Do we Inherit sin?

[Brother Paul]

I read an article earlier that attempts to answer the question: Do Babies go to hell when they die?

http://www.apologeti...13&article=1201

I looked this up because I was interested to know what happened to babies and young children if they died before being old enough to make the decision to accept Jesus and the gift of salvation.

The article explains that it is a common belief that we inherit sin (which is something I've heard many times and have come to believe) but then uses the following verse to argue against that.

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. Ezekiel 18:20

So after I finished the article I looked up articles discussing whether or not we inherit sin and I found one here:

http://www.gotquesti...nherit-sin.html

This article says that we do inherit sin and uses verses such as:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 3:23

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

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

Psalm 51:5

So naturally, I'm confused and would like clarification.

If we inherit sin, then we are born sinners and babies who die, die before being able to repent and turn to the Lord Jesus.

Yes! These scriptures do not teach we inherit sin but that we all will sin (and thus be justified in condemnation without Christ), however I would like to point out the eisegesis (as opposed to exegesis) of Psalm 51:5, which Psalm grammatically only indicates David's parents iniquity and says nothing at all about his being born iniquitous himself. It is uses the incorrect way to only support a preconceived doctrine regarding one idea about the original sin but it is not good Biblical scholarship to twist or re-interpret a plain rendering to make a scripture appear to agree with our doctrine. The UPC does this with Acts 2:38 and the Christian Science people with Mark 11:23 and the Church of Christ with Mark 16:16 which does not actually say you must be Baptized to be saved (but I do believe any who are saved would want to be Baptized and that it is important just not specifically salvic).

The Bible says (and other places)

Job 10:8, “Your hands shaped me and made me.”

In Psalm 139, he wrote, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise you; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are your works; and that my soul knows right well.”

Psalm 199:3, “Know ye that the Lord is God; it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Isaiah 42:5 Thus says God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; he that gives breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk in it.

Isaiah 57:16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

Zech.12:1 This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him.

So the scriptures establish that it is God who makes, creates, the spirit in a person when they are formed. Are we saying that God creates dead spirits in people? Condemned souls are what He forms in unborn infants? Evil, despicable people, guilty and judged who have not yet sinned?

Then how is it that children are called the heritage of the Lord and how is the man blessed whose quiver is full??? He is blessed by pro-creating little devils? The living dead are the heritage of the Lord? Paul says that before the Law, there is no transgression and 1 John 3:4 tells us that “sin” is a transgression of the law. Now granted since Adam we are all born with a nature that will sin…and all have sinned…but we are not judged worthy of spiritual death until WE sin…the Bible is clear in the law and the prophets that God does not hold the sins of the fathers against the children (is not Adam one of our fathers?). No we do not inherit condemnation (pay for the guilt of Adam) we inherit physical death but spiritual death is not made sure until the judgment. If we die without our names being written in the book of life and we are thrown into the lake of fire…THIS is the SECOND death…

The soul that sins IT must die and babies have not sinned…now perhaps we can conclude there is an age of accountability but the being born spiritually dead thing is not taking into account the whole council of God (it is a misnomer following on the heels of the modern belief of ”Total” depravity,which is interpreted as absolute incapability, which again must either eliminate, ignore, or re-interpret well over 50 Biblical passages…not a good idea IMO…

In His love

Brother Paul

Edited April 6, 2013 by Brother Paul

[missmuffet]

No,babies do not go to hell when they die.And yes we are all born with a sin nature.

[enoob57]

David was stated as a man after God's Own Heart.... David says this of his own child born out of iniquity

2 Sam 12:22-23

22 And he said, "While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who can tell whether the Lord

will be gracious to me, that the child may live?' 23 But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring

him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me."

NKJV

if Davids heart expected this- it is a good foundation for us to expect also... Love, Steven

[gdemoss]

Do we inherit sin?

In Adam all die.

When lust has conceived it brings forth sin and sin when it is finished it brings forth death.

In Christ all live.

But some having counted themselves unworthy of eternal life will suffer eternal death.

When I would to do good evil is present with me, sin in me.

Was it always with me or did it enter into me at sometime later in life?

Who was my master if not sin before Christ?

