a).  "Infants have no personal sins of which to repent,..."  In other words they are not sinners, lost and condemned and do not fit the mold of: "If a person is a child of disobedience and of darkness, he is not a child of God." A child of disobedience and of darkness is one who has sinned and infants do not come into that category. They cannot be classified as: "All have sinned;" and therefore none are by nature children of God."  

 

SOP states that: "The word "therefore" implies a conclusion, an inference from what has gone before."  {MB 76.1}  

 

In this case the reason that  "none are by nature children of God." is because of what went before which is: "All have sinned; and therefore none are by nature children of God."

 

Waggoner is simply stating that we all possess sinful fallen natures which naturally lead to disobedience and darkness, when we "come to years of understanding and accountability," and this is witnessed by the fact that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and it is by virtue of the fact that "all have sinned"  that "none are by nature children of God."  

 

What about Christ? He possessed a sinful fallen nature. Was he a child of God? 

 

Waggoner cannot be referring to the SINFUL FALLEN NATURE as the reason that none are by nature children of God. Reason being, he also stated that: "Adam could not give his descendants any higher nature than he had himself, so Adam's sin made it inevitable that all his descendants should be born with sinful natures. Sentence of death, however, does not pass on them for that, but because they have sinned."

 

[Note it is not a SIN to possess a SINFUL nature as the sentence of death is not passed on one who has such a nature but on one who commits sin.]  

 

Waggoner also stated:  "Not that men are born into the world directly condemned by the law, for in infancy they have no knowledge of right and wrong, and are incapable of doing either, but they are born with sinful tendencies, owing to the sins of their ancestors. And when Christ came into the world, he came subject to all the conditions to which other children are subject".

 

Christ with our sinful NATURE was / is the child of God. Reason is the reverse of what Waggoner stated, that despite possessing our sinful NATURE which is not a sin in itself, he was not a child of disobedience nor of darkness  and neither did he sin. Therefore, the sinful NATURE is not what is alluded to by EJW as the reason for our not being children of God but for the fact that “all have sinned". Christ possessed our nature and was a child of God in that nature because He did no sin.

 

b). They "are saved by virtue of the life of God poured out in Christ for all the race.."  They are actually saved according to Waggoner.

 

c). " the tender infant on its mother's breast is the perfect picture of faith and trust. It is the farthest possible from rejecting God's grace."

 

d). "Infants that have not come to an age where they can understand right and wrong for themselves, are special subjects of God's favor."

 

e). "they cannot suffer the death which is the penalty of sin, for they have never had personal guilt. "  They have no guilt or condemnation.

 

f).  "Not that men are born into the world directly condemned by the law, for in infancy they have no knowledge of right and wrong, and are incapable of doing either,.."     They are incapable of doing wrong.

 

g). "... but it is obvious that young infants cannot repent, and have nothing to repent of, having never committed sin. 

 

h). "... so Adam's sin made it inevitable that all his descendants should be born with sinful natures. Sentence of death, however, does not pass on them for that, but because they have sinned." 

 

i). " but a tender infant has no sins to be remitted, and so again there is no occasion for it to be baptized"

 

j). "Now an infant has no conscience of sin, neither is it living in sin."

 

 Rightly understood I believe statements like the following should pose no difficulty at all:

 

• "Man's relation to God, then, is simply this: By nature all men are sinners, - servants of sin, - children of Satan, - under the law, - condemned to death. {November 17, 1887 EJW, SITI 695.11}

• All men are by nature sinners. {November 30, 1893 EJW, PTUK 550.10}

 

a. "By nature all men are sinners"  - It is inevitable that with a sinful fallen nature, we ultimately end up sinners. His views on infants would appear to contradict the phrase but this is not the case if we understand that the inevitable result of our sinful fallen nature is what is meant - we become sinners. 

 

b. "servants of sin"   - The sinful nature naturally results in us committing sin and being the servants of sin. We are naturally a slave TO sin as a result OF a sinful nature. But praise God he has broken the stranglehold of this sinful nature and placed in man the enmity, the faith which overcomes, the light which lighteth every man and the grace of God which bringeth salvation. 

