The Bible says absolutely nothing about anyone having a sin nature. It is a doctrine from humanism, not from the Bible. Many theologians, however, have taught that all men do have a sin nature, and some have gone so far to argue that the unregenerate man is totally depraved, but we have many passages in the Bible that refute that belief.
The belief that the Bible teaches that men have a sin nature comes from a careless reading of a few isolated passages in the Bible taken out of context:
Psalm 51:5. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
Psalm 58:3. The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.
Gen. 5:3. When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of
a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.
Gen. 8:21 The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
Job 14:4 "Who can make the clean out of the unclean? No one!
Job 15:14. "What is man, that he should be pure, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
15. "Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight;
16. How much less one who is detestable and corrupt, Man, who drinks iniquity like water!
Isa. 48:8. "You have not heard, you have not known. Even from long ago your ear has not been open, Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a rebel from birth.
Rom. 5:12. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned--
13. for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
15. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
16. The gift is not like
that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment
arose from one
transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift
arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
17. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
18. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.
19. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.
20. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
21. so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Eph. 2:1. And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
2. 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.
3. 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.
The belief that the Bible teaches that men have a sin nature also comes from a careless study of the word flesh in the New Testament. Up through Rom. 14:20 in the KJV, every occurrence of the word “flesh” is an English translation of the Greek word σαρχ. In Rom. 14:21 it is a translation of the Greek word κρεας meaning “flesh, meat, a piece of meat.” We find this same Greek word translated in the KJV as “flesh” in 1 Cor. 8:13. Every other occurrence of the word “flesh” in the KJV is a translation of the Greek word σαρχ.
The problem arises when readers assume that the Greek word σαρχ is a pejorative term. Many even equate it with the supposed “sin nature.” However, we find the Greek word σαρχ used of Jesus in Romans 1:3
3. concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, (NASB, 1995)
3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; (KJV, 1769)
A careful study of the Greek word σαρχ in every occurrence of it in the New Testament reveals that the “flesh” is the part of man that is subject to temptation, as opposed to the “Spirit” which, of course, is not subject to temptation. Man, therefore, according to the Bible, has a part of him that is subject to temptation. Jesus, before his death on the cross, shared this part of man with us, and was subject to temptation, but never yielded to it. Christians continue to have this part of man, but just like Jesus no longer had it after his death and resurrection, Christians are to consider themselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 6:11).
Therefore all men are born with a weakness that makes them subject to temptation. This weakness in the New Testament is referred to as the “flesh.” It is not a disposition to sin, and therefore it is
not a sin nature in the sense that many teach it.
Man did not inherit a sin nature from Adam as a consequence of his fall; the Bible teaches no such thing. (Rom. 5:12 is quoted above, in context, for your convenience.)
(Note: I omitted the Greek accent marks to make it easier to post the Greek fonts. All Scripture is from the NASB, 1995 unless otherwise stated.)
