The Westminster Confession of Faith and Original Sin

I. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtlety and temptation of Satan, sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:13; 2 Cor. 11:3). This their sin God was pleased, according to His wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to His own glory (Rom. 11:32).

II. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion, with God, (Gen. 3:6,7,8; Ecc. 7:29; Rom. 3:23) and so became dead in sin (Gen. 2:17; Eph. 2:1), and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body (Tit 1:15; Gen. 6:5; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10-19).

III. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed (Gen. 1:27,28; 2:16,17 and Act. 17:26 with Rom. 5:12, 15-19 and 1 Cor. 15:21-22, 49), and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation (Ps. 51:5; Gen. 5:3; Job 14:4, 15:14).

IV. From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good (Rom. 5:6; 8:7; 7:18; Col. 1:21), and wholly inclined to all evil (Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Rom. 3:10, 11, 12), do proceed all actual transgressions (Js. 1:14, 15; Eph. 2:2, 3; Mt. 15:19).

V. This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that are regenerated (1 Jn. 1:8, 10; Rom. 7:14, 17, 18, 23; Js. 3:2; Pr.  20:9; Ecc. 7:20), and although it be, through Christ, pardoned and mortified, yet both itself and all the motions thereof are truly and properly sin (Rom. 7:5, 7, 8, 25; Gal. 5:17).

VI. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary whereunto (1 Jn. 3:4), doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner (Rom. 2:15; 3:9, 19), whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God (Eph. 2:3), and curse of the law (Gal. 3:10), and so made subject to death (Rom. 6:23), with all miseries spiritual (Eph. 4:18), temporal (Rom. 8:20; Lam. 3:39), and eternal (Mt. 25:41; 2 Thess. 1:9).

 

There are many different groups of people all over the world that call themselves “Christians” but do not believe as we do. Many denominations have developed their own creeds and manuals, so that their own beliefs might be “correctly” taught to others. Above is an excerpt of the Westminster Confession of Faith dealing with sin. Let us take a closer look at what it says about the subject of “original sin,” and see if it coincides with what the Bible teaches.

First, we must take a look at what they say about where sin comes from. They are correct in that Adam and Eve were the first to bring sin into the world. However, they have misinterpreted Romans 11:32 by saying that God was pleased for this sin, so He could enact His plan of salvation. We can see that First John 3:4 says, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” How then is God pleased when we break the laws that He has set forth? Yes, He did have a plan for the redemption of mankind in place before creation (2 Thess. 2:13), but that only means He knew that man was going to sin, not that He was happy with it. The Westminster Confession of Faith also states that after Adam and Eve sinned, that sin is now passed down from generation to generation (see III above). They use passages such as Romans 5:12, First Corinthians 15:22, and Psalm 51:5 to prove their point, but none of their reasoning holds true. Yes, by one man, sin entered the world, but that does not mean that sin is passed on from father to son or mother to daughter. Ezekiel 18:20 explains that the son is not responsible for the sins of his father. Psalms 51:5 is hard for many people to understand when it is only looked at from the surface. If we look at its context, we are able to understand the circumstances in which it was written. David, in Psalm 51:5, is looking back on his sin that he committed with Bathsheba. David is feeling the full weight of what he had done. He is so overwhelmed with the guilt of having done something so monstrous, he feels that he must have been “conceived in iniquity and born in sin.” David’s feelings of remorse are not meant to undermine God’s word but are a way of showing grief that is almost unexpressible. Sin is not passed down, and we are not born in sin.

Let us always turn to the Bible for what God would have us to do and not to the doctrines of men. Second Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” If the word of God makes us complete, then we have no need to turn anywhere else.