Louis Berkhof
states that original sin is “The sinful
state and condition in which men are born…This sin is called ‘original sin,’
(1) because it is derived from the original root of the human race; (2) because
it is present in the life of every individual from the time of his birth, and
therefore cannot be regarded as the result of imitation; and (3) because it is
the inward root of all the actual sins that defile the life of man.”[1] Charles Hodge
defines original sin as “The corruption
of our whole nature.”[2]
The first result is man’s total depravity. Charles Ryrie states, “Total depravity does not
mean that everyone is as thoroughly depraved in his actions as he could
possibly be, nor that everyone will indulge in every form of sin, nor that a
person cannot appreciate and even do acts of goodness; but it does mean that
the corruption of sin extends to all men and to all part of all men so that
there is nothing within the natural man that can give him merit in God’s
sight.”[3]
The
second result is that man has an innate sin nature. Ryrie states, “The sin nature, which all people have by
birth, is that capacity to do those things (good, neutral or bad) which do not
commend us to God.”[4] It
corrupts our whole nature; our intellect (2 Cor. 4:4; Rom. 1:28 ), our conscience (1 Tim. 4:2), our will
(Rom. 1:28 ), our heart
(Eph. 4:18 ), and our total
being (Rom. 1:18-3:20 ).[5]
[1] Louis
Berkhof, Systematic Theology, combined
edition, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), p. 244.
[2] Charles
Hodge, Systematic Theology, 3 vol., (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 2:227.
[3] Charles
C. Ryrie, Survey of Bible Doctrine (Chicago:
Moody, 1972), p. 111.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
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