One of the messages I heard as a teen is that we are born sinners. We all have a sin nature and will sin in this body of flesh. But then when the question of what happens to babies when they die comes up, everyone retreats to conclusions that do not align with that thought.
So, this question needs addressing. After thousands of years and hundreds of scholars and theologians, we still struggle with the sin issue. If we don’t know the truth about sin, we run a very serious risk of not being ready when the Lord Jesus returns.
Sin’s Origin
I’m sure most understand where sin began. For those who might not, this is it.
Ezekiel 28:11-19 KJV
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
This passage describes Satan’s rebellion, the first sin ever committed, and his ultimate demise. Satan is the progenitor of sin, not Adam. We will get to Adam’s role later. Satan’s desire is to, like the angels who followed him, turn us against God.
Steal, Kill, and Destroy
Do you think Satan wants us gone? His desire is not to mess up our lives and leave us in misery. He doesn’t care about us that much! Satan desires to turn our hearts against God and to worship him as a god.
Matthew 4:8-9 KJV
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Satan wants to steal, kill, and destroy our relationship with God! Why? Because just like his original sin, he doesn’t want our money, our marriages, our homes, jobs, or cars. He wants our worship!
Revelation 13:15 KJV
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Sin Enters The World
Genesis 2:16-17 KJV
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.Genesis 2:25 KJV
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.Genesis 3:6-13 KJV
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Read all of Genesis Chapter 3 to get the full story. But several things happened here. Satan tempted Eve and convinced her it was OK to eat from the tree. She ate and did not die as she thought. She used this proof to convince Adam to eat. We know this, but what else?
Satan got Adam to:
- Doubt God
- Disobey God
- Want to be like God (Sound familiar?)
In this, Adam sinned, and sin entered the world through Adam.
Romans 5:12 KJV
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
All Have Sinned?
Romans 5:12 is used by some to prooftext that all are born sinners. Allow me to submit to you that this verse is saying all men have sinned in Adam, not that we are born sinners. Here is an example of what I mean.
Hebrews 7:9-10 KJV
9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.
10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.
Did Levi give a tithe to Melchisedec? Not directly. Because Abraham did so, Levi is counted to have done so. Because Adam ate from the tree, we are counted to have done so, even though we did not directly.
So just like the blessing was counted through Abraham, the curse is counted through Adam. And this is why Paul says all have sinned. Have sinned is past-tense. Again, this is considering Adam’s act, not ours personally.
Romans 3:23 KJV
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
This is another verse used as the verse above. Adam and Eve sinned, and God’s glory left them. They realized they were naked and hid. The glory was the righteousness that allowed them to see only God’s goodness. It also protected their perfection. When that fell, they began to see both good and evil, their perfection was corrupted, and with that corruption came death.
Genesis 3:19, 22-23 KJV
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Note there is no verse that says man is born in sin. Some may think David said so, but no.
Psalms 51:5 KJV
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
David is speaking of his mother being in iniquity and sin when he was conceived and growing in her womb. This also answers the question concerning babies and those born with limited cognitive abilities.
God does not “make exceptions” for sin.
Ezekiel 18:20 KJV
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Because of God’s righteous judgment, He does not transfer the sins of one man to another. For this reason, we are not born with a sin nature, Adam’s sin, or Original Sin. We are born with a pure nature.
Why Blame Me for Doing What’s in My Nature?
Think about this. If we are born with a sin nature, how would that be any different than the nature of a lion or eagle? They hunt, kill, and eat herbivores because it is in their nature to do so. If my nature is to sin, why punish me for my nature and not the lion?
Why punish the thief or murderer? They couldn’t help it. It’s in their nature to steal or kill. Why shun or expose the liar? They are only doing what’s in their nature. Se where I’m going with this?
In Romans Chapter 7, Paul never said he was a bad man, full of the nature of sin. He said his flesh is corrupt and drives him to choose the evil when he would choose good. This is the reason why God told Adam to avoid the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Before the tree, Adam knew only God’s goodness. Afterward, he knew both good and evil. But one thing Adam always had… a choice.
Death to All
Let’s look at Romans again…
Romans 5:12 KJV
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
What does the verse say passed to all men? Death, not sin. Death passed because of Adam’s sin. Remember, all of humankind was in Adam when he sinned, and so because of him, we all die. God told Adam that would happen.
1 Corinthians 15:22 KJV
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Why do we have to die? Because of what God said to Adam and in Genesis 3:22. Because Adam acquired the knowledge of good and evil, so have we. Because he then died, we die as well. But Christ came for this very reason. And it is the ONLY reason he came. He came so we can have life! What kind of life? Eternal life!
Sin is a Choice
If sin is not a choice, we would be lost from birth until belief in Christ. It sin was not a choice; it wouldn’t matter what we did. The Tree is proof that we can choose to do good or choose to do evil. Adam and Eve had a choice.
