Man is not depraved, but there is a continued warfare within us.
However, since we are the offspring of Deity we have soundness goodness, spiritual
health, and the Spirit of truth within us. Sin to us is acquired and not inherent;
however, the possibility of sin is ever present by the enticings of
Satan and his followers not only in this life but in the life to come. That sin
would be done away with by Christ is made plain in Daniel 9:24, “to make an end
of sins (the sin of our first parents), and to make reconciliation for
iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness.” The Catholic Bible says “And
sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished.” Hebrews gives new light on
this subject: “But this man (Christ), after He had offered one sacrifice for
sins for ever,” or as verse 10 says: “By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
If Christ has made an end of sins, expiated the guilt of our first parents,
and abolished iniquity to make us clean of the transgression of Adam and Eve,
then we are clean from the original so-called taint of Adam before God: made
free from the original transgression as David proclaimed. But they were not
actually free from this original sin until Christ actually give His life as a propitiation
for us.
Bildad answered Job, “How can man be justified with God? Or how can he
be clean that is born of a woman?” (Job 25:4) And, “How much less (pure) man,
that is a worm?” (25:6) David gives the impression that man is a mere worm, “But
I am a worm.” (Psa. 22:6) And again, “The wicked are estranged from the
womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” (Psa. 58:3) This
passage has occasioned the false notion that small children are sinful.
If we had original sin do you think David would have said, “By thee
(God) have I been holden up from the womb: thou art He that took me out of my
mother’s bowels.” (Psa. 71:6) Would the Lord have taken him out of his mother’s
bowels if he had been sinful? (Arch S. Reynolds, God’s Ways are Wonderful,
Comprehensible [Springville, Utah: Arch S. Reynolds, n.d.], 69-70)
