Is the human being born a sinner as we have been taught? Did God, Who is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34) allow or cause each and every human born after Adam and Eve’s fall to be automatically infected with a spiritual virus called sin? Does man acquire a sin nature at conception? No. But my saying so is irrelevant. Relative to all things spiritual, God commands that we “Prove all things” (1 Thes. 5:21). So let us prove the TRUTH concerning human nature by consulting God’s TRUTH–His WORD (Jn. 17:17).

Why does man do many incredible things but refuses to do what God commands? Because that which man calls “human nature” will not allow it. But it is not human nature that dictates man’s sinful ways, rather it is Satan’s nature (character) that man CHOOSES that rules his life. As did Adam and Eve, when given the choice between obeying God and obeying Satan, man chooses Satan with extremely rare exception. But man has concocted an “out” for himself–he claims to have a chronic sin condition inherited from his original ancestors. Truth be told, Adam is no more responsible for his descendants’ sin that Satan was for Adam’s sin. Our ancestors created the blame game; over the years their descendants have perfected it.

That man is wicked is born out in Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart (mind) is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Why is this so? Because we choose it to be so. Being blessed with the power of choice, man’s sins are the END PRODUCTS of the choices he makes on a continuous basis. Man is born with God’s sinless nature as were Adam and Eve. At the point that he understands good and evil, he chooses whom he will obey–God or Satan. Invariably, he chooses Satan, thereby taking on Satan’s nature. Therefore, “human nature” is in reality Satan’s nature which man deliberately embraces. We can prove this by studying God’s Word according to the directions He provided in Isaiah 28:10-13. First He asks to whom can He teach knowledge? The one who studies His Word precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. Then He repeats those words for emphasis. Let us follow another of His commands to “Study to show thyself approved of God ….” (2 Tim. 2:15). God has decreed this as the only method by which man can see the whole picture found in the puzzle that is His Word. Why a puzzle? I believe that it is His method of separating sheep from goats, contenders from pretenders. Only those intent on learning the Truth will put forth the effort to study His Truth as he dictates. A cursory reading of what David said about being born in sin will not reveal the Truth about man’s so-called “sin nature.” Everything God said to mankind in His Word is Spirit-inspired (God breathed) Truth (2 Tim. 3:16). One must study all of the Truths (verses and passages) concerning a particular subject to discern THE Truth relative to the subject. More often than not, THE Truth is different from man’s initial, and usually only take on the subject. Already saved man sees only what he wants to see. Refusing to study or hear “… all the Words of God,” man remains ignorant of His Truth. I have been shocked by how little church people know about the Word by which we will all be judged. And that is not all; I have found that extreme ignorance is combined with extreme indifference. The consensus is: Why bother to learn the Bible?  John 3:16 says all one needs to know. The fix is in. Salvation has been applied like a coat thick paint to everyone who has performed a prescribed ritual. If this is so, why “Study to show thyself approved of God?” Why “Prove all things?” Why study God’s Word “Precept upon precept, line upon line …?” Man spends his life in self-inflicted ignorance of the Word that, if obeyed, will result in eternal life. Man acquires this mind-set from Satan on an individual basis. Contrary to church doctrine, there is no corporate sin–mankind is not created a singular, sin-afflicted entity. We are told in several places that Satan was the culprit who enticed Adam and Eve to sin. To better understand how they acquired their sin, let us see how Satan acquired his sin.

Ezekiel 28:14,15 tells us that God created Lucifer (“son of the morning”) without a flaw. So from whence came his evilness? “Thou (Lucifer) art the anointed cherub that covers; and I (God) made you so. You were upon the holy mountain of God; you walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Your were PERFECT IN ALL YOUR WAYS FROM THE DAY YOU WERE CREATED.” God created Lucifer sinless and pure, as He did all the angels and every human being that has ever been born. We pick up the narrative with verse 15: “… until iniquity (Lawlessness) was FOUND (not created) in you.” The reason for Lucifer’s fall is summed up in Isaiah 14:14 where we are told that he said: “… I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH.” Man has followed in his spiritual footsteps.

God (Elohim=Gods) created man in Their image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). They also created man with the right to partake of the Tree of Life growing in the midst of Eden. Had he done so he would have lived forever in paradise in the presence of God. Having finished creation, God stated that everything He had created (including man) was “VERY GOOD.” Sin is not good. Man was very good–without sin, perfect, as was Lucifer. However, having been created in God’s image and likeness did not negate man’s freedom of choice. Given the choice of masters, Adam and Eve chose Satan.

Blessed with the power of choice, man chooses sin for the same reason as Lucifer–pride. Both will suffer downfall and defeat: “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 1:18). Churchman rejects God (Jn. 12:48) by proudly proclaiming his power to deny any and all of God’s Words that conflict with his version of Christianity. This proves that David was right–man does not fear God (Ps. 36:1). By continually defying Him, the Counterfeit Church proves she does not fear God. There is no fear of God before the eyes of those who call themselves by His name. Adam and Eve set the pattern in this regard.

The irony of this situation lies in the fact that Adam and Eve could have eaten of the Tree of Life at any time. Eve told Satan where it was and what would be the result of partaking of it–eternal life. She also told him where the forbidden tree was located and what would be the end result of eating its fruit–death. Satan did not tell Adam and Eve that eating of it would enable them to know the difference between good and evil–they already knew that (eat the good fruit=life; eat the bad fruit=death). He convinced them that eating of the forbidden fruit would give them the POWER TO DETERMINE GOOD AND EVIL–a power held only by God. In other words, Satan promised to make them equal to God, which he had failed to do. When man picks and chooses which of God’s Words to believe and obey he declares himself equal to God–he practices idolatry. The object of his worship is himself. By convincing man to exalt himself to God-level (determine good and evil), Satan rules the world vicariously through him by way of the many religious “isms” that comprise the world’s system of religion.