A Forgotten Side of Original Sin

A Forgotten Side of Original Sin

Steve Leston

“I want to have nothing to do with the church because it is a place where there is nothing but hypocrites!” Have you ever heard someone say this before? Chances are you have heard this or some statement very similar to this coming from the mouth of a disillusioned person. It is an all too often and sad reality that statements like this are uttered which shows us that the church has a lot to learn about loving others in the same way that Christ has loved us.

Why is the church a place where people can get hurt? There are many reasons why this occurs but one reason is that we loses sight of the truths that are meant to define who we are and how we are to treat each other. Doctrine is not just facts about God but instead, doctrine defines the truths that define who God and man really are. When the church remembers who they are and who God is then the church can operate in a manner that brings glory to God and kindness and compassion to others. One of the main doctrines that impact who we are and how we are treat each other is the doctrine of original sin. Original sin is a doctrine that the church must never forget. For if this doctrine of original sin is forgotten so too is one of the footings upon which our humility and compassion towards others is based. The fact that much of the Christian community has lost sight of the doctrine of original sin is one of the reasons why people can get hurt when they enter into relationships within the body of Christ. What I intend to do in this brief study is show how the doctrine of original sin is to have a positive impact in the life of the church.

Original Sin Defined

What is original sin? Original sin is the corruption of the nature of man that occurred when Adam and Eve rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden. This sin is what corrupted the nature of man so that man is now bound by selfishness and pride. The sin of Adam was more than just an isolated mistake, it was a horrific event that condemned all of mankind to death. The apostle Paul stated in Romans 5:18-19 “So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” In this passage we see that the sin of Adam was a horrific event that brought sin into the world thereby condemning all men to a sinful nature at birth. The reality that all men and women are born with a sinful nature is the essence of the doctrine of original sin.

The doctrine of original sin has a great impact on all of mankind. G.K. Chesterton summed it up perfectly when he said “Christianity preaches an obviously unattractive idea, such as original sin; but when we wait for its results, they are pathos and brotherhood, and a thunder of laughter and pity; for only with original sin we can at once pity the beggar and distrust the king.”¹ How can Chesterton assert that without the doctrine of original sin we cannot pity the beggar and distrust the king? To find the answer we have to dig a little deeper into the meaning of original sin.

“Original sin is frequently and properly used to denote only the moral corruption of the whole nature inherited by all men from Adam. This inherited moral corruption consists in, (1) the loss of original righteousness; and (2) the presence of a constant proneness to evil, which is the root and origin of all actual sin.”² What this means is that original sin refers to the corrupted nature that all men inherited from Adam. It does not refer to specific acts of sin but rather the condition of the nature of mankind at birth. Since all of mankind has inherited the sin of Adam all of mankind is born with the same spiritual condition in the world. Even though every person acts upon their condition differently all share in the same condition – that of being spiritually corrupt and condemned.

Because all men and women are bound by sin there exists such a commonality between them that it is possible for there to be humility, compassion, justice and righteousness in the world. Why is this the case? Because any achievement, any success and any growth that mankind could ever achieve in the world is a gift from God. In other words, if a person truly understood that what they have is a gift from God then that person would never walk in arrogance in the world. Since all men are recipients of grace in this world then all men can and should show humility, compassion, justice and righteousness in this world. Just because everyone acts on their sinful nature differently does not mean that some people are better than others. Everyone stands at the same place at their birth, with a nature corrupted by sin and condemned to death by God.

Consider the implications of this reality. Since all men and women are born with the same spiritual condition then there is no reason that there should be anything other than humility and compassion that should be shown to each other; and especially within the body of Jesus Christ. Allow me to unpack this further by examining the nature of humility.

Humility

Humility is an essential virtue for the Christian. The reason this is so is that humility is a virtue that exists within God. Philippians 2:5-11 describes how Jesus came to earth to obey God and die in place of man. The virtue that was in Jesus that allowed Him to do such a thing was humility. Jesus was willing to be seen as something less than what He was to take the punishment for people who thought they were greater than what they were. When one partakes of the righteousness of Jesus Christ one partakes of the humility of Jesus.

