Original sin is the dark shadow, and Christ is the bright light. If we don’t like Adam representing us in sin, then we can forget about Christ representing us in righteousness!

Nothing in life is certain but death and taxes. Given the human condition, however, this adage needs an upgrade: Nothing in life is certain but death, taxes, and original sin. Think about it. People are cruel to each other, say unholy things, and think unseemly thoughts. We know this about ourselves and we see it in others, in our relationships, on social media, in the news—everywhere. Someone once said, “The doctrine of original sin is the only empirically verifiable doctrine of the Christian faith.” An exaggeration, but a point well made.

The reality of sin pervades the biblical narrative. Already in Genesis 4, Cain killed his brother Abel out of envy (Gen. 4:9). Lamech, the bigamist, bragged about his sinful exploits (Gen. 4:23–24). Things got so bad in early history that God wiped out humanity with a flood—except for Noah and his family—because “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and . . . every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Basically, the rest of Scripture displays God’s showing mercy to people who cannot stop sinning.

In the fourth century, a theologian named Pelagius disagreed. He claimed that some people in the Bible were sinless, including Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Job. Even the Roman Catholic Church teaches that Mary, Jesus’ mother, was sinless. However, Scripture says nothing of the kind. Abel could hardly be sinless if he offered sacrifices (Gen. 4:4), nor could Mary, who praised God as her Savior (Luke 1:47). Scripture’s consistent testimony is that “no one is righteous, no not one” (Rom. 3:10; see also Ps. 14:3). As Paul writes, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

Like metastatic cancer, sin pervades each of us inside and out. In the Reformed tradition, this sinful disposition is sometimes called total depravity. It is not that I’m as bad as I could be, for that would clearly be untrue, but that no part of me is untouched by sin. This reality, in turn, implies a total inability: Apart from Christ, nothing I do is spiritually good. I can do outwardly “religious” things, or acts of civil righteousness, but I cannot please God without faith (Heb. 11:6). Our good deeds are like filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). We are dead in our transgressions and sins (Eph. 2:1). This moral pollution in every human soul is one half of the doctrine of original sin—call it original corruption. You are not a sinner because you sin; you sin because you are a sinner. Every human being, except Jesus, sins because of original corruption.

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