THERE IS NO ORIGINAL SIN

Sin is not transferable from father to son; or from Adam to us. 

A man robbed a bank at gunpoint, killing several people in the act.  He was arrested, tried and sentenced to death.  His two young children were also sentenced to death with him.  The judge declared that, since they were his offspring, they were equally guilty.  All three were brought before a firing squad and executed.

Since his wife was pregnant, the judge also sentenced his unborn child to death.  The baby was placed before a firing squad on the day of his birth and shot to death.

A bankrupt doctrine

This bizarre parable is consistent with the Pauline doctrine of “original sin,” which regards Adam’s sin as a genotype automatically transferred to all his offspring; namely all human-beings.  Paul says: “In Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22).  “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). 

But sin is not a virus or a malignant disease.  If it were, all men except Adam would be blameless.  If original sin exists, Jesus too would have been a sinner since he was a man (John 8:40).  Over ninety times, Jesus refers to himself as the “son of man.” 

Sin is “the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4).  Therefore, for a man to be guilty of sin, he has to think it.  He cannot be declared guilty of sin, just by virtue of his birth.  Even if he has an inborn-tendency to sin, he would still not be a sinner until he actually sins. 

Insistent divine refutation 

To those who have been paying attention, God has refuted this false doctrine of hereditary-sin repeatedly.  He says through Jeremiah: “In those days they shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’  But everyone shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge” (Jeremiah 31:29-30).  This means only Adam is responsible for Adam’s sins.  It also means Jesus cannot die for the sins of others. 

Let me cite another scripture: “The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son.  The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself” (Ezekiel 18:20). 

In effect, sin is not transferable from father to son; or from Adam to us.  It also means Paul’s contention that Christ’s righteousness is imputed to Christians is a big fallacy (Romans 4:22-25; Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:2-4). 

The righteous exist

Paul says “there is none righteous” (Romans 3:10).  He then maintains “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9).  But if only the righteous will inherit and all are unrighteous, where then will Paul find the righteous to inherit the kingdom?  This leads to the fallacy that God justifies the ungodly (Romans 4:5), and that Jesus saves sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). 

Jesus contradicts Paul by saying there are many righteous men (Matthew 13:17).  Indeed, the righteous are referred to over 139 times in the bible.  Jesus says there are “just persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).  Therefore, he gives his life “as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45); and not, as Paul says erroneously, “as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6).

In fact, Jesus completely destroys the doctrine of original-sin by saying Abel, the direct son of Adam, was righteous (Matthew 23:35).  If so, nobody inherited Adam’s sins.  Actually, believers are not sons of Adam but sons of God (Matthew 23:9). 

How did Abel lose his sin-nature when he was not washed in the blood of the lamb?  Simple: he never had it.  Jesus says: “A good tree does not bear bad fruit” (Luke 6:43).  This means a good man does not have a sinful nature.  Furthermore, he says all little children belong to the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:3; Matthew 19:14).  That means babies are not born in sin.  Solomon confirms we are created “upright” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).  Moses also maintains we are not born corrupt: we corrupt ourselves (Deuteronomy 32:5).  Children “have no knowledge of good or evil” (Deuteronomy 1:39; Isaiah 7:15-16). 

Paul’s doctrine of salvation by divine blood-washing militates against the kingdom imperative to thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6).  What would be the point if we were totally depraved?  Why bother if Jesus’ righteousness will be imputed to us anyway?

But Jesus’ doctrine of salvation through repentance means all men can be righteous by repenting of sin.  Therefore, we have no excuse but to obey his injunction: “Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).