Psalms 14:1 KJV
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
These verses in Psalms speak of those who choose unrighteousness, not everyone who ever lived or will live. Good, evil, life (eternal) and death (eternal) is a choice. And we all get to make it.
Peace be with you my friend.
So much has been written on the topic of sin and your take is interesting. If I understand correctly, your argument seems to rest on Satan being the first sinner and not Adam. I would argue that since Satan is not human that we humans alive today are seeds of Adam and not Satan so our sinful nature is a derivative of Adam.
I know that many non-believers and believers alike have a huge problem being called sinners. Our prideful nature takes offense to that. I was told by my son that he doesn’t think it’s fair that we should have to be under the curse of sin and death for something that we inherited from Adam and for which was not of our doing. Logically, that is a very strong argument and I’m sure most people feel that way too. That is the reason why the topics of sin, repentance, Satan, and hell and not preached today. People don’t want to hear it and it drives them away so if you want to keep your congregation, you avoid those topics. God hates sin of all kinds and what constitutes sin in His eyes may not be what we consider to be sin. That is important to keep in mind.
Here is a cut and paste regarding on how Adam’s sin affects us that in my humble opinion is hard to argue with:
…sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…Romans 5:12
According to Romans 5:12–21, Adam’s sin affects us all in three ways.
(1) There is inherited sin from the original sin of Adam that causes the rest of humanity to be born into a sinful state or condition. The corrupted sin nature that we inherit from Adam begins in our mother’s womb. This is what John Calvin referred to as “a hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature.”
(2) There is imputed sin whereby Adam’s sin and guilt is attributed, or reckoned, to us and our legal standing before and relationship with God is negated. Additionally, by the grace of God, the sinner’s guilt and condemnation is imputed to Jesus Christ, who atones for sin on the cross and enables his righteousness to be imputed to the sinner as a Christian.
(3) Adam’s sin is imparted to us so that we are conceived in a fallen state and, apart from the enabling grace of God, are unable to respond to the gospel or remedy our depravity. Simply put, we are each sinners by both nature and choice.
As a result of our sin nature, we are by nature children of wrath, all sinners, and destined to death.
Speaking of our sin nature, A. W. Tozer says:
There is within the human heart a tough fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets “things” with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns “my” and “mine” look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.
Therefore, God does not tempt us to sin, but instead the temptation arises from within our own sinful hearts. Jesus’ own brother speaks of the source of sin within us:
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
Then there are the writings of Aquinas and Augustine on original sin being part of our nature. They are heady readings for sure but it does provide thought provoking reasons why we are born sinners. Charles Spurgeon uses the illustrations of a sheep and a wolf as well as a mother of a child to bring lucidity to the deprived nature that all humans are born with. We’re sinners from the day we’re born.
Your argument “Why Blame Me for Doing What’s in My Nature?” asks “Why punish the thief or murderer? They couldn’t help it. It’s in their nature to steal or kill. Why shun or expose the liar? They are only doing what’s in their nature.” I would say that this type of sin that the thief or murderer is committing is a choice of their free will which God has given us all. They are making a conscience choice to commit the sin which they can be forgiven for if they repent and hence will receive no punishment. When we repent we turn from sin because we die to self and crucify the flesh with it’s lusts and affections and become the righteousness of Christ Jesus who lives in us. I don’t think the example of the animals apply since they are part of a totally different set of rules and are only doing what their survival instincts tell them to do in addition to not being rational beings.
I could go on but I’ll end with my reasoning that the blood of Jesus sanctifies us of all sin and I’m thankful for that. I can not deny that I’ve willfully sinned and if I was born that way, than so be it. The subject of whether an infant that dies or somebody that doesn’t have the mental faculties to repent is a delicate one indeed and I have thoughts on that but will leave that for another day.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)
Thank you for your comment. My article (not an argument) is concerning the teaching of us being born sinners. It has nothing to do with Satan. As I stated, it is a misunderstanding of Psalms 51:5 KJV:
“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
This verse is saying David’s mother was in sin when he was conceived, not that he was born with sin. At some point, all men will sin. It begins as children, so scripture is right when it says “all have sinned…”. This verse speaks in future-tense as no man lives their entire life without sinning. So, there is no hiding from it or attempting to down play the fact. We simply need to understand that we are not born sinners. No infant fresh out of its mother’s womb has sinned already. We are not charged with Adam’s sin before birth. That is no where in scripture. We do become sinners soon after. And we are guilty with our own sins.
Please search this out for yourself and you will see…
“This passage describes Satan’s rebellion,” No, it doesn’t, and it never did. It describes the King of Tyre. There is no more allegory here than any of the other prophesies in the book.
