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Are We Still Responsible for Sins for Which We May Be Genetically Predisposed?

The key to answering this question—which usually arises in discussions about homosexuality and Christianity—is to insist (with the Bible) that genetic dispositions are not equal to sinful determiners. Our individual makeup and background provide the context for sin and may fuel the craving for sin but never alleviate the responsibility for our sin and the requirement that we imitate God’s holy character.

Ultimately, we are all equal in Adam, though our sins can take various forms. And we may all be equal in the sin-free, sin-conquering Christ, where the ground is level before the cross where he bore God’s wrath and won the victory over his enemies.

Here’s a helpful word from Tom Schreiner giving a brief New Testament overview on this question of sin and responsibility.

Even if some sins could be traced to our genetics, it would not exempt us from responsibility for such sins. The Scriptures teach that all human beings are born into this world as sons and daughters of Adam, and hence they are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). They are dead in trespasses in sins (Eph. 2:1, 5), and have no inclination to seek God or to do what is good (Rom. 3:10–11). We come into the world as those who are spiritually dead (Rom. 5:12, 15), so that death reigns over the whole human race (Rom. 5:17). Indeed, human beings are condemned by virtue of Adam’s sin (Rom. 5:16, 18). Such a radical view of sin in which we inherit a sinful nature from Adam means that sinful predispositions are part of our personalities from our inception. Hence, even if it were discovered that we are genetically predisposed to certain sinful behaviors like alcoholism or homosexuality, such discoveries would not eliminate our responsibility for our actions, nor would it suggest that such actions are no longer sinful. The Scriptures teach that we are born as sinners in Adam, while at the same time they insist we should not sin and are responsible for the sin we commit. We enter into the world as slaves of sin (Rom. 6:6, 17), but we are still morally blameworthy for capitulating to the sin that serves as our master.

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