Many people when asked this question go right to the teaching that says that we are all “born sinners”, have some “sinful nature”, or to the story in the Bible which has been coined “the fall of man”. First, let me point something out: The Bible does not teach that we are born sinners, have some inherited sinful inclination or that we are held responsible or guilty in some way for Adam or Eve's wrongdoings. The world isn't full of evil because of Adam and Eve, in the sense that they pass down to us an inherited nature that inclines us towards evil. Surely, they allowed corruption into the world and didn't set a very good moral example for us all, but we have nothing in us forces us to follow their lead.
The Lord said that the consequence of their disobedience is that they would die (spiritually; morally). He didn't say that all their children would be born with sinful or depraved natures. Sin, just like righteousness, is a moral choice, and is not something that can be passed down from parent to child.
Adam and Eve received the penalty for their sins. Their punishment was that they died spiritually. They were morally separated from God, their fellowship broken until He clothed them with tunics of skin (signifying His forgiveness - Hebrews 9:22) and they were then driven out of the garden and were no longer able to eat from the Tree of Life. So, now not being able to eat of this life giving tree, they were subject to physical degeneration, sickness and bodily death, which would have been avoided by eating from this tree (Genesis 3:22). Also as part of the punishment and as a result of not being allowed in the Garden, the man now had to work the soil by the sweat of his brow to get food and the woman now had pain in child bearing. These yes, we also have to deal with, but this has nothing to do with being inherently sinful or having inclinations towards disobedience.
Clearly the result of “the fall” was not that all Adam's offspring would be inherently inclined towards evil, as basically all of Christianity falsely teaches today. I don't know how this corrupt doctrine got so popular since the Bible makes it abundantly clear that there were many righteous people that lived on the earth after Adam and Eve's incident in the Garden. It is true that most chose to go their own way and not consider God or the consequences of disobeying His will (Ecclesiastes 7:29), but not everyone did this, as there were many righteous (Matthew 13:17). Think about Abel, Adam's first generation, who pleased the Lord (Genesis 4:4). Then others like Enoch who was taken from the earth before he even died because “he walked with and pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5). Abraham obeyed God by faith (Hebrews 11:8) and it was accounted to him as righteousness (Romans 4:9,13). Noah “was a just man and perfect in his generation” (Genesis 6:9), and Moses, who chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25), and so on, and so on... (see Hebrews 11 more examples)
So, if indeed, as most of the Church system erroneously teaches today, we are born with sinful natures that cause us to be bad, then it must be that the only way anyone could ever desire or choose to do good –or to seek God– would be because God Himself gives them this ability (which most teach or believe), and the only way anyone could ever repent and be saved from the punishment of sin would be because God compelled them in some way (thus effectively deleting our free will). You see the problem here? This, by deduction, makes not only the Biblical accounts we have of righteous people and free will wrong, but it also makes God the origin of all the evil in the world, because if God did really make the penalty of Adam's sin to be that his offspring are born wicked, then the depravity that exists is here because God makes people like that because of Adam's sin, which is really unfair and evil in itself. Thus, we have millions of people blaming evil and the horrible crimes we hear of everyday on God. But none of this is even close to true. Let me explain how it really is.
God created Adam and Eve with the ability to choose between obedience and disobedience, right and wrong, good and evil; a means to prove to God if they really respected Him and put His Word above their own desires (Jeremiah 17:10). He then gave them a way to exercise this free will by commanding them not to eat of the forbidden tree which He had placed in the Garden. Well, we know the rest of the story...
Adam and Eve ate of that forbidden tree. But notice that they did this while not having any sinful or fallen nature; they were undefiled and innocent, straight from God's creative hand. So, why then did they sin? Well, they were created with passions and desires of the flesh (which can be used properly or wrongfully) which they decided to fall subject to and be ruled over by, however momentarily it may have been.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh; appetite], that it was pleasant to the eyes [lust of the eyes], and a tree desirable to make one wise [pride of life], she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. –Genesis 3:6
As a result of having been created with a free will to make decisions with, and a flesh body that can, if allowed to, lead them astray, Adam and Eve not only had the responsibility of making choices between good and evil, but also had to contend with their own passions and desires of their flesh (and in this instance failed). But these passions and desires do not make us do anything –they are not good or evil in and of themselves– we have been created with the ability to master them and live by the Spirit and not the flesh. We have a choice to love the world and the things in it or to love God and His Way. We can either live by the lusts of the flesh or by the will of God. We also have our “forbidden tree”:
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. –1 John 2:15-17
The first instance of the Lord instructing someone to master their passions and desires and do what is right was when He perceived Cain going astray in his heart. Would He ask this if it were impossible?
So the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” –Genesis 4:6-7
So if we were created upright, innocent, with with a free will and no inclination toward wickedness, then why is evil so rampant in the world around us? Simply because most people have chosen the path of least resistance; the path of self-seeking and immediate gratification; the pursuit of vain glory. Yes, most people have followed after Adam's example of disobedience, to the detriment of all humanity. But there is hope!
Jesus Christ came to this earth to break the chains of our bondage. He came here to not only give us a way to have forgiveness of sins and a clear conscience before God (Hebrews 10:19-23), but He also gives us an example of complete obedience to God (John 13:15; 1 Peter 2:21); Jesus proved that it was possible to live in a flesh body that has passions and desires but still entirely choose to do God's will (Hebrews 2:17-18). Essentially, he broke the pattern of example that Adam began (1 Corinthians 15:22). By repenting, forsaking our sins, following the pattern Christ has left for us, heeding the teachings He passed on to us, and abiding in the Spirit He gives us when we get our hearts right and begin to obey God (John 14:15-16; Acts 5:32), we can live a life free from the bondage to sin and the love of the things of the world.
But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. –Romans 6:17-19
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ...whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” –John 8:31-32; 34-36
Our bodies are instruments and we can use them to glorify God or to work unrighteousness.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. –Romans 6:12-14
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? –Romans 6:16
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. –Romans 6:22
Who will you be a slave to?
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life... –Deuteronomy 30:19
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap [everlasting] corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. –Galatians 6:7-8
