Original Sin and Rebirth

There is the common belief that people are basically good, but are they? We often do not look at ourselves with the same intent as the man or woman who got involved in a police shootout, or a high speed pursuit, or the man that chopped people up on the evening news. All in all we think that most people are good, at least not all that bad. I mean come on, no one is perfect. We should stop ourselves when we say those words and think; why is it that no one is perfect? Human wickedness is often minimized not only in societal thought, but in our own internal thought as well. Yet, why is human wickedness so universal?

Perhaps it is our society that is influencing us to be this way and do the wicked things we do. Perhaps it is our environment and not our nature; now comes the big argument over nature vs nurture. Are we born wicked or are we taught to be wicked? This is a yes and no answer. Yes we are born wicked, but not everyone is nurtured in such a way that they become the next person who drives a vehicle into a crowd of people. But there are things that people who would be described as good natured do that is wicked.

Has anyone ever stole something, even as a little child...wicked. Have we lied about something...wicked. Have we ever held a grudge that dominated our actions and thoughts about someone or something...wicked. Have we ever been jealous of what someone has and we do not...wicked. Have we ever given to charity, but really only did it for self-gratification...wicked. The list goes on and on with the wicked things that everyone does. But how did society become so corrupt in the first place?

If people were born basically good or innocent, we could at least find some of them that remained good and sinless, not sinful. Yet, even the most dedicated to seeking righteousness still have provisions for dealing with the guilt of sin. Since the fruit is universally corrupt we look for the root of the problem in the tree. Jesus indicated that, "no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit" (Luke 6:43). The Bible clearly teaches that our original parents, Adam and Eve, fell in sin. Every human being born is born with a sinful and corrupt nature, even without the Bible's teaching we could have rationally deduced the universality of sin.

The Fall is not simply a question of rational deduction. It is a point of divine revelation. It refers to something that theologians and scholars call Original Sin, a phrase coined by the Church Father St. Augustine of Hippo. Original Sin does not refer to the first sin ever committed by Adam and Eve, but to the result of the first sin... the corruption of the human race; the fallen condition we are born in. The results of the Fall were devastating and reached far beyond Adam and Eve.

We are all sinners in Adam and we share with him the curse and the death that God told him he would surely experience if he ate of the fruit. "For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). We cannot ask, "when does the individual become a sinner?" Human beings come into existence in a state of sinfulness. They are seen by God as sinful because of their solidity with Adam.

Paul says, "None is righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10). That seems extreme because we see people around us all the time who are relatively speaking doing good things. Mothers sacrifice for their children, and others return wallets; the money still within. We see all kinds of good deeds that people do. But for an act to be truly good and to hit the mark; the standard or the norm of the law of God, not only must the deed correspond outwardly or externally to what the law requires, but it also must be motivated by the heart that loves God fully.

Even in our most devout moments there is a pound of flesh. Even in redeemed humanity we still have less than perfect obedience that we offer to God. In this state we are not morally able to do the things of God. Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:44).

We are sinners not because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. Thus David laments in Psalm 51 verse 5, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." This is why throughout the New Testament writings, Jesus is referred to as the second or last Adam. "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45). In Him we have new life, becoming a new creature in Christ through our regeneration. This is in regards to our spiritual rebirth also called regeneration.

It was Jesus who first declared that spiritual rebirth was an absolute necessity for entering the kingdom of God. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). Rebirth is an essential part of Christianity; without it, entrance into the kingdom of God is impossible. Regeneration is the theological term used to describe rebirth. It refers to a new generating, a new genesis, a new beginning. This is not simply turning over a new leaf, this is a radically changed and renewed person. Peter speaks of believers having, "been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God." (1 Peter 1:23).

Regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit upon those who are spiritually dead. Such as Paul writes about in Ephesians 2:1-10 [I urge you read it]. The Spirit recreates the human heart, quickening it from spiritual death to spiritual life. Regenerate people are new creations. Where formerly they had no disposition, inclination, or desire for the things of God. For, "you were dead in the trespasses and sins." (Ephesians 2:1). But through regeneration they are disposed and inclined toward God.

In regeneration, God plants a desire for Himself in the human heart that otherwise would not be there. Regeneration is not to be confused with the full experience of conversion. Just as birth is our initiation, our first entrance into life outside the womb, so our spiritual rebirth is the starting point of our spiritual life. It occurs by God's divine initiative and is an act that is sovereign, immediate, and instantaneous. An awareness of our conversion may be gradual. Yet rebirth is instantaneous. No one can be partially reborn any more than a woman can be partially pregnant; you either are or are not.

Regeneration is not the fruit or result of faith. Rather, regeneration precedes faith as the necessary condition for faith. We are not co-workers with the Holy Spirit to bring it to pass, so we cannot boast in it. "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9). We do not decide or choose to be regenerated. "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." (John 6:63). God chooses to regenerate us before we will ever choose to embrace Him.

Truly, though after we have been regenerated by the sovereign grace of God, we do choose, act, cooperate, and believe in Christ. God does not have faith for us. It is our own faith by which we are justified. What God does is quicken us to spiritual life, rescuing us from darkness, bondage, and spiritual death. God makes faith possible and actual for us. He quickens faith within us.