Gordon,
I appreciate your comment. Maybe I’m misunderstanding you. So what you’re saying is, the King of Tyre (Ezekiel 28:11-19) was not an angel (Satan in this case by description), but just a man? Human?? Because the passage clearly says he was perfect in wisdom and beauty. What man is like this in scripture? Was the King of Tyre in the Garden of Eden? That would make him the oldest man alive by this time. He would have survived the flood as well! I think you should read the book again, especially the times God calls him a cherub…
You said that we are born with a “pure nature”. What a bunch of blasphemous bullshit. There is a common belief today that people are born “good” and most people remain basically good at heart their whole lives. According to this theory, the evil that some people exhibit is the result of environmental factors—people only turn “bad” when external forces beyond their control twist them away from their basic goodness. This is a false, unbiblical view of human nature.
The Bible teaches that none of us are good. We are all born sinners with a sinful, selfish nature inherited from Adam. Unless we are born again by the Spirit of God, we will never see the kingdom of God (John 3:3).
Psalm 14:2–3 counters the idea that anyone is “good”: “The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Add to this Jesus’ statement that “No one is good—except God alone” (Luke 18:19), and we see that we all stand guilty before God.
In the beginning, God created an absolutely perfect world. God called His creation “very good” in Genesis 1:31. The Garden of Eden was the perfect environment for the first humans, Adam and Eve. Even in that perfect environment, with all their needs met and living in a state of innocence, Adam chose to disobey God. Adam couldn’t blame environmental factors for his sinful choice; it was simply an act of his will to rebel.
When Adam disobeyed God, the first couple lost their innocence, they were ejected from the Garden, and, importantly, their basic nature was corrupted (Genesis 3:7–12). Sin and death became a part of creation. Later, when Adam had a son, the Bible describes the event this way: “He had a son in his own likeness, after his own image” (Genesis 5:3). Like father, like son. The sinner begot a sinner. Now Adam’s sin has spread to all creation: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
People are not born “good” because every one of us has been affected by Adam’s sin; there are no exceptions. Romans 5:18 says that “one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people.” We are sinners for two reasons: we actively sin ourselves (we are sinners in practice), and we bear a sinful character passed down from Adam (we are sinners by nature). That’s why we all face physical death: “In Adam all die” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
It’s hard to imagine a sweet, innocent baby being a sinner, but the Bible indicates that even children possess a sin nature. Logically, if our sin nature is inherited from Adam, then babies must already possess the bent to sin. “Folly is bound up in the heart of a child” (Proverbs 22:15). Bolstering the truth of this proverb, a child’s sinful behavior begins to manifest itself quite early in his development; as soon as a child is able to start choosing between obedience and disobedience, he will begin “testing the waters” of disobedience. Children are naturally selfish, and their wayward nature is evident to anyone who has ever been around children.
The definitive passage on the fact that people are not born “good” is Psalm 51:5. Here, David speaks of his own sin nature beginning at conception: “I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me” (CSB).
There is nothing inherently “good” within any of us. There is nothing in us that could earn salvation, and on our own we have no ability to become worthy of God’s favor. We deserve only God’s wrath (Ephesians 2:3). We are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1). But thanks be to God, who chose to send His Son, Jesus, into the world. Jesus lived without sin, and His death on the cross paid the penalty we deserved.
Charles Wesley’s hymn “And Can It Be?” rightly praises the Lord for His amazing love:
“He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace!
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race. . . .
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”
God’s great love for us is the only reason He offers us such an amazing gift—the gift of forgiveness of sin! John 3:16–18 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Jesus Christ is the only person who was born sinless and with a pure nature, because He is God. We are all born with a sin nature. You my friend are completely blind to reality. You need to repent. Your teaching is pure heresy. See what I did there?
LOL! Well sir, frankly, I think you are the one that should repent after that greeting. See what I did there? You shouldn’t spout what you hear other say without studying yourself. And then there is no need to curse at others because you do not agree. Just disagree and maintain your integrity.
You said “We are all born sinners with a sinful, selfish nature inherited from Adam.” Do you have scripture that says specifically we are ‘born sinners’? It is true, all have sinned, or more correctly interpreted, ‘all sin’. There is none good. Because we all sin at some point as again, you said. Even as babies, we get to a point when sin rears its ugly head. But no where in scripture does it say we are ‘born’ having already sinned, which is what you are saying. We do not sin automatically because Adam sinned. His transgression obviously brought sin into the world. But that does not mean “like father, like son”. Likeness and image is not nature or behavior. It is form and appearance.
You say, “The definitive passage on the fact that people are not born “good” is Psalm 51:5. Here, David speaks of his own sin nature beginning at conception: “I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me” (CSB).” This is not what David said at all. He said his mother was in sin when he was conceived. “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (ESV) Most get that wrong because they don’t teach English well in most schools. And that was slick of you to use the Christian Standard Bible, which no one should read, to make your point. So there’s that…
I’ll take one more statement. “People are not born “good” because every one of us has been affected by Adam’s sin; there are no exceptions.” No where in scripture does it say we are not born good. What is says is “as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” This is from Romans 3:10-12 (ESV). It can be found in other places as well. That all say the same. Nothing about not being ‘born’ good.
