Quote: "We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners."

[DialecticSkeptic]

"We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners."​

First published: January 31, 2023. Last updated: February 2, 2023.

Who said it? This quote is most consistently attributed to R. C. Sproul (1997) but I don't think it actually originated with him, because the first time I saw it was in a book by Paul E. Little published almost 20 years earlier (1980). So, out of curiosity, I tried to track down the earliest occurrence of that quote. I don't know if I have succeeded, but I wanted to share with you the results of my labors—and to see if anyone was willing to help me out with this task. If I have found the earliest instance, then that's great. But if someone knows of an earlier occurrence, please share it with me.

Here are all the places I have found the quote so far, in chronological order (in descending order, from latest to earliest):

• 2008, Tim Challies.​

  The Bible tells us in plain terms that we are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners. And I don't think we can overstate what a fundamental difference this is! We do not need to seek forgiveness merely for the sins we commit, but for our fundamentally evil and rebellious hearts—hearts that, in their natural state, hate God and are fully and completely and gleefully and willingly opposed to him.
  .
  
  Tim Challies, "Sin: What We Do, or What We Are?" Challies.com, May 6, 2008.​

• 2004, Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz.​

  Here's how John Phillips explains imputation and the problem of sin: "Adam, by the fall, introduced to his race, as yet unborn, the deadly virus of sin. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. And because we sinned in Adam, death is imputed to us."
  .
  
  Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz, Romans: Understanding God's Grace and Power (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2004).​

• 1997, Witness Lee.​

  A tree is not corrupt because it brings forth evil fruit; it brings forth evil fruit because it is corrupt. In like manner, we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners, because we have been constituted sinners. Because we are sinners we have the sinning function.
  .
  
  Witness Lee, Life-Study: Genesis, vol. 2 (Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1997).​

• 1997, R. C. Sproul.​

  Jesus frequently described this condition with images drawn from nature. Just as a corrupt tree yields corrupt fruit, so sin flows out of a corrupt human nature. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. Since the fall human nature has been corrupt. We are born with a sin nature. Our acts of sin flow out of this corrupted nature.
  .
  
  R. C. Sproul, What Is Reformed Theology: Understanding the Basics (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997).​

• 1980, Paul E. Little.​

  Sin, it is important to realize, does not begin with overt acts, nor is it limited to them. The acts proceed out of a corrupt heart and mind. In other words, we are not sinners because we sin—we sin because we are sinners. An apple tree is not an apple tree because it bears apples; it bears apples because it has the nature of an apple tree.
  .
  
  Paul E. Little, Know What and Why You Believe (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1980).​

• 1979, Curtis Hutson.​

  ... Sins are the things we do because we are what we are. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. Some sinners may sin more than others, but all men sin.
  .
  
  Curtis Hutson, Salvation (Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord, 1979).​

• 1969, John Phillips.​

  Here then is the problem of sin. Adam, by the fall, introduced to his race, as yet unborn, the deadly virus of sin. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. And because we sinned in Adam, death is imputed to us. Therefore we die, some younger, some older, but sooner or later we die.
  .
  
  John Phillips, Exploring Romans: An Expository Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969).​

• 1957, Watchman Nee.​

  Those who so use it are in danger of arguing the wrong way round, for the teaching of Romans is not that we are sinners because we commit sins, but that we sin because we are sinners. We are sinners by constitution rather than by action. As Romans 5:19 expresses it, "Through the one man's disobedience the many were made (or ‘constituted’) sinners."
  .
  
  Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life (1957; repr., Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 1977).​

• 1859, William Lincoln​

  [Throughout] all eternity, wherever I meet David, I shall know full well, having been taught by God himself, that David was an egregious sinner as well as an exemplary saint. His sins, [indeed] the sins of every worthy mentioned in the Bible, are known wherever that Bible is read. It cannot be otherwise. For then would the great set-off to God's grace, the background of the picture, be withdrawn. Will not angels know we are sinners? And is not this more than half the truth for which we are contending? For is not the fact of being a sinner as solemn [a thing] as that we have been guilty of acts of transgression? (We are not sinners only because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners. How often is this lost sight of!) Will not saved souls know this of one another, since, in the days of their unregeneracy, they often sinned in company?
  .
  
  William Lincoln, Sermons on Subjects Connected with the Second Advent of Our Lord Jesus Christ (London: Partridge and Co., 1859), p. 55.​

-- DialecticSkeptic

• Edits
  • 2023-02-02
    • Added William Lincoln (1859).
  • 2023-01-31
    • Added Watchman Nee (1957).
    • Added Curtis Hutson (1979).

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

"We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners."

St. Augustine expresses a similar sentiment in his writing. Here is one example:

"For the Lord says through the prophet, 'The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable - who can understand it?' The human heart is incurable because it is deceitful. And it is deceitful because it is incurable."

 

[JM]

So basically Christian have been consistently saying the same thing for a long long time.

Awesome.