its roots in the
heart that influences the intellect and will and ultimately finds its
expression through the body when we follow through with the desire as Jeremiah
17:9 affirms, “The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” The sin nature
is the basis for sinful habits; it is not a single act but a process that
begins in our heart. We can say that the real source of man’s problem is heart
disease, our fallen human nature.
Sin Communicates To Outward Actions. We sin because we have the nature of sin
already in us. Mark is even more specific in chapter 7:20-23, "And he said, That which cometh out of
the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men,
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and
defile the man. "
Because of our fallen humanity we cannot act apart from our
nature. We can see the sin nature at work even in a child who is not
trained in his behavior as he disobeys and naturally acts selfishly; he does
not necessarily learn this from external influences to act it out. The Bible
says that we act on our nature. The Psalmist says in chapter 58:3 “The wicked are estranged from the womb:
they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” Job 15:14 says, "What is man, that he should be
clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?”
Certainly, if we would have the scriptural attitude in the
matter, we must humbly confess that the Bible is right when it says in 1 John
1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” Only then will we be able to allow the Spirit
of God to lead the lost to repentance and the saved to spiritual maturity in
his walk with God.
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