Where the world comes to study the Bible


The answer is an emphatic Yes, because the Bible specifically teaches this. People (and this includes children) sin because they are sinners. The modern world tries to say people sin because of their environment, but this is contrary to Scripture. The only ones who ever sinned without a sinful nature were Adam and Eve—who also had a perfect environment.

But let’s let the Word itself speak to this issue and answer your question:

David wrote in Psalm 51:5, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.” (NASB). The NIV’s translation is even clearer. “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

In Psalm 58:3 David wrote, “Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.”


Note two important points here: First, speaking about his readers’ former life (a statement which applies to all of us before salvation) he states they were dead in their transgressions and sins and as a result they followed the ways of the world. Following the sinful ways of the world and the typical lusts patterns of men is the product of spiritual death; the issue of root to fruit. Men sin because they are sinners. Second, he shows this sinful condition and a further consequence, being under the wrath of God, is “by nature,” a condition received by nature, i.e., inherited from our parents, just as David pointed out in Ps. 51:5.

This is further supported by Paul’s statements in Romans 5. Though this passage is dealing with the imputation of Adam’s sin as the federal head of the human race, it also shows us man is sinful because of his relation to Adam.



The point is, after Adam sinned, he and his descendants could only beget sinners, so all men are under the sentence of death, the penalty of sin (see Heb. 7:9-10 for the principle of imputation).

In essence then, all men are behind the eight ball or constituted a sinners for three reasons:

(1) Inherited Sin: They are sinners by nature; possessing an inherited sinful nature (Ps. 51:5; 58:3 and see also Gen. 5:3).

(2) Imputed Sin: They are sinners by imputation; Adam’s sin is imputed to man’s account (Rom. 5:12f) just as Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us when we believe in Christ.

(3) Individual Sin: They are personal sinners; all men sin as individuals since they posses a sinful nature. Even in a godly environment children naturally are selfish and tend to tell lies, etc. (Rom. 3:23).

Related Topics: Hamartiology (Sin)