AN EXCERPT FROM:
DOES MAN INHERIT A SINFUL NATURE?
A Scriptural Discourse on the Human Constitution
By Jesse Morrell
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A SINFUL NATURE CAN BE DEVELOPED BY SINFUL CHOICES
The term “nature” and especially “sinful nature” is often left too ambiguous and undefined for a proper scientific theological discussion. Our discussion on the issue must begin with definitions to understand the terms and phrases that are used. The term “sinful nature” means different things to different theological camps. To some, a sinful nature is a constitution that is in and of itself a sin, which necessitates the will to choose to commit sin, and for having such a nature we are born under the wrath of God. To others, a sinful nature has meant that we inherit a nature which, in itself is not a sin, but which inclines us towards sin. They say that we are born with a constitution which is so biased towards sin that we, inevitably and unavoidable, will sin. The assumption for both views, however, is that the original sin of Adam somehow changed our constitution. And the latter seems to be confusing the temptations of our flesh with a “sinful nature” and thus confuse temptation with sin by calling temptation sinful. Others speak of the “sinful nature” of man, but it is evident by the way that they use the term that they are referring to man’s moral character or manner of living, not his created constitution or structure. A clarification of terms is evidently necessary in our discussion on this topic. Effective communication necessitates the defining of words. Therefore, the word “nature” must first be defined before we can ask if man inherits a “sinful nature.”
The word nature in the Greek can refer to a person’s “mode of feeling and acting which by long habit has become nature”  (Eph. 2:3; Gal. 2:15; 2 Pet. 1:4). Adam Clarke said that the word nature in the Scriptures is sometimes used to describe “a disposition formed by custom and habit.” Through continual choice, a certain behavior can become like “second nature” to you. In other words, choices create habits, through which, a way of life can become like nature.
Pelagius was a student of the Greek language and wrote books on nature and free will. In one of his letters he wrote, “Doing good has become difficult for us only because of the long custom of sinning, which begins to infect us even in our childhood. Over the years our sin gradually corrupts us, building an addiction and then holding us bound with what seems like the force of nature itself.”
Pelagius also commented, “from what is by nature a wild olive tree. For long ago their fathers had fallen away from nature because they had forgotten the law of nature, and, when habit had become fixed through repeated sinning, they came to be bitter and unproductive as it were by nature.”
This understanding of the meaning and usage of the word “nature” in the Scriptures, referring to second nature formed by habits, gives us great understanding of what was meant by the Apostle Paul when he said, “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” (Eph. 2:3).
Adam Clarke said, “The words in the text have often been quoted to prove the doctrine of original sin, but… it is not, in my opinion, intended here; it is rather found in the preceding words, the lusts of the flesh, and the desires of the flesh and of the mind. The apostle appears to speak of sinful habits; and as we say Habit is a second nature, and as these persons acted… from the lusts of the flesh and of the mind, they thus became, by their vicious habits, or second nature, children of wrath – persons exposed to perdition, because of the impurity of their hearts and the wickedness of their lives.”
Winkie Pratney said, “A sinful nature is not a transmitted, inherited, physical thing. It is something that is made and created by his own choices in rebelling against God… I believe man has a sinful nature until he gets saved. But I don’t believe it’s physical and I don’t believe it’s inherited and I don’t believe Adam gave it to him. I believe he gave it to himself. In other words, I believe that sin is original – very original. It originates with the sinner.”
The truth that men are capable of so perverting themselves as to create for themselves a sinful nature also helps us to understand what the Bible means when it says that sinners have “corrupted themselves” (Gen. 6:12; Exo. 32:7, Deut. 9:12, Deut. 32:5, Jdg. 2:19, Hos. 9:9). In this sense, it is not a sinful nature which necessitates the choices of their will, but the choices of their will which create and form their sinful nature. A sinful nature developed by free choice is something which sinners can be rightly blamed and justly punished for, but a nature that they are created with or inherited is involuntary on their part so that they cannot be responsible or held accountable for it.
A type of sinful nature, developed by continual choice and habit, is what is meant in the Scriptures when God said to Israel, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” (Jeremiah 13:23). The Hebrew word used for “accustomed” means “instructed: – accustomed, disciple, learned, taught, used.” It is the same word used for disciple (Isa. 8:16). This extremely hardened sinful condition Jeremiah was rebuking Israel for was not the natural condition that Israel was created or born into but a way of living that they learned overtime and disciplined themselves in. Their wicked way of life became like nature to them.
Paul mentioned the power of sinful habit in his hyperbole of the struggle a convicted sinner has against sin. He wrote, “Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me” (Rom. 7:17, 20). Notice Paul said, “it is no more I” which means that it previously was him. The man put himself into that bondage to sin. Pelagius commented that the man in this chapter was battling with “habitual desires.” Sinners choose to live in sin and can develop such a strong sinful addiction in their flesh that it is like their sinful habits take over and they continue to sin, even when their conscience is awakened by the law and the inner man of conscience doesn’t want to sin. Those who have struggled with drug addiction know what it is like to struggle with the habits and desires you have developed even after you no longer want to live that way.
The more you over-indulge your appetites and desires, the stronger their demands grow. Habitual choice of indulgence can create strongholds of addictions. If you properly control these appetites and desires as God intended when He gave them to you, the strength of these appetites and desires can be subdued and can fulfill their rightful place in life. Through wrongful and over indulgence, the members of your nature can become accustomed to being gratified through sinful means and can be perverted. This is how we can develop the “law of sin which is in my members” (Rom. 7:23) that Paul spoke of, which is in opposition to conscience or the “law of my mind” (Rom. 7:23, 25). A law is a rule of action. A law of sin in your members and the law of God in your mind is that which demands or desires you to live and conduct yourself in a certain way.
Many have fallaciously assumed that the “sin that dwelleth in me” and “the law of sin which is in my members” was some sort of sinful nature inherited from Adam, when this Paul never mentions. Notice that Paul never even mentions Adam, birth, or inheritance in the entire chapter. This law of sin in his members or sin that dwelleth in him was not something that he was born with but something that he had developed by his own choices. Sinful choices create sinful habits, until sinning itself becomes like nature to you.
 Thayer’s definition of “phusis.”
 Adam Clarke’s commentary on Eph. 2:3.
 Unlike Augustine, who did not know Greek, who taught that we are born with a sinful nature.
 Letter to Demetrias, VIII
 Pelagius’s commentary on Romans 11:24
 Adam Clarke’s commentary on Eph. 2:3.
 Winkie Pratney, 1971 Hilo School of Evangelism, Original Sin Lecture
 Strong’s definition of “limmûd limmûd”
 Pelagius’s Commentary on Romans 7:23
 Many have mistakenly assumed that the law of sin which Paul described as in his members in Romans seven, and the sin that dwelleth in him, were inherited from Adam at birth. These verses have been interpreted so as to refer to “original sin” and a “sinful nature.” This assumption is completely exegetically unfounded, as the chapter mentions nothing at all of birth, Adam, Adam’s original sin, or inheritance.
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This volume explains the truth of man’s freedom of choice in light of Church history and other doctrines like total depravity, regeneration, atonement, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, predestination, repentance, faith, the believers security, original sin, etc. One Bible teacher called this book “the most comprehensive exposition on man’s natural ability in print.”
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Hope Church, Oregon
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Pastor, Author, & Itinerate Bible Teacher
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Michael R. Saia, author of
“Does God Know the Future?”
and “Understanding the Cross.”