Page 125 - Apologetics Student Textbook (3 Credits)

for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal
power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so
that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18–20)

Atheism, Darwinism, hedonism, and victimhood are all excuses for the fact that people love sin, hate
God, and refuse to be held accountable for their guilt. And that’s because all people are sinners by
nature—a nature passed on to every descendant of Adam after the Fall (Genesis 3). “Through one man
sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”
(Romans 5:12). “Through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19).
In his book The Gospel According to Paul, John MacArthur explains the imputation of Adam’s sin to all of
his descendants:

All humanity was plunged into this guilty condition because of Adam’s sin. “For as through the one
man’s disobedience the many were made sinners” (Romans 5:19). This is the doctrine of original sin, a
truth that is expounded by Paul in Romans 5:12–19. . . . We prove our willing complicity in Adam’s
rebellion every time we sin. And since no one other than Jesus has ever lived a sinless life, no one is
really in a position to doubt the doctrine of original sin, much less deem it unjust.

We need to abandon the lie that people are basically good, and instead embrace the truth that man is
totally depraved. Understandably, it is an unsavory subject for most people. And without the gospel, it is
only bad news.

But without the bad news, the gospel becomes strange and nonsensical. The cross becomes confusing.
And there is no good reason for Christ to die as a sin-bearing substitute. If mankind is basically good, the
gospel is an unnecessary farce, and the death of Christ a tragic waste. Choosing to deny the imputation
of Adam’s sin demands that you also reject the imputation of our sin to Christ, and the imputation of His
righteousness to our account. It cuts you off from the Savior, and any hope of salvation.

Ultimately, the difference between believing the soothing lie of Pelagius or the harsh truth of depravity
is the doctrinal divide that separates heaven from hell.

Don’t you think what makes people do bad things is the fact that they have learned bad
things by living in a bad environment?

Certainly our environment in which we grow up or live in influences what we do.
But is does a negative environment cause a person to sin. The answer is NO! Every
man sins because he possesses a nature to sin. The Bible describes the nature of
man in these verses:

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Romans 3:10-18 There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none that
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understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God; They have all turned aside,
they are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one: Their
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throat is an open sepulchre; With their tongues they have used deceit: The poison of asps is under their
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lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction
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and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God
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before their eyes.

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