“… through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and death through sin ...” (Romans 5:12

Why are things the way they are in our world? Why is there so much violence and misery? Our history is marked by oppression and wars. In fact, we generally trace history through powerful empires who have exerted their will upon others by force. But where does greed, hatred, violence or anger come from? We teach our children to “be good” but where do they learn to “be bad”?

The Bible tells us that we are the way we are because we inherit the basic nature of our forefather Adam. “Through one man [Adam] sin entered the world.” We don’t learn immorality greed, violence etc. because we don’t have to. It’s in us! It will always come out given the right set of circumstances.

Rules (don’t steal, don’t lie etc) can’t address this basic problem. Rules may “control” behavior but they can’t change “me.” There is something fundamentally wrong with human nature and “religious soap” can’t clean us up. When Jesus said “You must be born again” (John 3:7) He was addressing mans’ greatest need; a new nature, a new life!

We cannot “fix” sin by dealing with the symptoms (drugs, sex, anger etc). Remember, God’s standard for “good” is Himself … perfection!! Are you that “good”? There is a “root” problem. “You must be born again.”