Original Sin

Free Will Baptists affirm that all humans have inherited a sinful nature from Adam's transgression. Through Adam's sin, sin entered the world and affected all humanity. However, there is some diversity of opinion within Free Will Baptism on the precise mechanism of transmission and on the question of inherited guilt.

The Treatise of the Faith affirms that humans are 'born sinners' and that this sinful condition is universal. All people are inclined toward sin and stand in need of redemption. However, unlike some Calvinist formulations that emphasize total depravity (the complete inability of humans to choose good), Free Will Baptists stress that prevenient grace — God's grace that precedes faith — has been extended to all humanity. This grace restores a measure of moral freedom and the ability to respond to the gospel.

Some Free Will Baptists hold that infants inherit not the guilt of Adam's sin per se but the corrupted sinful nature. Others believe that infants, having not yet reached the age of accountability, are safe in God's grace (implied by the absence of personal sin). The key conviction is that all accountable humans stand under the condemnation of sin but are offered grace through Christ.