CG 475
The inheritance of children is that of sin.
ST March 17, 1887
We may have the peace which passeth understanding; but it will cost us battles with the powers of darkness, struggles severe against selfishness and inbred sin.
RH Nov 29, 1887
From the cross to the crown there is earnest work to be done. There is wrestling with inbred sin; there is warfare against outward wrong.
ST May 19, 1890 (also FW 88)
Adam sinned, and the children of Adam share his guilt and its consequences; but Jesus bore the guilt of Adam, and all the children of Adam that will flee to Christ, the second Adam, may escape the penalty of transgression.
ST June 6, 1895
Those who… accept…Christ [as their personal Saviour] are looked upon by God, not as they are in Adam, but as they are in Jesus Christ, as the sons and daughters of God.
RH Oct 14, 1875
Children are the lawful prey of the enemy, because they are not subjects of grace, have not experienced the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus…
Exodus 12:3, 6, 7, 12, 13
3) “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.…
6) Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight.
7) And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.…
12) For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
13) Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
CG 475
The inheritance of children is that of sin.
DA 51, 52
Thus the law for the presentation of the first-born was made particularly significant. While it was a memorial of the Lord’s wonderful deliverance of the children of Israel, it prefigured a greater deliverance, to be wrought out by the only begotten Son of God. As the blood sprinkled on the door posts had saved the first-born of Israel, so the blood of Christ has power to save the world.
PP 277
The Passover was to be both commemorative and typical, not only pointing back to the deliverance from Egypt, but forward to the greater deliverance which Christ was to accomplish in freeing His people from the bondage of sin. The sacrificial lamb represents “the Lamb of God,” in whom is our only hope of salvation. Says the apostle, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” 1 Corinthians 5:7. It was not enough that the paschal lamb be slain; its blood must be sprinkled upon the doorposts; so the merits of Christ’s blood must be applied to the soul. We must believe, not only that He died for the world, but that He died for us individually. We must appropriate to ourselves the virtue of the atoning sacrifice.
3SM 314
The word of God came to the Israelites in bondage to gather their children into their houses and to mark the doorposts of their houses with blood from a lamb, slain. This prefigured the slaying of the Son of God and the efficacy of His blood, which was shed for the salvation of the sinner. It was a sign that the household accepted Christ as the promised Redeemer. It was shielded from the destroyer’s power. The parents evidenced their faith in implicitly obeying the directions given them, and the faith of the parents covered themselves and their children. They showed their faith in Jesus, the great Sacrifice, whose blood was prefigured in the slain lamb. The destroying angel passed over every house that had this mark upon it. This is a symbol to show that the faith of the parents extends to their children and covers them from the destroying angel.
RH April 16, 1901
…he [Satan] prevailed on Adam to sin. Thus at its very source human nature was corrupted.
8MR 39, 40 (also BE Jan 9, 1899)
He was furnished [“endowed” in BE article] with a holy nature, sinless, pure, undefiled; but he fell because he listened to the suggestions of the enemy; and his posterity became depraved. “By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners”. (Ms. 20, 1898)
HP 196
Moral derangement, which we call depravity…
CS 24
Selfishness is the essence of depravity and because human beings have yielded to its power, the opposite of allegiance to God is seen in the world today.
9MR 237
His [Satan’s] effort to deceive our first parents was successful. Made in the image of God, the human family lost their innocence, became transgressors, and as disloyal subjects began their downward career.… Instead of remaining under God’s influence in order that he might reflect the moral image of his Creator, man placed himself under the control of Satan’s influence, and was made selfish. Thus sin became a universal evil. And what a dreadful evil is sin! (Ms. 55, 1902)
SC 17
He [Adam] was perfect in his being, and in harmony with God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy. But through disobedience, his powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love.
4T 384
Under the general heading of selfishness [comes] every other sin.
4T 224
…love is the spirit of God.
AA 339
…selfishness is the spirit of Satan.
Gen 5:3
And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.
