I AM A ____________ BECAUSE “I WAS BORN THAT WAY”: A REPROBATE DOCTRINE

Edward O’Hara…

It really is. Because when someone believes that men are born sinners by nature through inheritance from their parents they are just making excuses for bad choices to excuse themselves from the consequences of those choices. This is why this reprobate doctrine was invented in the first place. Because if one’s nature governs their choices, and is a sinful nature that commands sinful behavior, then it can not be a person’s fault that they do bad things. Because they really are “born that way”. Do you believe that men are “born that way”? If you have believed the false sin nature and original sin doctrines taught as truth in Roman Catholicism and the religions of her daughters, then to be consistent with what you have believed, you must believe all men are “born that way”. For example, the homosexual contends that he/she is “born that way”. In fact, that seems to be their favorite mantra used as an excuse for their choice because it leaves them unaccountable for it. They even site proof of this as being that as long as he/she can remember they have felt drawn to the same sex. So they conclude that they must have been “born that way”. This is also why those who have made such ungodly lifestyle choices can say they believe in God and are a Christian. Because they postulate that if they were born that way, and it is God that made them, then it must be God that made them that way. 

But, is this kind of confused thinking what we as Christians are meant to glean from personal Bible study and the teaching of God’s word? It would appear from all the messages going forth from the religious world that this contradiction must be taken as the truth from God’s word. But, this is not what the Bible teaches. Because man can not both be born a sinner by nature with a governing nature that makes him do evil, while at the same time not be a homosexual or other form of deviant by birth. Because by definition if a person is born a sinner then he is indeed “born that way”. But, this makes people who choose an ungodly lifestyle who say they were “born that way” to be in complete agreement with the religious doctrine that teaches that men are sinners by a nature they inherit from birth from Adam. 

So those who say they are “born that way”, are actually given confirmation of that from the popular sin nature and original sin doctrines that are taught in most religions today. Religions that at the same time teach that they are not “born that way”. Making these religious folk quite the contradiction. Because of these doctrines taught in so many religions, today were true then all men really are “born that way”… while at the same time not “born that way”?! Huh? It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. So completely ungodly. 

But, to answer the question I asked at the beginning, does the Bible teach this contradiction, we need only to believe what the Bible plainly says. And in doing so we come to a very different conclusion. One that is at odds not only with the person who uses the excuse that they were “born that way” to justify what is actually a free will choice of ungodly lifestyles. But, it is also at odds with the religious world that makes the fact that men are born sinners by nature such an important issue regarding one’s salvation that one can not possibly be saved if they disagree. While at the same time teaching that men are not “born that way”. 

People that have been deceived by the sinful nature and original sin doctrines must use the scriptures out of context to reach such ungodly conclusions. They do so to plug the ever-present holes in these false doctrines they have been deceived by. They use such scriptures as “The heart is deceitfully wicked above all things who can know it” found in Jeremiah17. And “There are none that seek after God. All have gone astray” found in Ps.14. But, when reading in context it is easily seen that these scriptures are contrasting the wicked with the righteous. And are not saying that all men are sinners by nature at all. But, that only those who of their own free will choose wickedness, who actually deny that there is a God, have deceitful hearts, and have gone astray. As Jeremiah shows by writing that “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

The Bible teaches that when men are born they are the same as Adam was when God made him. And God said of Adam and all of creation when He made it that it was “very good”. This means that what Adam was when God made him was exactly what God intended him to be when He made him. And Gen.1:27,28 says that God made them male and female and that as man and wife they are to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. So it is clear that Adam was not “born that way” as homosexuals claim for themselves. And when we read what Paul said of Adam when God made him we see that he was not “born that way” as the religious doctrines of sin nature and original sin that Roman Catholicism and her daughters proclaim all men since Adam is. So when one believes the plain language of the Bible they must conclude that no man was ever “born that way”. 

Paul says in 1 Cor.15:45 that Adam was made a living soul. And in Gen.2:7 from which Paul derives his doctrine regarding Adam when God made him God said Adam was made a living soul. But, Paul goes on to say that Adam was not spiritual when God made him. But, that he was only natural. Of the earth earthy. Only flesh and blood. How did Paul know this? He got it from Gen.2:7 as well as the rest of the Genesis account that says in ch.7 that animals, birds, and creeping things have the same breadth of life breathed into their nostrils as Adam did. This means that Adam was as natural and not spiritual as any of these creatures. And that what set man apart was not that he was spiritual like God is. But, it is the fact that man was made in God’s image by being given dominion and free will as we see in Gen.1:26-ff. 

And when the fact that Adam was natural and not spiritual is understood in the light of what Paul taught in 1Cor.2:14 we see that when Adam was made he could no more understand the things of God than Paul says any other natural man could. And from Paul’s doctrine in 1Cor.15:45-50 we see that all men are the same when they are born as Adam was when God made him. Natural not spiritual. Of the earth earthy. Innocent having no knowledge of good and evil as Deut.1:39 and Gen.3:22 plainly says. Flesh and blood. A living soul, which according to Gen.2:7 is a body that breathes air in and out of its lungs. 

