Are people born sinners?

Yes, the Bible tells us that we are ALL born sinners. Ever since that first sin in the Garden of Eden, sin has just been a fact of life. We are all born with a sinful nature. Every human mind, will, emotion, and body has been corrupted by sin. Sin affects all areas of our existence—including who we are and what we do (Isaiah 53:6). Does that sound a bit severe? Sadly, it's true. That original sin is at the root of why we have pain, struggle, mental illness, disease, and death.

Why are all people sinful?

Are you wondering now why sin exists when everything God created was good? Well, you're right that everything God created is good—including human beings (Genesis 1-2). At least, at first everything was good. God did not create us with a sinful nature. Adam and Eve were innocent upon their creation, and God gifted them with the freedom to choose their own actions.

God gave them loving guidance and only one rule to follow; they could choose to obey or rebel. Adam and Eve chose to rebel, and every human being that came after them was corrupted by that first sin. By eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they learned about evil. Sin and shame sprang to life in their hearts and became a part of human DNA. Our inheritance from Adam and Eve is a nature that wants to sin (Romans 5:12-18).

Even babies are sinners.

David tells us that we are sinful from the time we were conceived (Psalm 51:5). Psalm 58:3 calls humans “wayward” and “spreading lies” from the moment we leave our mother’s womb. Yikes. But think about it...does anyone have to teach a child to be bad? (See Proverbs 22:15!)

As kids, we all did bad things and tried to cover them up by lying. Is there any child who didn't break something then immediately lie about it? Nobody teaches children to lie; it's just in their nature. And ours too.

Now, don’t go around to the playgrounds and start yelling, "You’re a sinner!" to all the little kids. No one's going to be happy about that. Anyway, we're ALL guilty of sin (Romans 3:23). Who are we to accuse others? (See Matthew 7:1-5)

What can we do about our sinfulness?

Ephesians 2:3 tells us, “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” This tells us that we deserve God’s wrath because of the sins we committed and our sinful nature.

The Bible tells us that we have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). When we seek to serve sinful desires of the flesh, we cannot do the good that God wants us to do (Romans 8:8). We are spiritually dead until we place our faith in salvation through Jesus (Ephesians 2:1).

We can become spiritually "born again" by believing and trusting in Jesus’ death as a payment for our sins and His resurrection which proves God accepted that sacrifice. We may be naturally born with a sinful nature (and will always have a sinful nature on this earth), but once we are saved from condemnation for our sin (Romans 8:1), we are born again in spirit—to live in and through and for Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Jesus gives new life to those who choose to trust and believe in Him and His Word. He makes us sons and daughters of God, co-heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven (John 1:12-13). We no longer must be slaves to sin; we can be free children of God.

ALSO SEE:

Why did God create Adam and Eve if He knew they were going to sin?Do we sin daily? Are people born good?Are all my past, present, and future sins forgiven?What does it mean to be born again?What does it mean that a Christian is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)?