Exposing the Myth of "Original Sin"

by Jerry Shugart

The Regeneration and Renewing of the Holy Spirit

In the following verse the Apostle Paul describes how he was saved:


Here Paul uses the word "regeneration" in regard to his salvation. This word is translated from the Greek word paliggenesia, which is the combination of palin and genesis.

Palin means "joined to verbs of all sorts,it denotes renewal or repetition of the action" (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon).

According to BDAG, palin refers "to repetition in the same (or similar) manner, again, once more, anew of someth. a pers. has already done." (Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., ed. Frederick William Danker. [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000], 752).

Genesis means "used of birth, nativity" (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon).

When we combine the meaning of the two words we have a "repetition of a birth."

It is obvious that the reference is not to a "physical" rebirth, or the repetition of one's physical birth. Paul could only be speaking of a repetition of a spiritual birth. And the words that follow make it certain that the "birth" of which Paul is referring to is a "spiritual" birth--"renewing of the Holy Spirit." If a person is "regenerated" by the Holy Spirit then that means that one must have previously been born of the Holy Spirit.

Joseph Henry Thayer says that the Greek word translated regenerartion "denotes the restoration of a thing to its pristine state, its renvation" (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon).

Richard C. Trench says that the word has the meaning of "a recovery, a restoration" (Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament).

The word "restoration" means "a bringing back to its original position or condition" (Merriam-Webster.com).

Therefore, if a person is regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit then that must mean that this represents his being brought back to his original condition of being born of the Holy Spirit. That is exactly what the Lord Jesus is referring to here:


Do by Nature the Things Contained in the Law

A person is born into this world spiritually alive. The Scriptures reveal that a man is made "upright":


Paul also makes it plain that a person enters the world with a "nature" that is conductive to following the law which is written on his heart, the same law of which the conscience bears witness:


This would be impossible if a person was born with a sin nature, a nature which leads one to fulfill the desires of the flesh:


From this we can understand that a person is born with a nature that is conductive to keeping God's law but when he sins then his nature is changed and it is not until then that he can be described as a child of wrath.

Made Like His Brothers in Every Way

It is only after a person sins that he becomes by "nature" a child of wrath, fulfilling the desires of his flesh and of his mind. A person comes into the world spiritually alive, and the Scriptures reveal that the Lord Jesus was make like his brothers in every way:


The meaning of the Greek word translated "to be made like" is "'to make like'...'to be' or 'to become like' to one...Heb. ii. 17" (Thayer's Greek English Lexicon).

It is inconceivable that it would be said that the Lord Jesus was made like His brothers "in every way" if He was born spiritually alive and his brothers are born spiritually dead.


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