The problem that man has is that the sinful nature of man does not value humility. At the heart of sin is self-glorification. In Genesis 3:5 Satan tempted Adam and Eve with operating outside of the will of God to achieve a god-like status. The temptation to be like God is at the heart of all sin and at the heart of the sinful nature. When a believer partakes of the righteousness of Jesus there is still a residue of this pride that will war against the new heart (Romans 7). This residue will not desire to be humble, but instead seek to glorify one’s self in the deception that man is not born with a sinful nature, but instead a god-like nature. Therefore, the sin-nature of man places no value in humility since humility is a trait of God and the natural man hates the things of God (Romans 8:6-8).

When a person becomes a Christian they do so because God has shown them their sin (Romans 8:1-4), and the person responds by confessing that sin and trusting in the work of Jesus to forgive them of their sin. One critical understanding that has to come to the believer at their salvation is that they were born in their sin and in need of a new life to be saved (John 3:1-16). What can happen to a person after they have become a Christian is that they can forget that they too needed to be saved by grace, no matter how small they acted on their sinful nature. When they forget this they can begin to treat others out of their pride and when they do they hurt and offend others.

In order to avoid this problem what is needed is for every believer to remember that all that they have in their life, all that they have in Christ, and all that they do to serve the kingdom of God is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-10). Without an understanding of the doctrine of original sin there is no way for mankind to show humility towards another person. Unless the body of Christ remembers that they too were saved by grace they will always see themselves as better than others because that is what the residue of sin that they contend with will drive them to believe.

In Ephesians 2:1-10 the apostle Paul used this very logic to attempt to end the hostilities between the Jews and the Gentiles. The Jews were raised in a very moralistic environment and the Gentiles were raised in very hedonistic and pagan environments. Because of these two worldview differences the Jews shunned the Gentiles for their wicked background. Paul sought to clear the argument by announcing in the first four verses of chapter two that all men and women regardless of their cultural upbringing and regardless of how little or much they acted on their sin nature were dead in their trespasses and sins; in other words, all share in the same nature. For this reason everyone regardless of their culture or moral standards should get along because no one was brought into this world in a higher spiritual standing before God and man than anyone else.

My point is that if the church loses sight of the doctrine of original sin one critical virtue within the church will suffer, the virtue of humility. Let us now turn our attention to another virtue, the virtue of compassion.

Compassion

Compassion is the natural outflow from humility. Compassion is a heart that sees the needs in others and seeks to meet those needs as an act of kindness and grace. Where does compassion come from? Compassion comes from an understanding that all the good that we have is a gift of God given out of grace and not by any merit. When one understands that all good things are a product of grace then one can act out of humble gratefulness to give the compassion to others that we have received by God. For this reason the apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3:12: So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Because every believer is chosen by God, which means that what they have is from God and not a result of their own works, every believer should put on a heart of compassion. It is because every person is nothing without God mankind can show to the world the great and incredible compassion that God has given to His children.

Compassion is needed in this world not because people deserve it but because they do not deserve it. All men and women are lost in the bondage of sin and therefore, the only way for mankind to get out of this sin is if someone has compassion upon them and shows them kindness. If there were no such thing as original sin then there would be no reason to show compassion because no one would need compassion. Since all men and women are bound by sin then there is a need for a person to express kindness, goodness and gifts to others to help them overcome the trials and the effects of sin in this world to point them to person and work of Jesus Christ to be saved.

My point is very simple. The church must not forget that before we were saved we were bound in sin. No matter how little or how great we acted upon that sin, we were bound in sin. All men and all women stand at the same place at birth. For this reason if someone walks in the door of the church from a very wicked or pagan background there is no need to look down upon them for all men and all women were born in a state of condemnation before God. Salvation is a gift not based upon the merit of man but based upon the love and compassion of God. For this reason we can treat all with humility and all with compassion to the glory of God.

Conclusion

The point of this essay is to show the connection between original sin and the way that we are to treat others within the body of Jesus Christ. Because we all came into this world with a nature condemned by God we can show the humility and compassion that God requires of us. If we fail to lose sight of the doctrine of original sin we will lose sight of one of the reasons why we can and should show humility to others. If we then lose humility towards others we will lose the virtues that should govern the church. For this reason we must never lose sight of the doctrine of original sin. If we do the consequences will be great.