PP 80
Concerning the creation of Adam it is said, “In the likeness of God made He him;” but man, after the Fall, “begat a son in his own likeness, after his image.” While Adam was created sinless, in the likeness of God, Seth, like Cain, inherited the fallen nature of his parents.
HS 138, 139
Selfishness is inwrought in our very being. It has come to us as an inheritance…
And remember:
CS 24
Selfishness is the essence of depravity…
AA 339
…selfishness is the spirit of Satan.
4T 384
Under the general heading of selfishness [comes] every other sin.
In this context we can better understand the meaning of the inspired reference to “inbred sin” (see above ST March 17, 1887 and RH Nov 29, 1887)
Psalm 51:5
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
CG 475
The inheritance of children is that of sin.
RH Jan 6, 1891
Men are selfish by nature. They act from impulse, without reference to the will of God. Their own will is their criterion.
DA 678
…the selfishness inherent in the natural heart.
CS 25
Selfishness is the strongest and most general of human impulses…
AG 258
We must remember that our hearts are naturally depraved.
Philippians 2:21
For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.
ST June 2, 1887
It is plainly written on the unrenewed heart and on a fallen world, All seek their own. Selfishness is the great law of our degenerate nature. Selfishness occupies the place in the soul where Christ should sit enthroned.
SC 17
He was perfect in his being, and in harmony with God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy. But through disobedience, his powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love.
4T 564
Selfishness is contrary to the spirit of Christianity. It is altogether Satanic in its nature and development.
ST Feb 13, 1893
When man sinned, all heaven was filled with sorrow; for through yielding to temptation, man became the enemy of God, a partaker of the satanic nature.
Romans 8:7
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
ST May 23, 1895
“The carnal [or natural] mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Human nature could not keep the law, even if it would. Apart from Christ, without union with him, we can do nothing.
Note dictionary definitions for:
Natural: Of or pertaining to one’s nature or constitution; innate; inborn. Belonging to or existing in one’s nature, not acquired but innate, or inherent.
Enmity: 1) The spirit of an enemy; hatred, hostility. 2) The condition of being an enemy; a hostile condition. A deep-seated unfriendliness accompanied by a readiness to quarrel or fight; hostility; antagonism.
YI Nov 8, 1900
The natural man is not subject to the law of God; neither, indeed, of himself, can he be.
ST June 11, 1894
The natural man is in transgression, and his nature is in harmony with that of the first transgressor. There is no natural enmity between fallen men and fallen angels; both are partakers of the same spirit through indulgence in evil.
1MCP 22 (Lt. 8, 1891)
Few believe that humanity has sunk so low as it has, or that it is so thoroughly bad, so desperately opposed to God, as it is. “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Rom. 8:7)
RH July 4, 1893
…every human power is naturally, to a greater or less degree, opposed to God.…
1MCP 22
When the mind is not under the direct influence of the Spirit of God, Satan can mold it as he chooses. All the rational powers which he controls he will carnalize. He is directly opposed to God in his tastes, views, preferences, likes and dislikes, choice of things and pursuits; there is no relish for what God loves or approves, but a delight in those things which He despises; therefore a course is maintained which is offensive to Him.
ST Feb 13, 1893 (or May 16, 1911?)
When man sinned, all heaven was filled with sorrow; for through yielding to temptation, man became the enemy of God, a partaker of the satanic nature. The image of God in which he had been created was marred and distorted. The character of man was out of harmony with the character of God; for through sin man became carnal, and the carnal heart is enmity against God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. To the angels there seemed to be no way of escape for the transgressor. They ceased their songs of praise, and throughout the heavenly courts there was mourning for the ruin sin had wrought. Out of harmony with the nature of God, unyielding to the claims of his law, naught but destruction was before the human race. Since the divine law is as changeless as the character of God, there could be no hope for man unless some way could be devised whereby his transgression might be pardoned, his nature renewed, and his spirit restored to reflect the image of God. Divine love had conceived such a plan.