Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?

Which Bible passages support this answer?

The Westminster Assembly attached these Scripture proofs to answer 18. Read them together and ask what each one shows about the answer.

1. Romans 5:12, 19

   ¹²So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned— ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of one man many will be constituted righteous. (NET)

2. Romans 5:10-20

   ¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? ¹¹Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation. ¹²So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned— ¹³for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there is no law. ¹⁴Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one) transgressed. ¹⁵But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! ¹⁶And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but the gracious gift from the many failures led to justification. ¹⁷For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ! ¹⁸Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came through one transgression, so too through the one righteous act came righteousness leading to life for all people. ¹⁹For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of one man many will be constituted righteous. ²⁰Now the law came in so that the transgression may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, (NET)

3. Ephesians 2:1-3

   ¹And although you were dead in your offenses and sins, ²in which you formerly lived according to this world’s present path, according to the ruler of the domain of the air, the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience, ³among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest… (NET)

4. James 1:14-15

   ¹⁴But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. ¹⁵Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. (NET)

5. Matthew 15:19

   For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (NET)

What does this answer mean?

Our sinful condition has several parts. We share the guilt of Adam's first sin. We lack the original righteousness God first gave. Our whole nature is corrupted, which is commonly called original sin. From that corruption come actual transgressions, the sins we actually think, say and do. Our sins grow from a sinful heart.

What can we ask our children?

1. What is original sin?
2. Where do our sinful actions come from?
3. Why do we need new hearts as well as better habits?