 

c. "children of Satan"  - And naturally if willfully the servants of sin we become the children of satan.

 

d. under the law" - the sinful nature naturally leads to sin and results in us being under the condemnation of the law.

 

e. "condemned to death." -  the inevitable result of a sinful fallen nature is sin and the wages of sin is death. As noted previously Waggoner is saying we are not condemned to death because we possess a sinful nature but that we have all have sinned.

 

Nowhere do I understand Waggoner inferring that we are born sinners or that sin is nature which condemns us to hell should we perish soon after birth. He does use the phrase "born sinners" (only twice on the Pioneer CD ROM. Ellen White does not use it at all.) but rightly understood as expressed above, he means we are born with sinful natures which inevitably result in sin hence one can say we are "born sinners" but only with the latter thought in mind.

 

We believe we ought to avoid the phrase "born sinners" in order to avoid any misunderstanding of our position and because of the proximity in meaning of the phrase to the doctrine of Original Sin. Similarly, we should avoid "born in sin" in case someone thinks we mean the child is a sinner AT birth and not inevitably a sinner BY birth, by being born into the world. Waggoner clarified his position on what it means to be "born in sin" as noted previously and repeated in the following: 

 

“It may be objected that the child is born in sin, - that it has a sinful nature, - and that therefore it should be baptized for the remission of sins. {January 8, 1903 EJW, PTUK 19.7} 

 

“But death came by sin, and as Satan is the author of sin, so he has the power of death. Since we are partakers of flesh and blood, born in sin, Christ also Himself took part of the same; "that through death He might destroy him that hath the power of death, that is, the devil; ..." -- {1900 EJW, EVCO 117.2} 

 

Therefore to be "born in sin" means to possess a sinful nature and Christ also himself took part of the same and can be said to be “born in sin” according to Waggoner. No-one would suggest from the phrase "born in sin" that Christ was condemned as a sinner or that his sinful nature was SIN.

 

4. "We were made sinners by birth; we are made righteous by the new birth. {July 15, 1897 EJW, PTUK 434.4}

 

In what way were we made sinners by birth?  Clearly we were not sinning at birth as Waggoner has stated on numerous occasions: "Now an infant has no conscience of sin, neither is it living in sin.", "Infants have no personal sins of which to repent,..." ,  "... but it is obvious that young infants cannot repent, and have nothing to repent of, having never committed sin."  

 

So how then were we made sinners BY birth?  By  inheriting from Adam a sinful fallen nature which inevitably leads to the end result of sin, hence the label "sinners by birth". Our inheritance is a nature which leads to sin, guilt, condemnation and death if we willfully continue along that path. 

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• Adam bequeaths to us his sinful human nature by birth which leads to sin.

• Christ bequeaths to us his divine nature by the new birth which leads to righteousness.

 

WAGGONER:  "By nature, all persons are in a state of bondage. They are born into a prison, and this prison is represented by the carnal nature. Men may not realise the fact, like the Jews who said to Christ, "We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man;" but the truth is not affected by man's ignorance. "Whosoever committeth sin is the bond servant of sin." John viii. 34. All men are by nature sinners. "Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is He brought in bondage." 2 Peter ii. 19. Satan is the author of sin. Satan overcame Adam, and thus the whole human family were brought into the bondage of sin.{November 30, 1893 EJW, PTUK 550.10} 

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5. “We are not responsible for having been born sinners." {January 12, 1899 EJW, PTUK 21.4}

 

6. "We did nothing to make ourselves sinners; we are born so, but the first Adam dragged us all down with him in his fall." {November 23, 1899 EJW, PTUK 746.11}

 

7. "Through no fault of our own, but "by one man's disobedience," through the sin of our first father Adam, we are all born sinners. {November 23, 1899 EJW, PTUK 746.8}

 

