Do we Have to Sin?

 Do we Have to Sin?

By: Jim Crews

There are two false doctrines that have become widespread in the religious world. These have been around for a long time. The Catholics began teaching the doctrine of original sin in the Third Century. This doctrine taught that all men are born with the sin of Adam staining their souls. This doctrine teaches that we are born sinful and are lost from birth. John Calvin picked up on this and expanded it. He taught that men are so depraved from birth that they have no hope in being saved. Instead, God chose who would be saved before Creation and anyone He chose can’t do anything to be lost. Conversely, anyone He didn’t choose can’t do anything to be saved. These teachings remove the choice of sinning from humanity, and place the blame for sin upon God. Both of these false doctrines teach that we are born with a sinful nature. They have misused and abused Scripture to come up with this abominable teaching.

Today, we want to look at this false doctrine and see how it has even crept into the thinking of many people in the Lord’s Church. We want to see if we are born with a sinful nature, or if we simply develop one because of our surroundings. The only way to grow as a Christian and to avoid false doctrine is to know what the Bible has to say about it, and expose these false doctrines as vain and irrelevant myths.

I Timothy 4: 6 - 8

These people try to claim that we are all born bearing the sin of Adam on our souls. They always abuse and misuse what David said in Psalms about his birth.

Psalm 51: 5

They also abuse and misuse what Paul was teaching in Romans.

Romans 5: 12 - 13

David does not claim he was born bearing the sin of Adam on his soul. He was saying that he was born into a world that had fallen to sin. It was the world that was depraved, not his soul at birth. Paul is teaching that this came about because Adam allowed sin to enter the world by his own free will choice to commit that first sin. Being born into a world immersed in sin, we all will soon fall and sin ourselves. That’s because we don’t know any other way, because that’s all we see as we are growing physically and emotionally. This is what David meant. How do I know this? A simple search of the Scriptures.

Ezekiel 18: 20

This shows very clearly that we do not inherit sin from our ancestors. That verse alone shows that the doctrine of original sin taught by the Catholics is a false doctrine. God is a just God.

Isaiah 5: 16

Isaiah 30: 18

Would God be justified in punishing us eternally for sin, if He created us with a sinful nature? Would He be justified in condemning us for sin if He created us without the ability to choose NOT to sin? So did He create humanity with a sinful nature? No, He did not. He created Adam and Eve innocent and sinless. However, God didn’t want automatons. He gave His creation free will. This meant that they could CHOOSE to sin, which Adam and Eve did.

Genesis 3: 1 - 7

Now the Calvinists will say that the sinful nature of man made Adam and Eve sin, and they themselves had no choice in the matter. Scripture shows that they DID have a choice, and they chose to sin. Eve had the same choice that Jesus had when He was tempted by Satan. She could have quoted God’s Word concerning what they could and could not eat. Adam had the same choice. Every single one of us has this same ability to choose. Our nature doesn’t force us to sin, we choose to sin of our own free will. When Jesus came to live among us as a human, His life on Earth showed us that it is possible for us to choose to remain sinless.

Hebrews 4: 14 - 15

We stand condemned because we choose to sin, not because God created us with a sinful nature. We stand condemned because Jesus showed us that it is possible for us not to sin.

Romans 8: 3 - 4

Now, we need a simple lesson in some math. All things are possible. However, the laws of probability exist to narrow things down from what can happen to what may actually end up happening. A probability of 1 means the event will definitely happen. A probability of 0 means the event will definitely not happen. The probability that Jesus would choose to sin was 0. The probability that we will choose to sin is 1.

Romans 3: 23

Notice what that says. It says all HAVE sinned. It does not say all HAVE TO sin. We have free will in the matter. We can choose whether we will sin or not. Jesus showed us that this was possible. Paul shows us that it is not probable. We all choose to sin, but we don’t have to. Why, then, do we all choose to sin?

One reason we looked at earlier. We are surrounded by sin from birth and while we are in our youth, and we just don’t know any better when we grow up. It’s easier to go along with the world than it is to choose to be separate from them.

I Peter 1: 14 - 16

However, many people would rather be acceptable to the world, than they would to God, so they choose sin.

John 12: 42 - 43

It’s easier to avoid all the problems that come from being a child of God by simply going along with everyone else so we can get along with them.

John 15: 19

Therefore, the vast majority of the world will not even obey God because it’s easier to just ignore Him and get along with everyone else.

Matthew 7: 13 - 14

But what about those of us who have obeyed the Gospel? Well, we too have the choice of whether we will sin or not.

I John 2: 1 - 2

We have the Word, so that we may not sin. This means that the choice is ours. We aren’t forced to sin by some inborn nature, we choose to sin, and should be so ashamed of that fact that we continually turn to God for forgiveness. John knew that the possibility exists for us to not sin, he also knew the probability of that happening is 0. That’s why he wrote that we must continue being faithful to God.

I John 1: 5 - 10

So why would a child of God choose to sin?

James 4: 1 - 10

We sin because we choose to follow our lusts, our passions, and our emotional desires instead of choosing to keep them under control.

Galatians 5: 22 - 24

II Peter 1: 5 - 7

We sin because we choose to sin. The Calvinists have so perverted the Word that now, even many members of the Lord’s Church have started to believe that we don’t have any choice in the matter of whether we sin. It’s easier on us to blame God for our sins, instead of placing the blame where it really belongs, on ourselves. God didn’t create us with a sinful nature. We chose to sin. God gives us the opportunity every single time that we face temptation to choose not to sin.

I Corinthians 10: 13

Will we choose the way out? Sometimes we will, and sometimes we won’t. God gave us the pathway to freedom from our sins. We have to choose to follow that as well. Have you obeyed the Gospel? If you are a Christian, do you continue to follow His plan for your salvation? Do you pray daily? Do you confess your sins to God and ask Him to forgive you on a daily basis?

Only you can do this. No one else can do it for you. Hopefully, we have seen the error of the Catholic doctrine of original sin and being born with a sinful nature. Hopefully we have seen that the Calvinist doctrine of being born totally depraved and having no choice at all in anything is a lie. We do not have to sin. We need to work on choosing not to sin. We do that by continuing to study God’s Word and continuing to grow as Christians so that we can make better choices when confronted with the temptation to sin.