This is my second post in a series on the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.  A full copy of which you can find HERE.  Original Sin is more controversial in Christianity than it should be.  This is because in our day a lot of Churches are functionally if not confessionally Pelagian or at least Semi-Pelagian.

“Our churches  also teach that since Adam’s fall into sin, all men who are fathered in the normal physical way are conceived and born  with sin. This means  that they are born  without  the fear of God, without trust in God, and with evil desires.  This disease,  or original  sin, truly  is sin. It condemns  and  brings eternal death to those not born again through Baptism and the Holy Spirit.

Our churches condemn the followers of Pelagius and all others who deny that original sin is truly sin. Such people argue that humans can be justified before God by their own strength and rea­son. This lessens the glory of Christ’s work and its benefits.” The Unaltered Augsburg Confession

Above the writers of the Augsburg Confession is making it clear that those they speak for are not Pelagians.  My understanding is that Pelagius taught that we are born perfect and in time fall away in the commission of sins.  This is why he didn’t teach that Baptism was necessary until around the age of two or three.  The Bible teaches however that we are born with the guilt of sin.  This is taught in many places but is most obvious in two particular passages.

“5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalms 51:5 KJV 

“3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” Ephesians 2:3 KJV 

Notice above that David teaches he was “shapen in iniquity”.  This is powerful imagery of sin itself knitting with his very flesh as he is growing in his mothers womb.  Also, with Paul in Ephesians it is taught that we are “by nature” children of wrath.  There are many passages which corroborate this teaching that a blog contributor detailed in an older post you can find HERE.

The reason I focus on those two verses above though is because they are the clearest and most obvious as identifying our guilt in sin at the time of conception.

I personally find it interesting though that most protestants will agree with me in rejecting the Roman Catholic teaching of the sinlessness of Mary, but then will go and teach that billions of Christians have been born and died sinless before the age of accountability.  I think this demonstrates an inconsistency on their part at the very least.