Again to interpret Waggoner correctly one would have to conclude that he is not speaking of the act of committing sin at birth and equating that with being born sinners but of the fact that we possess sinful natures as a result of Adam's fall and equating that inheritance with being born sinners, which of course we played no part in and therefore are not responsible for the predicament we now find ourselves i.e. with a sinful fallen nature which unaided will only result in SIN. Waggoner is taking what amounts to a foregone conclusion in every man's life, ie. being a sinner, and applying it to the point of our entry into the world when one is born – “born sinners”

 

8. "We have all felt the motions of sin working in our members and forcing us to do this thing that we would not, testifying to the fact that we were made sinners by birth." {May 1, 1902 EJW, PTUK 288.2}

 

Notice he says: "We have all felt the motions of sin working in our members and forcing us to do this thing that we would not,.."  In other words at the age of understanding we have come to appreciate the out working of that sinful nature we were born with, the prison house we are in and like Paul we are frustrated that the thing that I would not, that I do, testifying to the fact that we were made sinners by birth - by our coming into the world with a sinful fallen nature which is now brought sharply into focus with our coming of age and which can only bring forth sin and the cry: "O wretched man that I am...." Note he says "we were made sinners BY birth." not "we were made sinners AT birth"

 

9. "As by that one man's disobedience you and I were made sinners, so by that other one Man's obedience you and I are made righteous. ... You and I were not made subject to sin, not made heirs to sin, by our own sinning; it was in us before we had time to sin. {October 16, 1900 ATJ, ARSH 659.8}

 

10. "By whose sin were many made sinners? - Adam's." {February 25, 1897 EJW, GCDB 156.6}

 

11. How is it that by the disobedience of one we have been made sinners? - We have inherited it. {February 25, 1897 EJW, GCDB 156.9}

 

12. Just as we were made sinners, born sinful, through the disobedience of Adam, even as we may be made righteous, born again God's obedient children, through the obedience of Jesus. {July 4, 1901 EJW, PTUK 426.10}

 

In what way or through what mechanism have we been made sinners? By the disobedience of one. So what did we inherit that made us sinners? We inherited the mechanism for sinning – the disobedient [sinful] nature of Adam.  The expression of that nature results in sin, hence the declaration “sinners”. That’s how we were MADE SINNERS. We inherited the disobedient nature of Adam.

 

Finally, compare these statements; their meaning should be obvious after the above discussion:

 

1. If a person is a child of disobedience and of darkness, he is not a child of God. "All have sinned;" and therefore none are by nature children of God. {February 24, 1887 EJW, SITI 123.1}

 

1.  "Infants have no personal sins of which to repent, and are saved by virtue of the life of God poured out in Christ for all the race. … Men can live only by faith; but the tender infant on its mother's breast is the perfect picture of faith and trust. It is the farthest possible from rejecting God's grace. It shows us how we should be related to the living Word. Of this Christ bears witness, through David, when He says to the Father: "Thou didst make me trust when I was upon my mother's breast." Ps. xxii. 9. {December 12, 1901 EJW, PTUK 790.12}

 

2. "Man's relation to God, then, is simply this: By nature all men are sinners, - servants of sin, - children of Satan, - under the law,- condemned to death. {November 17, 1887 EJW, SITI 695.11}

 

2. "Infants that have not come to an age where they can understand right and wrong for themselves, are special subjects of God's favor. By virtue of Christ's sacrifice they share in the universal redemption from the death which results from their being descendants of Adam. They do not have to be baptized in order to be made alive from this death, for that is promised to the wicked as well as to the good. But being made alive from this death, they cannot suffer the death which is the penalty of sin, for they have never had personal guilt. Consequently they are saved by God's grace, the same as all who are saved, but without baptism, for it is impossible for them to comply with the conditions of baptism; they can neither believe nor disbelieve. {August 25, 1890 EJW, SITI 461.1}

 

3. "All men are by nature sinners." {November 30, 1893 EJW, PTUK 550.10}

 

