Are Men Born Sinners? - Library of Theology

God cannot lie. It is the doctrine of original sin which is a lie! For the Word of God
reveals that God has always had his saints. He has always had a people that feared him,
loved him, and kept his commandments. He has always had a people that did not break
his commandments daily in thought, word, and deed: There was Job, of whom God said,
"A perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil." There was
Enoch who "walked with God" and "was not, for God took him." There was Zacharias
and Elizabeth who "were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments
and ordinances of the Lord blameless." There was John the Baptist who was filled with
the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. There was Joseph who was sold into Egypt, but
who loved his brethren who sold him into Egypt, and kept himself pure in the matter of
Potiphar's wife. There was Daniel who was taken captive to Babylon, and Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, and all the holy prophets and holy apostles, and all the saints of
both the Old and New Testaments. The Bible clearly teaches that God's people can and
do live without sin. Therefore, the doctrine of original sin, which teaches otherwise, is a
myth and a lie.
The four Scripture verses quoted earlier in this chapter (I John 3:6, I John 3:9, I John 5:4,
I John 5:18) clearly teach that Christians do not have to commit sin. They show that there
is no original sin, no corrupt sinful nature that makes sin necessary in the life of the
Christian. Two of these verses have been very difficult for Christians to understand. They
are I John 3:6 and I John 3:9. I John 3:6 seems to teach that anyone who commits sin
never really knew God in the first place, and I John 3:9 seems to teach that it is absolutely
impossible for the Christian to commit sin. An understanding of the tenses of the Greek
verb does away with this misunderstanding.
In I John 3:6 the verb form menon is a present participle which emphasizes continuing
action. It means is abiding or is remaining. The verb form hamartanei is the present
active. It can denote either continuous or simple action. It means sins or is sinning. Next,
the verb form hamartanon is used. It is a present participle which denotes continuous
action. It means is sinning. The last two verb forms in I John 3:6 are heoraken and
egnoken. They are both perfect active. The perfect denotes completed action in the past
with results that continue into the present. So that heoraken means seen and continued to
see and egnoken means known and continued to know. I John 3:6, then, has the following
meaning:
"Whosoever is remaining in him sins not; whosoever is sinning has not seen him and
continued to see him, neither known him and continued to know him."
So the fact that a Christian may commit sin does not mean that he never really knew God.
What it does mean is that by committing sin, he is not continuing to abide in Christ, and
by committing sin, he does not continue to see and know Christ, whom he once saw and
knew. You cannot sin against God and remain in him at the same time. You cannot sin
against God and continue to see and know him at the same time.
In I John 3:9 the verb form gegennemenos is a perfect passive participle which
emphasizes completed action in the past with results that continue into the present. It