Who is the god of this world and what world was I a part of since birth until I was born again?

I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Sin is all that I had known until I met Christ, even from birth, now I serve Christ.

[enoob57]

Do we inherit sin?

In Adam all die.

When lust has conceived it brings forth sin and sin when it is finished it brings forth death.

In Christ all live.

But some having counted themselves unworthy of eternal life will suffer eternal death.

When I would to do good evil is present with me, sin in me.

Was it always with me or did it enter into me at sometime later in life?

Who was my master if not sin before Christ?

Who is the god of this world and what world was I a part of since birth until I was born again?

I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Sin is all that I had known until I met Christ, even from birth, now I serve Christ.

that is a very detailed Yes

[gdemoss]

gdemoss...

James 1:15 says “…when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin…”> I may be wrong gdemoss, but it seemed as if you were using this to show Psalm 51:5 may support babies being born condemnable sinners. This passage has no relation to this subject whatsoever. A careful exegesis of the wording reveals that when “epithymia” has conceived, rendered “lust” in the old English. But this word means “desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden”. Thuis this cannot be related to sex between married people because it is not forbidden but in fact a blessing (the first command with a blessing given by God Himself in Genesis 1). Married people may conceive during moments of lust but that does not demonstrate an effect on their offspring. The word for sin here (hamartia) means to miss the mark, or wander from the path of uprightness, or to go and do wrong. So what James says here (not related to the OP) is that acting from our desire or craving causes US to wander from the path God has set and leads US to sin.

In His love

Paul

Bless you Paul, but you missed the point. What I said holds true.

[gdemoss]

gdemoss...

James 1:15 says “…when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin…”> I may be wrong gdemoss, but it seemed as if you were using this to show Psalm 51:5 may support babies being born condemnable sinners. This passage has no relation to this subject whatsoever. A careful exegesis of the wording reveals that when “epithymia” has conceived, rendered “lust” in the old English. But this word means “desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden”. Thuis this cannot be related to sex between married people because it is not forbidden but in fact a blessing (the first command with a blessing given by God Himself in Genesis 1). Married people may conceive during moments of lust but that does not demonstrate an effect on their offspring. The word for sin here (hamartia) means to miss the mark, or wander from the path of uprightness, or to go and do wrong. So what James says here (not related to the OP) is that acting from our desire or craving causes US to wander from the path God has set and leads US to sin.

In His love

Paul

Bless you Paul, but you missed the point. What I said holds true.

I thought I must have...so what is it if you would be so kind as making it simple for me...I thought you were saying you were born a condemable sinner. Thanks Bro

Brother Paul

According to scripture, I was born without the capability to be subject unto Gods law making me his mortal enemy and for this cause it was appointed once for me to die and then the judgment. It isn't a matter of if I sinned as that was a gaurentee. Sin is the transgression of the law (iniquity) and it is not required for Gods law to be known before sin is sin, only for sin to be imputed.

[ibldcars4u]

I read an article earlier that attempts to answer the question: Do Babies go to hell when they die?

http://www.apologeti...13&article=1201

I looked this up because I was interested to know what happened to babies and young children if they died before being old enough to make the decision to accept Jesus and the gift of salvation.

The article explains that it is a common belief that we inherit sin (which is something I've heard many times and have come to believe) but then uses the following verse to argue against that.

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. Ezekiel 18:20

So after I finished the article I looked up articles discussing whether or not we inherit sin and I found one here:

http://www.gotquesti...nherit-sin.html

This article says that we do inherit sin and uses verses such as:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 3:23

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

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

Psalm 51:5

So naturally, I'm confused and would like clarification.

If we inherit sin, then we are born sinners and babies who die, die before being able to repent and turn to the Lord Jesus.

Deuteronomy 5 vs 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. Personally I read these and my opinion that I take from it 1st to be born with sin is that I could have never hated God when I was born/baby with the family I am raised in,both my parents love God. and 2 that you can have 10 generations in a row who hate God,if a person in this family/generation switches and loves God he will not fall under what the previous 10 generations (starting with his/her parents) did by hating God. You can also look at Deuteronomy 24 vs 16 “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin. Exodus 20 vs ⁵ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.

