Sin Nature - Psalm 58:3

Sin Nature – Psalm 58:3

 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

Another verse which is commonly referred to in support of a sinful nature is Psalm 58:3. This verse presents a difficulty for some as attention is drawn to the references to birth. The verse is clearly speaking about one select group of people – namely “the wicked.” There is no reference whatsoever to all of mankind.

It is said of the wicked that they are “estranged” from the womb. This word is found five times in the Bible. Advocates of sin nature point to the fact that man is separated from the womb as a sinner. This word does mean “separation,” however, it has an even fuller meaning than just separation. All five times this word is found in the Bible, it teaches separation by means of an action. The first time “estranged” is used is in Job 19:13. Job who was under much grief, looked around and noticed that all had “estranged” themselves from him as if Job had some horrible sin for which God was punishing him. Their estrangement was a literal action that was performed by their separation from Job. The next verse is Jeremiah 19:4, which is perhaps the best verse to define “estranged.” The Israelites were guilty of idolatry. They had profaned the very place designed by God to be the center of worship to Him – the Temple. They forsook God and their idolatrous practices “estranged” the temple from being a place designed for God, into a place designed for offering incense unto their idols. Their actions led to separation. Ezekiel 14:5 shows that the people “estranged” themselves from God through their worshipping of idols. The last verse where the word “estranged” is found in Psalm 78:30. In this verse, the Israelites did not separate themselves from the lust of their flesh, namely fulfilling every desire they had despite the instructions given by God (example: hording mannah). Therefore, as can be seen in Scripture, the wicked are not passively “estranged” from the womb or from birth, but estrange themselves by the very actions they perform.

The second half of this verse is in agreement with what is said above. Focus is often drawn to the end of the verse, and the phrase “go astray” is overlooked. In order to “go astray” from anything, one must have been in the right way to begin (2 Peter 2:15). This is congruent with other verses which teach that man was made “just and upright” (Ecclesiastes 7:29), “fearfully and wonderfully” (Psalm 139:14), “beautiful” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), “for his pleasure” (Revelation 4:11), etc. There is nothing wonderful about a sinful nature. There is nothing beautiful in an inherited fallen nature. It would bring no pleasure to God to simply condemn all mankind to hell simply because they were born. Man will not give an account to God for his being born, because man had nothing to do with his birth. He will instead give an account of every action he performs on earth after he is born (Romans 14:12). Imagine the scene, there is man standing before God. God says to the man “Depart from me for you never asked me to forgive you of the sinful nature with which you were created.” The man looks at God and says, “But God, it is you that made me this way.” What blasphemy! This is not justice! Man is condemned to hell because he breaks God’s commandments (“sin is the transgression of the law” I John 3:4).

Psalm 58:3 is using figurative language to discuss how wicked the wicked are. In fact, there is figurative language throughout the Psalm. The first example of this language is in the phrase “they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” A newborn child does not have the ability to speak the moment they are born. They do not know or understand the words of the people around them. This is something they have to be taught. Unfortunately, many philosophize that when a child is in a crib crying and screaming at the top of his lungs as if they were about to die, that they are lying to their parents. They surmise that the child has deceived his parents into thinking something was completely wrong, when all they wanted was to be held. Sadly, the same people who teach this excuse all kinds of gross sin in their lives and their churches as it being the outworking of the old man/sinful nature. The child is using the only means of communication available to him at that moment to communicate a need to his parents – crying. To teach that their crying is the sin of lying, is to charge them foolishly. On this topic, we quote from Mike Miller who has written ten articles on this very subject:

“The zealous proponents of this doctrine of devils try to prove it by pointing to an infant crying for its mother and calling that sin. Wow! That should bring up a red flag to anyone who is thinking! That child is innocent and as pure as the driven snow. He has no evil thoughts! He has no depraved thinking! He is not lying there and thinking about how he can deceive his mother! He is simply reaching out for help in the only way available to him – crying. There is nothing sinful about wanting to be in the arms of his mother. There is nothing sinful about being hungry or needing a diaper changed! What kind of a mind calls this sin? Think about it!

“Allow me to point something out to you. The same kind of mind that calls this infant’s crying a sin will call other things in adults simply “Christian liberty.” Isn’t that amazing? We have no right to call things sin when Christ gave us “liberty” but they charge an innocent infant with sin and he has no defense. We’re to the point now where fornication is considered “Christian liberty” by many. Hellish music is “Christian liberty.” Dirty habits that abuse your body, ruin your testimony, and dishonor God are “Christian liberty,” and a baby crying for his mother proves that we are born sinful and uttering lies. How can anyone possibly believe such as that?”

A popular Christmas song indicates that Christ did not cry when He was born (Away in a Manger). Although a nice song to sing, we can not be so sure that Christ did not cry – the Bible does not clearly teach this. In fact, we learn that Christ grew and increased in stature. We even learn that later in life that Christ wept. Some may falsely charge me of being blasphemous with what was stated above, but on the contrary, it shows just how much Christ humbled himself when he “took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” As pointed out previously, to deny that Christ had the same human characteristics that we have is to have the spirit of antichrist (I John 4:3). Crying isn’t a sin. It is the result of pain or great joy in one’s life. For every child, it is his way of communicating a specific need to his parent. Our duty as parents is to minister to that need.

There are other examples of figurative language in Psalm 58. If verse 3 is taken literally, then so also must be the rest of the Psalm! v.4 – “Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear.” The wicked do not literally have poison like a snake. v.6 – “Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.” If the wicked are born speaking lies, then they must also be born with teeth – not just regular teeth, but the great teeth of young lions! v.7 – “Let them melt away as waters which run continually.” v. 8 – “As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away.” The danger in using one verse without regard to its context is that you lead yourself into teaching things that are completely beyond reason (example: the wicked are a poisonous snail with teeth like a lion who speak lies from their birth). This idea is completely ridiculous! However, if one of the passages used to support an inherited sin nature lead to this foolishness, how many more significant and damnable ideas are introduced?! (These ideas will be discussed later)

As mentioned before, if this verse were teaching that all mankind are born liars and estranged from the womb, then it is in outright contradiction to Psalm 51:5 which man supposes supports the teaching that man is sinful from conception. When is a man considered sinful – at conception or at birth?

Man is not born astray, rather they “go astray.” Man has to be reconciled to God because he went astray. He has broken God’s commandments and for that he is guilty before God. God has created all mankind with a knowledge of the right way (Romans 2:15 – “the law written in their hearts”), yet man chooses to go astray. This is why man needs to repent and turn back to the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness. Forgiveness isn’t necessary if a crime hasn’t been committed. A crime was committed by all, however, and forgiveness is more than necessary. Some have tried to downplay the importance of taking a stand against the teaching of an inherited sin nature. Because this “doctrine of devils” has so marred the glorious message of salvation is reason enough to take a stand in these latter times.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15

¹³ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

¹⁴ And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

¹⁵ Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Let us be mindful of the fact that the devil is a deceiver. He has ministers that are transformed as ministers of righteousness proclaiming many damnable teachings contrary to Scripture. The very works of these ministers reveal that they are deceitful workers. If their preaching and teaching provides excuses for sin and leads people to think that they can never overcome sin, then they are not ministers of Christ, but of the devil.

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21