Paul says by the sin of the one (Adam) the many (mankind) were made sinners. Is a person who is predisposed to sin, but has not knowingly sinned yet, say a baby in the womb, a "sinner"?
If we are conceived in iniquity, does that mean we are sinners at conception?
Is our "sin nature" passed to us physically, like a sin gene?
Lets see if we can answer these questions biblically.
In Genesis 3:17-19 we find that Adam is "cursed." Now a biblical "curse" is simply God declaring some adverse circumstance will befall a person or group. God said, "cursed is the ground because of you;" but what this means is the ground will yeild stuff that is adverse to Adam, all its fruit will not be a blessing or beneficial to Adam. Adam will have to labor or toil or work the ground to obtain food, unlike in the garden of Eden where food was provided for Adam by the labor of God.
Next, Adam will "return to the ground" as a consequence of his sin. So Adam not only lost access to the garden of Eden, he also lost access to the tree of life. And what is more, God provided that access to the tree of life shall be blocked, so that Adam, by his own effort could not access the tree of life.
Looking back to Genesis 3:7, we see that Eve was not corrupted physically by being born as an offspring of Adam, yet when Adam sinned, then she had her eyes opened, which refers to her corruption, her "fall" and therefore the consequence of the fall is spread spiritually not physically.
Now in this corrupted spiritual state, separated from the tree of life, and unable to access it by any action on our part, we are referred to as "evil." But just because we cannot access the tree of life, does not mean we cannot seek the tree of life. If we could not seek it, there would have been no need to post a Cherubim and the "flaming sword." Thus we "labor in vain" to attain the righteousness of God by the works of the Law, for all our deeds of righteousness are as filthy rags. So the Fall does not result in spiritual inability to seek God but rather the spiritual inability to re-establish an unseparated relationship with God.
Jesus taught in Matthew 7:11, that we, in our corrupted state, know how to give "good" gifts. Thus we are able to understand good and evil, the "fruit" so to speak of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In summary, the Fall resulted in mankind being corrupted spiritually, and separated from God. Thus we are condemned to our separated corrupted state from conception, we are conceived in iniquity. And so even though we may not have sinned, say as a baby who has done nothing good or bad in the womb, we are condemned already, and the only way to obtain the righteousness of God is through faith in Christ. So a baby who has not faith, is condemned already as the result of the Fall, just as John 3:18 says.
If we are conceived in iniquity, does that mean we are sinners at conception?
Is our "sin nature" passed to us physically, like a sin gene?
Lets see if we can answer these questions biblically.
In Genesis 3:17-19 we find that Adam is "cursed." Now a biblical "curse" is simply God declaring some adverse circumstance will befall a person or group. God said, "cursed is the ground because of you;" but what this means is the ground will yeild stuff that is adverse to Adam, all its fruit will not be a blessing or beneficial to Adam. Adam will have to labor or toil or work the ground to obtain food, unlike in the garden of Eden where food was provided for Adam by the labor of God.
Next, Adam will "return to the ground" as a consequence of his sin. So Adam not only lost access to the garden of Eden, he also lost access to the tree of life. And what is more, God provided that access to the tree of life shall be blocked, so that Adam, by his own effort could not access the tree of life.
Looking back to Genesis 3:7, we see that Eve was not corrupted physically by being born as an offspring of Adam, yet when Adam sinned, then she had her eyes opened, which refers to her corruption, her "fall" and therefore the consequence of the fall is spread spiritually not physically.
Now in this corrupted spiritual state, separated from the tree of life, and unable to access it by any action on our part, we are referred to as "evil." But just because we cannot access the tree of life, does not mean we cannot seek the tree of life. If we could not seek it, there would have been no need to post a Cherubim and the "flaming sword." Thus we "labor in vain" to attain the righteousness of God by the works of the Law, for all our deeds of righteousness are as filthy rags. So the Fall does not result in spiritual inability to seek God but rather the spiritual inability to re-establish an unseparated relationship with God.
Jesus taught in Matthew 7:11, that we, in our corrupted state, know how to give "good" gifts. Thus we are able to understand good and evil, the "fruit" so to speak of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In summary, the Fall resulted in mankind being corrupted spiritually, and separated from God. Thus we are condemned to our separated corrupted state from conception, we are conceived in iniquity. And so even though we may not have sinned, say as a baby who has done nothing good or bad in the womb, we are condemned already, and the only way to obtain the righteousness of God is through faith in Christ. So a baby who has not faith, is condemned already as the result of the Fall, just as John 3:18 says.