[joi]

God created Adam and from Adam Eve was made. Eve was deceived by Satan and she said:

“And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. “ (Genesis 3:13)

Here we find that Eve was the transgressor – not Adam.

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. (1 Tim. 2:14)

Gen. 3

14-And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15-And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

19-In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Because Eve was the transgressor she was told that she would suffer by bearing children, but no mention was made as to how Adam would suffer. The ground was cursed and he would have to work for his living as opposed to God furnishing he every need. That was a pretty stiff punishment as I can attest, because getting our soil to produce food is almost impossible.

Because God had to furnish this first couple with skins to cover their nakedness it is evident they lost something very vital because of their sin. Since Jesus and the angels most often appear in shining light of some kind I tend to think the light of fellowship and communion with God was lost. I also think they lost their spirit, and that is why we now must have the Holy Spirit in us once we are saved. His Spirit now fills the space vacated by the one we lost through Adam's action of following his wife's decision and go against the advice of God.

Eve's future condition of suffering is spelled out, but not Adam's. I am of the opinion that when Adam fell his blood became contaminated with sin. My reason for thinking this is based on the fact that when Jesus was born he could have a human mother but not a human father. No blood passes from the mother to the fetus while in gestation, so no sin is inherited from her. However had Joseph fathered Jesus the sin nature would have passed from him to Jesus and this is why the Holy Spirit had to become the progenitor/father of The Messiah.

If any of you raise chickens and have fertile eggs you can see a perfect example of this. Hens can lay eggs without help of the opposite sex. If a rooster is added to the mix and an egg is cracked and there is a spot of blood in that egg it indicates it is fertile – or in other words it is going to produce another fowl. The blood in that egg can only come from the rooster. No unfertilized egg will show blood when cracked.

Because the blood is inherited from the male, passed on in what the Bible refers to as “his issue”, we each inherit a sin nature.

This is also why King Herod ordered the male babies killed. He knew that he may be killing that forthcoming King of Kings whose blood would be pure. I believe this was an understood fact in their time. One day I want to do more through study on this, though in the verses presented I have a pretty good case.

The blood of Jesus had to be without sin so that he could present it to the Father as a propitiation for our sins. Had his blood contained sin Satan would have won his battle hands down.

Now back to the original question, no we do not inherit but yes we do inherit our sin nature. This is what the Word has for us;

Psalm 51:5 KJV

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

Ezekiel 18:18,20 ESV

Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Galations 3:19

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

[gdemoss]

gdemoss...

James 1:15 says “…when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin…”> I may be wrong gdemoss, but it seemed as if you were using this to show Psalm 51:5 may support babies being born condemnable sinners. This passage has no relation to this subject whatsoever. A careful exegesis of the wording reveals that when “epithymia” has conceived, rendered “lust” in the old English. But this word means “desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden”. Thuis this cannot be related to sex between married people because it is not forbidden but in fact a blessing (the first command with a blessing given by God Himself in Genesis 1). Married people may conceive during moments of lust but that does not demonstrate an effect on their offspring. The word for sin here (hamartia) means to miss the mark, or wander from the path of uprightness, or to go and do wrong. So what James says here (not related to the OP) is that acting from our desire or craving causes US to wander from the path God has set and leads US to sin.

In His love

Paul

Bless you Paul, but you missed the point. What I said holds true.

I thought I must have...so what is it if you would be so kind as making it simple for me...I thought you were saying you were born a condemable sinner. Thanks Bro

Brother Paul

According to scripture, I was born without the capability to be subject unto Gods law making me his mortal enemy and for this cause it was appointed once for me to die and then the judgment. It isn't a matter of if I sinned as that was a gaurentee. Sin is the transgression of the law (iniquity) and it is not required for Gods law to be known before sin is sin, only for sin to be imputed.

Interesting! Then in fact I did not miss the point and you indeed eisegeted this verse resulting in a misinterpretation of what James said. You said "I was born without the capability to be subject unto Gods law " can you give me some scriptures that actually say that? Thanks

Brother Paul

I was born with a carnal mind. Your not new to scripture, you understand what terms like 'eisegeted' mean. Is the carnal mind enmity against God or not?