Do Babies Inherit Sin?
By Timothy Glover
This article refutes this teaching and I only ask that you open your mind to the possibility that it is not the correct interpretation of the Scriptures.
First, let’s look at some of the passages used to support the doctrine. Job 14:4 reads, “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.” This is taken to mean that parents can produce nothing but children with a sinful nature. The first two verses say, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down.” We start out as a beautiful flower but are cut down because of the bad effects of a sinful world. Would it make sense to say that one is born like a totally polluted rose of Sharon?
David says in Ps. 51:5 that he was shapened in iniquity and in sin his mother conceived him. The context shows that this psalm refers to David’s sin with Bathsheba. Perhaps is discouragement we have said, “I’m a total failure.” This is a reflection of one’s feelings at the moment and is not to be taken literally. Still, David says he was “born” in sin. The passage is comparable to Acts 2:8 which speaks of people being born in a language. We all know that children cannot speak the language when they are born. Yet, when they continue in their environment long enough, they will follow a natural course and speak the language of their culture. Similarly, we eventually speak the language of sin. According to Ps. 58:3, another of their proof texts, the more sin to which we are exposed, the more temptations occur and the quicker we are overcome. In both passages, David speaks of the effects of a sinful world.
Romans 5:12-19 should be read. Verse 12 reads, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world , and death by sin; so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” The whole context shows that whatever was done by Adam was reversed by Jesus. So, even if Adam gave us depraved natures, Jesus removed it. But, the passage discusses the consequences of Adam’s sin and Jesus’ death. Adam gave us the opportunity to sin while Jesus gave us the opportunity to be freed from sin. Adam introduced sin to all of humanity while Jesus introduces an escape from it.
Total depravity violates the biblical principle that we are responsible for ourselves. The New Testament teaches the same. Paul writes in 2 Cor. 5:10 that “everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done (eph. mine), whether it be good or bad”. Romans 14:12 says, “So then, everyone of us shall give account of himself to God.
A proverb in Ezekiel’s day states, “That fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (18:2). The people understood that they were viewed as sinners because of the sins of their forefathers. But, they were wrong. This proverb was not intended to represent the truth but only their impression. The text refutes the idea that individuals inherit the guilt of their parents. Verse three states that in clearing this misunderstanding, “ye shall not have any occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.”
The body of the text is found in verses 5-18 where one family in three generations is chosen as an example. The details of the first man’s life is good and the Lord decrees that he shall live (5-9). The details of his son’s life reveals the opposite. The Lord’s evaluation is found in verse 13, “He shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.” The grandson considers his father’s sins and refuses to follow in his steps but lives a righteous life. “He shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.” This is reminiscent of Ahaz, Hezekiah and Mannesseh. Hezekiah was righteous because, “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 18:3). The Lord’s evaluation in Ez. 18 was based on the individual’s life rather than the father’s life. Ezekiel 18:20 reads, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” We cannot disobey the law for another any more than he can obey for another. We are responsible for our own.
Furthermore, it violates the principle of the innocence of childhood. Jesus taught “...except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 18:3; cf. Mark 9:36, 10:15). Children are not lost neither are they saved. They are in a safe condition, “alive apart from law”. They are not accountable because where there is no law, there is no transgression (Rom. 4:15, cf. 1 Jn. 3:4) What John Calvin and his followers fail to see is that we do not inherit the guilt of Adam’s sin only the consequences of Adam’s sin. We are all going to die physically (Heb. 9:27).
Again, let’s apply some logic. All agree that God created Adam perfectly good. He came directly from God (Acts 17:29) and is therefore totally, hereditarily righteous. Yet, later Adam sins. According to the same logic, it would be impossible for Adam to do evil seeing he was born totally righteous?