Nevertheless, this was just a teaching point. No one born of woman will see eternal life without acknowledging and repenting of sin, receiving Christ, being baptized, and living according to God’s Word. At the end of the day sir, you do not have to believe anything on this site. No one does. It’s for you to study God’s Word for yourself according to 2 Timothy 2:15.
Take care and I pray you find peace…
Can I assume then that Chapter 29 is talking about a crocodile instead of Pharaoh instead of plainly speaking about Pharaoh using visuals to make a political description? Because that’s as much a logical leap, since it describes Pharaoh as a river monster with scales, then it must mean that it’s about a river monster and not Pharaoh, just as sensibly as you parrot the idea that the King of Tyre is not the King of Tyre.
You are funny. And the way you commented is uncalled for. As a believer (are you a true believer or a pretender/troll?), It’s fine to disagree without being curt. Where is anything being parroted? And who said the King of Tyre is not the King of Tyre? If Satan can be called the “Prince and Power of the Air” (Eph. 2:2), why can’t he be called a King? I’ll leave it there.
Mat_19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
This verse is pretty straightforward in that no person is good. Only God is good. All people are children of disobedience, children of wrath, fallen short of the glory of God until they are saved by grace through faith. ALL MANKIND. Why all? Because all people are born through the fallen bloodline of Adam. There are two kinds of Sin. The one you do and the one you are. To say we are born pure is not even supported by Scripture. If that were true, the gentiles who knew nothing about Sin wouldn’t need saving. But the Bible is clear in that many perished. Rightly Divided study makes this crystal clear. As Scripture tells us, the flesh reaps nothing but corruption. It is contrary to the spirit. That is the state when we come into the world. Driven by the ways of the flesh, being ignorant and unholy. The idea that babies are not already condemned is ridiculous. To say we come into the world saved, then lose salvation at a certain age, needing to get it back. That’s ridiculous. Babies come into the world already knowing how to commit Sin, to do wrong. They have to be taught otherwise. A good reason to raise our kids in Christ from day one.
John,
No one said anyone is born good. Still, keeping in context, who was Jesus speaking of? Babies or those among him?
At birth, what sin have we committed? None, so not ridiculous that God wouldn’t condemn a newborn. And no one said we lose salvation at a certain age and have to get it back. That is not biblical.
You well know that knowing how to sin and committing sin are two different things. Rebellion is part of our nature and this is one of the first sins of a child which needs correction.
So can we say that once we are freed from sin we cannot do wrong? Of course not! Babies can do wrong also, but before birth? Unless they are sinning in the womb, they are not bound by the sins of their parents. Isn’t that scripture?
Here is a better response…
To answer this precisely, we must define what makes someone a “sinner” according to Scripture and determine whether David fit that definition at birth.
1. What Is a “Sinner” in Biblical Terms?
A sinner is typically defined as:
• Someone who commits sin (personal actions of disobedience to God).
• 1 John 3:4 – “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”
• James 4:17 – “To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
• Someone who is in a state of sin because of Adam’s fall (sinful nature).
• Romans 5:12 – “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
• Ephesians 2:3 – “By nature the children of wrath.”
These two aspects—committed sin and sinful nature—are related but distinct.
2. Was David a Sinner at Birth?
(A) Did David Commit Personal Sin at Birth?
• A newborn lacks the ability to willfully sin.
• Sin, as defined in 1 John 3:4, is the transgression of the law, which requires conscious action.
• James 4:17 states that sin is knowing the right thing and refusing to do it—something an infant cannot do.
(B) Was David Considered a “Sinner” by Nature?
• Yes. Psalm 51:5 and Romans 5:12 affirm that all humans inherit a sinful nature from Adam.
• However, having a sinful nature does not mean one has committed sin at birth.
• Ephesians 2:3 states that people are “by nature children of wrath,” meaning that their inclination is toward sin from birth.
3. Key Distinction: Sinful by Nature vs. Guilty of Sin
• David was born with a sinful nature, meaning he was “bent” toward sin, but he was not guilty of personal sin at birth.
• This is the same distinction Paul makes in Romans 5:12—sin and death entered the world through Adam, making all humans sinners by inheritance, but personal sin occurs when someone actively sins.
Conclusion: Was David a Sinner at Birth?
• By nature? Yes. He was born with the propensity to sin, as all humans are.
• By action? No. A newborn does not commit personal sin because sin requires moral awareness and choice.
So, David was not a sinner in the sense of personal guilt at birth, but he was born with a sinful nature that inevitably led him to sin.