ARE WE CONCEIVED AND BORN IN SIN?
Sakkie Parsons
Some time ago, I sent you something in which I told you about an incident where a tiny baby completely overwhelmed me.
I told how I felt that I was in the presence of someone who had never disappointed our God, and in other words, according to my way of thinking, was lying there in my arms without sin.
I then received an email in which the person—and here I must make this very clear—pointed out to me in a truly kind manner that, although it was a beautiful thought that I had shared, according to this person, and I quote: “We are conceived and born in sin.”
In response to what was sent to me, I now want to share with you how I see it. I know there are those who believe that “we are all conceived and born in sin,” and by that they mean, as I understand them, that we are created with sin already in us while we are still in our mother’s womb. But unless I have overlooked something all these years, I cannot remember that it is written anywhere in the New Testament that “we are conceived and born in sin.” As far as that is concerned, I read nowhere in the Word that God creates sin, and yet that is what God would have had to do if the baby who is born already comes into the world with sin in him or her.
I specifically mention the New Testament because it is, after all, the only Testament that applies to me. For it is written:
It is Jesus speaking here:
MATTHEW 26:27-28
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Paul, with the Holy Spirit guiding him, puts it this way:
2 CORINTHIANS 3:5-6
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
An older translation reads:
2 CORINTHIANS 3:6 “Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”
Now let me explain to you how I reason regarding that newborn baby, who, as far as my understanding is concerned, was a little human being without sin. God created that baby in that woman.
When, after the birth, the baby was lying in her arms, the one who had placed the child there could rightly also have said to her, “Here is your child, whom God created in you and has now given to you.”
Because we are human beings, from the very beginning of our lives we have an inclination to find sin attractive, and satan exploits this, just as he did right at the very beginning.
God does not bring sin into the world. As far as I am concerned, to say that He does is blasphemy. Neither does God cherish sin.
Let me quickly show you how Jesus reasons about children:
MARK 10:14-16
But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.
Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”
And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.
He was displeased with what His disciples had done:
“When Jesus saw this, He was greatly displeased with what His disciples had done…” (Mark 10:14)
No wonder, because look at whom the disciples wanted to keep away from Jesus.
Jesus said: “…Let the little children come to Me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mark 10:14)
According to God’s wonderful, divine plan, these children were destined for heaven, and just as all children eventually grow into adults, most people, somewhere along the way between childhood and adulthood, change God’s plan for them.
The same Jesus who said: “…Let the little children come to Me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” also said:
JOHN 8:34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
Now I ask: Would God create a slave to sin in a woman?
In other words, did God create someone enslaved to sin in the woman?
Would God infect a human being with sin—in other words, also create the sin in that baby—and then give that baby, contaminated with sin, to his or her mother?
God does not create sin.
God brought that baby into this sinful world uncontaminated by sin, and in the same way that uncontaminated baby was received by his or her parents, free from sin, into this sinful world.
To me, it is altogether inconceivable that God would create a human being in a woman and then hand that child over to the parents contaminated with sin.
What certainly is a reality, however, is that somewhere between the cradle and adulthood, most people choose to become slaves to sin. I do not know the year, the month, the day, or the hour when a child ceases to be a child. Therefore, I cannot say exactly when a child reaches the point of becoming accountable for what he or she does, because it is not exactly the same for everyone. Fortunately, that is not my concern.
What I do know with certainty is that my faith in my God must be like that of a child, and in this regard, Jesus said:
Mat 18:1-4
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Of course, I agree if someone were to say that our Lord gives the child to the mother in a sinful world, but that our Lord gives her a bundle of sin—Never! Never! Never!!!
We are born into a sinful world and, in that sense, are born into sin, but born with sin—never, for God does not create sin.
I know I have repeated myself quite a bit, but this is a very serious matter to me.
Greetings,
Sakkie