After seeing all of this it is very difficult to see how these religious folk come to the erroneous conclusion that man is a sinner by nature. And even more difficult to see how their belief that he is does not reinforce in them the false notion that a person who does bad things is “born that way”. Because in their false understanding there can be no other conclusion. Anyone born with a nature that governs their decisions that predisposes them to sin must sin. They can do no other because as these have falsely believed it is their nature to do so. If this were true then this would mean that any condemnation from God or man for someone making choices as their nature dictates is not just. Because if God made man this way He can not condemn him for doing what is the only possible way for him to think or act. After all, He made him that way, right? 

And this is exactly what God is saying in John 3:16,17 when He says that Jesus came so that whosoever will believe in Him will have eternal life. And that He did not come to the world to condemn the world. But that the world might be delivered through Him. This is the message of reconciliation that Paul said the ambassadors for Christ should be taking to the world. God does not condemn them for any wrong behavior they have done. But, they are only condemned when they do not believe in Jesus. 

What we see in the Bible is that it is not in man’s nature to behave badly and make wrong choices concerning the God/god they will trust in. But, that when he behaves badly or trusts in a false god he is doing that which is against his nature. So says Paul in Rom.1:26 and 2:14 when he writes of those who would not worship the true God as the Creator, thinking that Paul said came naturally saying, “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature”. And to show that worshipping the true God as the creator comes naturally Paul wrote, “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves”. 

Paul shows us here that those who have chosen homosexuality or any of the other lifestyles that are not consistent with God’s will for mankind have done so by choice and not by nature. Making it abundantly clear that people are in fact not “born that way”. And that the religions that teach men are born sinners by nature are actually giving these people mixed signals concerning God’s will for man. And in doing so they are actually teaching the religion of antichrist that John spoke of in 1John4:1-3 and 2John1:7-11. The same antichrist belief system that all those who have deceitful hearts and reject the true God espouse. That any wrong thinking or beliefs on their part are not their fault because they were “born that way”. But, Paul says to the contrary that when men make these decisions about the god they will trust in, and the resultant behaviors, it is against the nature that God has given to all men. Paul says they choose to reject the Creator who can be seen by what has been made in Rom.1. And instead by free will choose to trust in the false gods who are no gods at all. This is why what they do when they choose these ungodly lifestyles is that which is against nature. Because they do what God never made to do. Not because they or anyone else was ever born a sinner by nature, or by that nature to make the choices that result in man’s separation from the true God Jesus Christ. 

So if someone ever tells you that men are born with a sinful nature by inheritance you can tell them that the truth is men are not “born that way”. But, rather men are only sinners by choice, not by nature. Otherwise, homosexuals and others who choose to live ungodly lifestyles can do no other. And can not be justly held accountable for their choices. 

Will you believe the gospel that Paul preached? Will you of your own free will accept the gift of faith that God has for you? The gospel that says Jesus came in the same flesh all man have to join with a man in death so that by His resurrection He could conquer death so that we who believe in Him and His resurrection could join with Him in His eternal life?  If you are reading this message God is calling you. It is only when you believe that you can receive this gift. Because God wanted you to love Him by an act of your own free will. Not a robot “born that way”. But, a being made in God’s image and likeness to be able to choose freely who you will trust in. And with that free will choice accept it’s consequences. Whether eternal life with the true God. Or eternal death with the false gods. 

If you have believed will you pray with me? Jesus is waiting for you. He has always been there. Pray and accept His gift of life now.

Dear Jesus, I believe you. Thank you for joining with me in death so that by conquering death by your resurrection I could join with you in eternal life. Thank you that you raised from the dead so that I could raise from the dead too by trusting in, clinging to, and relying solely on you. Thank you for giving me a new spirit now Lord so that I can live with you in your kingdom forever. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

By praying a prayer similar to this one and really meaning it from your heart you have been saved from death to life. From sin to righteousness. And from the wrath to peace with God. And now as you begin reading the Bible and believing what it plainly says it will begin to change the way you think and believe. Because when you trust in Jesus you leave the old life behind where you were only equipped to understand natural things. And now will be equipped for God’s kingdom because you are no longer only natural flesh and blood, but are a new creature made a spiritual being ready to inherit God’s spiritual kingdom. It is because of Jesus’ resurrection that He is the only WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. Because only Jesus has broken through the wall of death that the flesh and blood natural body can never get through. And only by the new birth are we made ready to receive the spiritual body that can go through the wall of death as Jesus’ did first so we could follow Him in the way He has prepared for us. 

God Bless you in your new life in Christ!

This message can also be heard here

Edward O’Hara