Are Men Born Sinners? - Library of Theology

Appendix A
The Nature and Attributes of Sin
Man must sin to be a sinner.
The foregoing statement may seem too obvious to need stating, and something that no
one could deny. But those who advocate the doctrine of original sin both ignore what is
clearly obvious and deny what is palpably undeniable. They teach that an infant who has
never sinned is not only a sinner, but is guilty, condemned and under God's wrath.
But, what is sin? The Bible says, "Sin is the transgression of the law." I John 3:4. But
what law does a newborn baby transgress by being born? Has God given a law that
makes it a sin to be born? But if children violate no law in being born, then they are
surely not sinners. One might as well call a man a drunkard who has never tasted drink,
or a man a thief who has never stolen, or a man a murderer who has never killed, as to
say that an infant who has never sinned is a sinner.
Or does God's law legislate over our nature, requiring us to be born with a certain nature?
No, God has given no law requiring us to be born with a certain nature. The fact is that
God is satisfied with the nature he has given us. He legislates only over the use we make
of our nature. Since sin is the transgression of the law, an understanding of the nature of
law will give us a clearer understanding of the nature of sin.
1. Law, in its generic sense, is any rule of action.
2. Physical law is a rule of necessary or involuntary action. The law of gravity is a
physical law. The law of gravity is a rule of action that operates by a law of necessity or
force as opposed to freedom and voluntary choice.
3. Moral law is a rule of free and intelligent action as opposed to involuntary or necessary
action.
It is the rule for the government of free and intelligent action, as opposed to necessary
and unintelligent action. It is the law of liberty, as opposed to the law of necessity--of
motive and free choice, as opposed to force of every kind. Moral law is primarily a rule
of the direction of the action of free will and strictly of free will only.1
We see then what must be the necessary attributes of sin. They must be liberty,
voluntariness, and intelligence. By the word intelligence, it is not meant that sin is a good
or reasonable choice. It is meant that the choice to sin is made with the full knowledge
that it is wrong. It is an intelligent choice because the sinner knows the moral character of
his actions before he sins. He knows that he is doing wrong, and if he had no knowledge
of right and wrong, he could not sin. Moral law, then, cannot govern the actions of