From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.
As the psalmist observed (and Paul ratified), "there is none righteous, no, not one." Being fallen creatures from conception due to our inherited sin nature, we demonstrate every day of our lives the fact of our corruption. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. It is in our very warp and woof. From the evil inclination of our hearts spring all the sins and transgressions we commit constantly.
To those who might object that they are not conscious of such a state of unrighteousness, Anselm of Canterbury instructs us that we have not yet appreciated the full gravity of sin. It is human nature (and a manifestation of its corruption) to want to make excuses, to see ourselves in the best, most positive light. But the truth about us is much less pleasant.
Tomorrow: Warring with the old nature.
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