What is original sin and how is it fair?

Pastor J.D. explains original sin and why it’s bad news that makes the good news of salvation possible.

A glimpse inside this episode:

Original sin is where we all sinned in Adam. Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned” (CSB).

The result of this choice was that death (physical and spiritual) spread to all people. Even if we struggle with the logic behind why original sin works like it does, we at least have to concede the presence of its effects. As G.K. Chesterton put it, “Original sin is the only doctrine that is empirically verifiable.” Everybody dies. Death and disease affect everyone—nice people as much as cruel people, smart people as much as ignorant people, rich people as much as poor people, innocent infants as much as adults.

And, the kind of death mentioned in Romans 5:12, spiritual death, means we’re all born in a posture of rebellion toward God, with a fist clenched toward the heavens, assuming our way is better and our desires most important.

Original sin sounds like bad news: We are all born in sin. But it is bad news that makes good news possible. Because if the whole world was put under sin by one man, that means salvation could also come to everyone through one man. And that is precisely what happened in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:14–17).

The first Adam selfishly disobeyed God and ate from the forbidden tree, bringing a curse on the earth. And in that moment, he made the same decision we all would have made. When Adam sinned, we all sinned. The second Adam, Jesus, sacrificially obeyed God and climbed up onto a cursed tree to take that curse into himself.

The first Adam brought death upon the whole human race. The second Adam restored life to all who would receive it. That’s much better news.