For All Have Sinned

There is a predominant teaching within Christianity that says we are all born into sin and our flesh is innately sinful. The crux of that teaching, I believe, is based on texts found in Paul’s letter to the Romans.

The Romans Road

Many years ago, I was taught a “Plan for Salvation” called, The Romans Road. It was an evangelism tool to spread “the gospel message”: a series of various verses primarily from the book of Romans, strung together to formulate a “plan of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ”.

The underlying premise of this is that “we are all sinners by nature and choice”, “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and “there is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10), “wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

While I agree sin is a choice we make, does Genesis teach that we are all innately sinners?

Death is the Result of Sin, but Sin is a Choice We Make

Genesis establishes that the one man through whom sin entered the world was Adam, and the consequence of that sin was death — which I understand to be a spiritual death.

In the day that Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve lost access to the Tree of Life.

Therefore, a figurative death passed upon all men thereafter, since all those who came after Adam were also denied access to that tree.

But does that mean all of mankind are considered sinful by nature? I don’t believe so.

Here’s my study on the matter of “Original Sin” from Genesis 2-4, along with a breakdown of the passages in Romans claiming, “for all have sinned”. There you can read what I think Paul was referring to in saying such.

[PLEASE NOTE: The above study was published in 2017, and I have since refined my understanding regarding the ground in Genesis 3:17 being “cursed” and my understanding regarding life & death before Adam ate of the forbidden fruit. I’ve also refined my understanding since then as to whom the contents of the Bible were intended.]

The bottom line of my study is that the Bible does not say (or even suggest) that it is a part of our DNA structure to sin, and it demonstrates humans have the capacity to not sin.

However, the propensity for mankind to choose to sin is clearly prevalent.

[Last updated 4/15/26.]