4.1
The Creation and Fall of Humanity
We believe that God created human beings from the dust of the earth and made and formed them in his image and likeness- good, just, and holy; able by their will to conform in all things to the will of God. But when they were in honor they did not understand it (Ps. 49:20) and did not recognize their excellence. But they subjected themselves willingly to sin and consequently to death and the curse, lending their ear to the word of the devil. For they transgressed the commandment of life, which they had received, and by their sin they separated themselves from God, who was their true life, having corrupted their entire nature. So they made themselves guilty and subject to physical and spiritual death, having become wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all their ways. They lost all their excellent gifts which they had received from God, and retained none of them except for small traces which are enough to make them inexcusable. Moreover, all the light in us is turned to darkness, as the Scripture teaches us: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (John 1:5) Here John calls the human race "darkness." Therefore we reject everything taught to the contrary concerning human free will, since humans are nothing but the slaves of sin and cannot do a thing unless it is given them from heaven. (John 3:27) For who can boast of being able to do anything good by oneself, since Christ says, "No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me"? (John 6:44) Who can glory in their own will when they understand that "the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God"? (Rom. 8:7) Who can speak of their own knowledge in view of the fact that "those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit"? (1 Cor. 2:14) In short, who can produce a single thought, knowing that we are not able to think a thing about ourselves, by ourselves, but that "our competence is from God"? (2 Cor. 3:5) And therefore, what the apostle says ought rightly to stand fixed and firm: God works within us both to will and to do according to his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:13) For there is no understanding nor will conforming to God's understanding and will apart from Christ's involvement, as he teaches us when he says, "Apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5)
Gen. 2:7 · Gen. 3:19 · Ecc. 12:7 · Gen. 1:26-27 · Eph. 4:24 · Col. 3:10 · Gen. 3:16-19 · Rom. 5:12 · Gen. 2:17 · Eph. 2:1 · Eph. 4:18 · Ps. 94:11 · Rom. 3:10 · Rom. 8:6 · Rom. 1:20-21 · Eph. 5:8 · John 1:5 · John 8:34 · John 3:27 · John 6:44 · Rom. 8:7 · 1 Cor. 2:14 · 2 Cor. 3:5 · Phil. 2:13 · John 15:5
4.2
The Doctrine of Original Sin
We believe that by the disobedience of Adam original sin has been spread through the whole human race. (Rom. 5:12-13) It is a corruption of the whole human nature- an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother's womb, and the root which produces in humanity every sort of sin. It is therefore so vile and enormous in God's sight that it is enough to condemn the human race, and it is not abolished or wholly uprooted even by baptism, seeing that sin constantly boils forth as though from a contaminated spring. Nevertheless, it is not imputed to God's children for their condemnation but is forgiven by his grace and mercy- not to put them to sleep but so that the awareness of this corruption might often make believers groan as they long to be set free from the body of this death. (Rom. 7:24) Therefore we reject the error of the Pelagians who say that this sin is nothing else than a matter of imitation.
Rom. 5:12-14, 19 · Rom. 3:10 · Job 14:4 · Ps. 51:5 · John 3:6 · Eph. 2:3 · Rom. 7:18-19 · Eph. 2:4-5