Where in the Bible does it say that people are sinners from birth?
I get Christians at times trying to tell me that I need to be born again because they say that I was born a sinner. I am not of any religion currently but have an open mind somewhat. Can you tell me where in the Bible that it says that I or anyone else for that matter, was born a sinner? I do agree that I make mistakes and say things that I shouldn't.
These witnessing Christians always try to led me to the New Testament. But I ask them to show me Old Testament scriptures to prove this sin-born nature.
Then I ask them how can Mary be born without sin and not me. Is it because of her bloodline?
Ted’s Response:
Here are two more Old Testament verses in the Bible showing that there is no one who does not sin:
When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near.... (1 Kings 8:46)Even the great King David understood that he was a sinner against God, even from conception and birth:
There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins. (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:1-5)He also knew that the wicked go astray from birth, and they are wayward from the womb:
Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. (Psalm 58:3)After the Great Flood, and after Noah had built an altar on which he sacrificed clean animals and birds to the Lord (Genesis 8:20), God said in His heart that He never again would curse the ground, even though man was evil from his youth or childhood:
The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. (Genesis 8:21)And, of course, Paul in the New Testament reiterated that all are sinners and that righteousness only can come through faith in Jesus Christ:
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:21-24)Furthermore, Paul said the following, showing that we inherit our sin nature from Adam, which indicates that we have it from birth:
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. (Romans 3:21-24)John indicated that we deceive ourselves if we deny our sinful nature; furthermore, we make God out to be a liar:
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:8-10)Since we are born as sinners, then sin innately is a part of us. We cannot help but sin; our sins are not merely "mistakes," and we are held accountable for them by God. This is why Jesus, the sinless Son of God, came to die for us. Only the perfect sacrifice of Himself was enough to atone for our sins. Through God’s grace, those who acknowledge their sins, and who accept Jesus’ substitutionary sacrifice on their behalf, will be absolved and forgiven of their sins. His shed blood is the only way to have our sins washed away, forever.
The notion that Mary was born without sin is the Catholic doctrine of the "Immaculate Conception." (Most Christians mistakenly assume that this term refers to the virgin conception of Jesus inside of Mary, which it does not.) Catholics believe that Mary must have been born sinless because they feel that the only way Jesus could have been sinless was by being born of a sinless mother.
I absolutely disagree with this. If Mary had been born sinless, that would have meant that her parents were sinless, and their parents were sinless, and so on. Of course, this was not the case.
The reason that Jesus was able to be sinless was that Jesus was God in human form. God is perfect, and His perfection "trumped" the sin nature of Mary when Jesus was conceived within her and grew in her womb. So Jesus was born sinless and remained sinless throughout His life, and He is the only human being who ever was. More about this is in another email response I wrote to someone here: Do you believe that Mother Mary was the product of an Immaculate Conception, and how does her sinlessness relate to Adam and Eve's sinfulness?
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