1. James 1:14-15. This tells us how sin is conceived. How did Adam sin differently than man today? He didn't. Was Adam tempted? Yes, and so is man now. If Adam wasn't created in sin, then how did he sin? Just like man today. We don't sin because of Adam, for the simple reason that Adam couldn't hold anyone else accountable for his actions. Sin is action and cannot be passed on.

2. Guilt & Consequences. If a person does not see the difference between the two, then it will be impossible to see the truth. When Cain killed Abel (Gen. 4), who suffered the consequences? Both did. Cain was cursed by God, and Abel lost his life. Who suffered the guilt? Cain did. It was Cain that God was upset with. Abel wasn't guilty for Cain's actions. Now, if someone thinks that whenever a person su:ffers consequences that that automatically means they are guilty, then there is a failure to grasp the difference betwteen the two words.

3. Ezekiel 18:1-4,20. Here we are told clearly that the son shall not bear the guilt of his father. A question that comes to mind is, did Cain bear the guilt of his father, Adam? According to the word of God., the answer is no. Cain was guilty for his own wrong doing.

4. Jeremiah 19:4-5. Parents were offering their children to a false god. In this text, the children are called "innocent". Innocent is exactly what infants are. If they were born in sin, they certainly could not, and would not, have been called innocent.

5. Matthew 18:1-3. Jesus informed his listeners that man needs to be converted like a little child to enter the kingdom of heaven. Being justified is to be Mthout fault, and that is the state of children, which is what our Lord was teaching. Would Jesus command men to be like poor depraved, wicked, haters of God, to enter heaven? No.

6. I Corinthians 14:20. The apostle Paul wanted saints to be in malice like babes. Children are pure and guiltless, which is why Paul used them as an example. If not, why use a child? What is there about a child that is worth imitating? Certainly it isn't their "depraved nature"! It's because they are not born in sm.

7. Romans 7:9. The apostle Paul was born under Jewish law (Phil. 3:5). Yet, where there is no law there can be no sin (Rom 4: 14). There was a time when Paul was "alive with out law". Law was always there, so when could he have been without law? It was when he was not accountable to the law as a child. If not, when was Paul alive without law?

8. 2 Corinthians 5:10-11. There is going to be a judgment day. On that occasion man will give account to the things done. whether good or bad. Man will be judged individually (Rom 14: 12). Now, how can an infant be judged for the things done in the body, good or bad? Remember, men are not judged for the actions of someone else. Just what sins could an infant be guilty of?

9. 2 Samuel 12:23. When David"s child became sick and die - he said that the child
cannot come to him, but he can go to where the child is. There is an assurance that
infants are not born depraved.

10. I John 3:4. Knov..ing full well that sin is transgression of law, we know that there cannot possibly be any violation of law committed by a baby. If so, what sin? We have already shown from the scriptures that man cannot inherit the sin of another. To know what sin is, is to know whether children are born in sin.

11. Romans 5:12. This verse clearly shows why all men are guilty, because "all sinned".. This is the very point to the sinlessness of an infant. It does not due justice to read part of a verse, without reading it all.

12. No verse teaching man is born in sin.
We have noticed the purity of children. Jesus demanded the all men become like little children. There is difficulty in finding a text to prove one is born in sin, especially when the idea conflicts with so many passages of scripture.
Think about it.

Chuck Bartlett

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