What do you believe concerning Original Sin?

Original sin was the decision man made to decide what was right and wrong for himself instead of obeying the decision God had already made about it, effectively this put mans desires ahead of God and his rules that were given him making man himself the first false god to be put before him.

The way I see it, and not necessarily the correct one.

Lamb said:

Is all of mankind affected by Original Sin in your belief?

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Only the ones who are decedents of Adam. The sins of the fathers are passed on to their generations who, in turn, pass them on to theirs accordingly.

Those born from sinless fathers do not receive the passing of original sin to themselves and their subsequent generations.

Lamb said:

Who is without sin except for Jesus Christ?

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To the best of my knowledge none, which is why a man was not the father of Jesus, there was no original sin in his father to pass on to him.

Humanity Inherits Mortality and a Sinful Nature From Adam — not Adam’s guilt. We are born into a world where sin reigns, and we inevitably will sin, but Scripture never says infants or unborn children are “guilty” of Adam’s sin.
In short:

We inherit corruption, not condemnation. We sin because we are fallen — but we are not born already damned.

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This is consistent with the Scriptures.

1. What we do inherit from Adam​

A fallen nature​

• A heart inclined toward self, pride, and rebellion
• A world under the curse
• Mortality (“in Adam all die” – 1 Cor 15:22)
• A spiritual environment where sin dominates

This is why David says:

“In sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5) Not meaning he was guilty in the womb — but that he was born into a fallen world and a fallen lineage.

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A universal tendency to sin​

Every human eventually chooses sin:

• “All have sinned” (Rom 3:23)
• “There is none righteous” (Rom 3:10)

This is experiential and inevitable, but not the same as being born guilty.

2. What we do NOT inherit from Adam​

We do NOT inherit Adam’s guilt​

The Bible never says:

• “Adam’s guilt is imputed to you at birth.”
• “Infants are born condemned.”
• “You are guilty before you commit any sin.”

Instead, Scripture repeatedly says:

“The soul who sins shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:20)

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God explicitly rejects the idea that guilt is inherited.

We are not born spiritually dead in the Augustinian sense​

Paul says we were “dead in sins” — not “dead at birth.”
Dead in sins = the condition we enter when we actually sin.

3. What Paul actually teaches in Romans 5​

Romans 5 is the battleground text, so here’s the key:

“Death spread to all men because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

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Paul does not say:

• “because Adam sinned”
• “because Adam’s guilt was imputed to all”

He says:

• death spread because all sinned (each person participates in Adam’s pattern)

Adam opened the door; we all walk through it.

4. Why this matters for the gospel​

If people are born guilty before they ever choose anything, then:

• infants who die would be condemned
• free will becomes meaningless
• judgment becomes unjust
• Christ’s atonement becomes a legal fiction

But Scripture presents God as:

• just
• fair
• not condemning the innocent
• not punishing children for their parents’ sins

This is why Jesus says:

“Let the little children come to Me… for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14)

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Children are not born guilty — they are born fallen.

5. So in summary​

Here’s a one‑sentence definition:

Original Sin means we inherit a fallen nature from Adam, but we are only guilty for the sins we personally commit.

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This preserves:

• human responsibility
• God’s justice
• the universality of sin
• the necessity of Christ
• the innocence of children
• the reality of the fall

Original Sin & Infant Baptism — Why They Became Linked​

The connection between Original Sin and infant baptism comes from a simple historical logic:

If all humans are born bearing the effects (or guilt) of Adam’s sin, then even infants need cleansing — immediately.

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This idea became especially strong in the Western church after Augustine, who taught that:

• all humans inherit both a corrupted nature and Adam’s guilt,
• therefore infants who die unbaptized remain stained by original sin.

This belief created urgency: baptize infants quickly so they are freed from original sin.
Catholic teaching still reflects this: infants are baptized because they are “born with a fallen human nature and tainted by original sin” and need baptism to be “freed from the power of darkness” (CCC 1250).
Likewise, Catholic doctrine teaches that baptism “cleanses the soul of original sin” and incorporates even infants into Christ.

Why This Became the Dominant View in the West​

By the 5th–6th centuries, infant baptism became nearly universal in both East and West, partly because of the fear that unbaptized infants might be excluded from salvation due to original sin. Scholars note that this shift was heavily influenced by Augustinian theology.
In short:

• Original Sin → infants are born spiritually “in need.”
• Baptism → the remedy.
• Therefore → baptize infants.

This is the theological chain between the two that shaped centuries of Christian practice.

Here is a quote from Matt Perman, which quotes several verses leading to the conclusion that we are all born with original sin:

There are several lines of biblical evidence for the historic Christian doctrine that we are all born into the world with sinful natures, due to the sin of Adam.

Scripture says that we are born sinners and that we are by nature sinners
Psalm 51:5 states that we all come into the world as sinners: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Ephesians 2:2 says that all people who are not in Christ are “sons of disobedience.” Ephesians 2:3 also establishes this, saying that we are all “by nature children of wrath.” If we are all “by nature children of wrath,” it can only be because we are all by nature sinners — for God does not direct His wrath towards those who are not guilty. God did not create the human race sinful, but upright. But we fell into sin and became sinful due to the sin of Adam.

Scripture speaks of humans as unrighteous from infancy
There are also verses which declare that we are all unrighteous from the time that we are born. Proverbs 22:15 says “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.” Genesis 8:21 declares, “. . . the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Jonathan Edwards, in his classic work The Great Christian Doctrine of Original Sin Defended, remarks that on this verse: “The word translated youth, signifies the whole of the former part of the age of man, which commences from the beginning of life. The word in its derivation, has reference to the birth or beginning of existence . . . so that the word here translated youth, comprehends not only what we in English most commonly call the time of youth, but also childhood and infancy.”

Humanity is often described in general terms as unrighteous
Unrighteousness is often spoken of in Scripture as something belonging to the human race as a whole. This implies that it is the property of our species. In other words, sinfulness is considered a property of human nature after the fall. Thus, it must be concluded that we are all born sinners, since we are all born human and sin is regarded as a property of humanity. In this vein, consider Ephesians 2:1–3:

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

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Paul is here reminding Christians of what they were like before their conversion to Christ (“you were dead in your trespasses . . . in which you formerly walked”). Thus, all people, until and unless they are converted, are sinners. Paul goes on to make it absolutely clear that all Christians came from this state (“. . . we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh”) and that all non-Christians are still in this state (“. . . and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”) Thus, Scripture regards all people before they are saved by Christ as sinners and thus deserving of punishment from God. Which is to say that from the inception of our existence, we are sinful.

In Psalm 14:2–3 we read: “The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Here again we see unrighteousness as a property of the human race: “they have all turned aside . . . there is no one who does good.”

Job 15:14 similarly declares that sinfulness is a property of humanity: “What is man, that he should be pure, or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?” Verses 15–16 then speak of the human race as a whole in shocking terms expressing our general corruption: “Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight; How much less one who is detestable and corrupt, Man, who drinks iniquity like water!”

Jeremiah 17:9 says that “the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” This seems to assume original sin — wickedness is a property of the human heart. Ecclesiastes 9:3 declares a similar truth: “. . . the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and insanity is in their hearts through their lives.” Again, the human heart is sinful, and therefore all humans are sinful.