Christian Churches affirm that all humans inherit a sinful nature from Adam due to his transgression and its effects on the human race. This sinful condition is universal and inescapable apart from God's grace. However, they do not affirm that Adam's guilt is imputed directly to each person; rather, the consequences of sin (corruption, mortality, bondage to sin) are inherited.

Each person is responsible for their own sins, not for Adam's sin itself. Romans 5:12 is interpreted as indicating that death spread to all because all sinned, not that Adam's guilt was transferred. Original sin consists primarily in the corrupted state of human nature and the universal propensity toward sin, not in a forensic guilt imputed wholesale from Adam.

This Arminian anthropology maintains that humans are genuinely capable of choosing good or evil, that moral responsibility is real, and that sin requires a personal decision. Infants and those incapable of moral responsibility are not condemned for original sin itself. God's grace in Christ meets humanity in this fallen condition and offers transformation through faith and baptism.