Where In The Bible Will I Find:

That The New Born Baby Is A Sinner?

The psalmist David said, "Behold I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psm. 51:5). David shows remorse for his sin with Bathsheba, and states in the two preceding verses: "For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." He says that these are sins in which he has committed against God, not sins of others that made him guilty at his birth. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son" (Ezk. 18:20).

That principle is unchanged in God's dealing with man. The actions of one person cannot make another person guilty of sin! "Each one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). "That each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (11 Cor. 5:10). Each person will be judged by his own actions, not that of parents or anyone else. "They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies" (Psm. 58:3).

Paul writes, "We were by nature children of wrath" (Eph. 2:3). This means that we are inclined to serve Satan rather than God. It does not mean we are sinners at birth, but that we very quickly and easily fall into sinful habits. That passage clearly defines the sin: "Go astray ... speaking lies" That very obviously could not apply literally until a baby is old enough to speak!

We are born with many kinds of desires, and these lead to the development of other desires over periods of time. These desires, unless we are instructed in, and follow the Word of God, lead us quickly and inevitably into a sinful life. The process begins at birth, but actual guilt cannot take place until the child is old enough to know right from wrong and personally chooses to do that which is wrong.