Like another said, I believe we are fully responsible for our sins. We can't blame Adam and Eve. I think human beings generally tend to gravitate towards sin and evil. Maybe that's the devil tempting us. So I think it takes intentional effort to fight against it. Paul talked about struggling against his sinful nature.
People have different motives for sinning, so its just guessing as to what the person is thinking. Some think they are protecting someone by lying, some are afraid of the outcome if they tell the truth, some don't want something to be exposed so they will lie to cover it up. There are perceived moral dilemmas too when 2 values intersect, which can make things especially challenging. For example, lying to a terrorist in order to save lives? And there's gray areas, such as choosing to not communicate or to omit something. I can only pray for wisdom in those situations.
Diana. Just adding to GiGi's & Connie's good comments & to respond to your question, "Why do some people first instinct is to lie", I feel is based on the foundation of protection or self-preservation.
Most people resort to lying to some degree, greater or lesser. And most wouldn't say to themselves, 'Hey, I haven't told a lie for some time, I'll give out one now'. Lying is resorted to when someone or something is at stake & the first response is to attempt to lie so as to remove the problem. If lying doesn't work, then other devious or evil methods have to be employed. Children will often lie when the parent has to decide on which child is to blame for the problem - and some are particularly good at it, even turning around events so as to place the fault with the other. And so when they become adults, the 'art of lying' becomes well mastered, even to the point where guilt or shame is no longer felt when sin is being committed. And it becomes particularly sad when Christians ought to know the difference, as I have personally seen in a well-seasoned 'lier', who unashamedly dishes out lies, in spite of knowing that those who hear them know perfectly well that they are lies. It doesn't matter to this person - lying is just another way of changing the story to suit the need - after all, telling a lie is no great sin, as this person believes. And there are other dimensions to lying: to create problems, to lead astray, to fulfill a fantasy, etc., etc.
Even for a Christian walking in love & in the Spirit, often the option to lie so as to avoid a difficulty comes up. But he/she knows that every sin, however significant or not, stands before God through His Spirit in us, & we must immediately deal with it & fess up to our faults. We know we can't fool God, then why should we sin so easily before men, when answering to God for our behaviour is of greater importance than how we appear to others?
For GiGi. Is it Romans 1:30 you're thinking of: "inventors of evil things"?
We are each responsible for our own sins, so we do not inherit a particular sinful tendency from another. We give way to temptation and sin by our own volition. No one else makes one sin but himself.
This said, Adam giving into temptation brought sinfulness into the human race. It is in everyone we encounter without exception. No one needs to teach toddlers how to sin. Our nature is corrupted because of Adam and so sin tends to win out when we are tempted until one comes to Jesus and can live by the Holy Spirit's power who indwells us and sanctifies us.
Dianna, no one is born with a tendency to lie particularly. Everyone is born with the corrupted nature that ensures that we will give into any sin that can tempt a human. In fact, Scripture says that wicked people invent new ways of sinning. (can't find the verse, sorry). So, we each may develop certain propensities for a specific type of sin through repeatedly giving in to temptation of this behavior or from keeping company with people who also participate freely in a certain sin. But there is not necessarily given at conception a particular area of sin that will be that person's nemesis throughout live. Sin itself is our enemy, and no one needs to teach a person to sin, but we do learn certain sinful behaviors by living in a world and human population corrupted and weakened by sinfulness.
People have different motives for sinning, so its just guessing as to what the person is thinking. Some think they are protecting someone by lying, some are afraid of the outcome if they tell the truth, some don't want something to be exposed so they will lie to cover it up. There are perceived moral dilemmas too when 2 values intersect, which can make things especially challenging. For example, lying to a terrorist in order to save lives? And there's gray areas, such as choosing to not communicate or to omit something. I can only pray for wisdom in those situations.
Ephesians 4:13-32, Colossians 3:8-10,
Revelation 21:27, Revelation 22:15,
Most people resort to lying to some degree, greater or lesser. And most wouldn't say to themselves, 'Hey, I haven't told a lie for some time, I'll give out one now'. Lying is resorted to when someone or something is at stake & the first response is to attempt to lie so as to remove the problem. If lying doesn't work, then other devious or evil methods have to be employed. Children will often lie when the parent has to decide on which child is to blame for the problem - and some are particularly good at it, even turning around events so as to place the fault with the other. And so when they become adults, the 'art of lying' becomes well mastered, even to the point where guilt or shame is no longer felt when sin is being committed. And it becomes particularly sad when Christians ought to know the difference, as I have personally seen in a well-seasoned 'lier', who unashamedly dishes out lies, in spite of knowing that those who hear them know perfectly well that they are lies. It doesn't matter to this person - lying is just another way of changing the story to suit the need - after all, telling a lie is no great sin, as this person believes. And there are other dimensions to lying: to create problems, to lead astray, to fulfill a fantasy, etc., etc.
Even for a Christian walking in love & in the Spirit, often the option to lie so as to avoid a difficulty comes up. But he/she knows that every sin, however significant or not, stands before God through His Spirit in us, & we must immediately deal with it & fess up to our faults. We know we can't fool God, then why should we sin so easily before men, when answering to God for our behaviour is of greater importance than how we appear to others?
For GiGi. Is it Romans 1:30 you're thinking of: "inventors of evil things"?
We are each responsible for our own sins, so we do not inherit a particular sinful tendency from another. We give way to temptation and sin by our own volition. No one else makes one sin but himself.
This said, Adam giving into temptation brought sinfulness into the human race. It is in everyone we encounter without exception. No one needs to teach toddlers how to sin. Our nature is corrupted because of Adam and so sin tends to win out when we are tempted until one comes to Jesus and can live by the Holy Spirit's power who indwells us and sanctifies us.
Dianna, no one is born with a tendency to lie particularly. Everyone is born with the corrupted nature that ensures that we will give into any sin that can tempt a human. In fact, Scripture says that wicked people invent new ways of sinning. (can't find the verse, sorry). So, we each may develop certain propensities for a specific type of sin through repeatedly giving in to temptation of this behavior or from keeping company with people who also participate freely in a certain sin. But there is not necessarily given at conception a particular area of sin that will be that person's nemesis throughout live. Sin itself is our enemy, and no one needs to teach a person to sin, but we do learn certain sinful behaviors by living in a world and human population corrupted and weakened by sinfulness.
Hope this helps
Everything Sinful, sinful instincts, are all consequences of the fall of Adam and Eve.
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