3. "Here we see that baptism is connected with repentance; but it is obvious that young infants cannot repent, and have nothing to repent of, having never committed sin. We find, in this instance, that "they that gladly received his word were baptized." Vs 41. {January 8, 1903 EJW, PTUK 19.4} 

 

4. "We were made sinners by birth; we are made righteous by the new birth". {July 15, 1897 EJW, PTUK 434.4}  

 

4. "Again, referring to the text first quoted, we find that baptism, preceded by belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, is "for the remission of sins;" but a tender infant has no sins to be remitted, and so again there is no occasion for it to be baptized. {January 8, 1903 EJW, PTUK 19.6} 

 

5. We are not responsible for having been born sinners. {January 12, 1899 EJW, PTUK 21.4}

 

5. "Now an infant has no conscience of sin, neither is it living in sin. It needs no exhortation not to continue in sin, nor to "live any longer therein," for it is as completely dead to sin as it is possible for anybody to be. Indeed, it has never yet been alive to sin. Therefore baptism would be for it wholly a work of supererogation. {January 9, 1902 EJW, PTUK 20.9}

 

6. "We did nothing to make ourselves sinners; we are born so, but the first Adam dragged us all down with him in his fall. {November 23, 1899 EJW, PTUK 746.11}

 

6. As in the case of the saints--the justified--so in the case of infants. They have no sins for which to answer. They cannot fall under a penalty, because they are innocent. Yet they die; of course not as sinners condemned, but as mortal creatures cut off from the tree of life by the action of Adam. His sin brought condemnation to himself, and it was deserved; but it brings no condemnation to these innocent ones; they do not deserve it, and "the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father." {1878 JHW, TOB 81.2}

 

7. "Through no fault of our own, but "by one man's disobedience," through the sin of our first father Adam, we are all born sinners. {November 23, 1899 EJW, PTUK 746.8}

 

7. There will be three classes in the resurrection. One, of sinners condemned, who have never accepted the gospel nor received pardon through Christ. The second death claims them as its own. Another, the saints; those who have had their sins washed away by the blood of the Redeemer. Being justified, the law has no claim against their lives. "On such the second death hath no power." The third, infants, who have never sinned. Of course they are not condemned; they have done no wrong; on no principle of justice can they be condemned. Through Christ they are brought up from death, of course to die no more. They stand related to the law as the saints do; not as the saints, pardoned, but as innocents, against whom no charge can be brought. Having no sin upon them, they will die no more. That life they get through Christ as truly as do the saints. Hence they can join the everlasting song of redemption, with all the saints in glory. Had it not been for Christ they would have remained dead. For eternal life, its joys and its glory, they are as truly indebted to divine love and favor in the gospel as David, or Peter, or Paul. Thus it is easy to see that infants are saved by the gospel, but not by means of faith, repentance, and baptism. These are for sinners, not for innocents. {1878 JHW, TOB 82.1} 

 

 

A TERRIBLE DOOM AWAITS THE SINNER

 

“A terrible doom awaits the sinner, and therefore it is necessary that we know what sin is, in order that we may escape from its power. John says, "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." Here we have the true definition of sin; it is "the transgression of the law." How often the sinner is urged to leave his sins, and come to Jesus; but has the messenger who would lead him to Christ clearly pointed out the way? Has he clearly pointed out the fact that "sin is the transgression of the law," and that he must repent, and forsake the breaking of God's commandments? Christ will come to consume the false prophet, to sweep away the hosts of apostasy, to take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of God; and it is of the highest importance to each one of us that we know the conditions by which we shall escape the sinner's doom. It is of the greatest moment that we understand the nature of our fall and the consequences of transgression. Man's conscience has become hardened by sin, and his understanding darkened by transgression, and his judgment has become confused as to what is sin. He has become benumbed by the influence of iniquity, and it is essential that his conscience be aroused to understand that sin is the transgression of God's holy law. He who does not obey the commandments of God is a sinner in the sight of God.”  {ST, June 20, 1895 par. 5}

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