Answer: Actually, the term “original sin” has two different meanings and can be used in two ways. Sometimes the term “original sin” refers to the first sin committed by a human being, Adam; this is emphasized in Romans 5:19. In this sense, original sin means that Adam’s sin brought original guilt and original pollution. This original pollution caused total depravity and inability so that even man’s best works are still radically defective. The term “original sin” can refer to Adam’s sin.
The second and more common usage of the term “original sin” refers to the sin nature for two reasons. First, the sin nature is called original sin because it originated with Adam and flows from the first parents, Adam and Eve, so that everyone inherits this sin nature. Secondly, the sin nature is sometimes called original sin because it is the origin of all other sins, therefore, all people commit acts of sin due to their sin nature.
A good definition of the sin nature is: “The sin nature is the capacity to do all things, either good or bad, that in no way commend a person to God.” This means that every person enters the human race as a sinner and commits acts of sin because he is a sinner. Adam and Eve are the only two people who ever became sinners by sinning. All their descendants sin because they are sinners. Only Adam and Eve died spiritually by sinning; their descendants are born spiritually dead. Because they are born with a sin nature, they commit acts of sin.
Furthermore, the sin nature is a corruption of the very essence of the soul. The sin nature is not an essential element of the immaterial part of man. Adam and Eve lived for a period of time without a sin nature. Yeshua existed all of His life without a sin nature. The sin nature is a capacity to do all those things, both good and bad, that in no way commend a person to God.
From MBS095 - 'What the Bible Teaches Concerning Sin' by Dr Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Ariel Ministries
