Plain-language reading guide
READING HELP
Read this chapter alongside the Confession chapter on the same subject. The Testimony states what the church teaches, applies that teaching, and identifies views it rejects. Read each statement with its Scripture proofs and the surrounding paragraphs.
This reading guide is separate from the official text below.
Read the official text, or choose a simpler explanation to explore together.
Westminster Confession
1. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtilty and temptation of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin God was pleased, according to His wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed to order it to His own glory.
Scripture proofs: Gen. 3:13; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rom. 11:32.
2. By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body.
Scripture proofs: Gen. 3:6-8; Eccl. 7:29; Rom. 3:23; Gen. 2:17; Eph. 2:1; Titus 1:15; Gen. 6:5; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10-19.
3. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation.
Scripture proofs: Gen. 1:27-28, and Gen. 2:16-17, and Acts 17:26 with Rom. 5:12, 15-19, and 1 Cor. 15:21-22, 49; Ps. 51:5; Gen. 5:3; Job 14:4; Job 15:14.
4. 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.
Scripture proofs: Rom. 5:6; Rom. 8:7; Rom. 7:18; Col. 1: 21; Gen. 6:5; Gen. 8:21; Rom. 3:10-12; Jas. 1:14-15; Eph. 2:2-3; Matt. 15:19.
5. This corruption of nature, during this life, doth remain in those that are regenerated; and although it be, through Christ, pardoned and mortified, yet both itself and all the motions thereof are truly and properly sin.
Scripture proofs: 1 John 1:8, 10; Rom. 7:14, 17-18, 23; Jas. 3:2; Prov. 20:9; Eccl. 7:20; Rom. 7:5, 7-8, 25; Gal. 5:17.
6. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner; whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal.
Scripture proofs: 1 John 3:4; Rom. 2:15; Rom. 3:9, 19; Eph. 2:3; Gal. 3:10; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 4:18; Rom. 8:20; Lam. 3:39; Matt. 25: 41; 2 Thess. 1:9.
Words to know
- The fall
- Adam and Eve’s first disobedience and the ruin it brought.
- Corruption
- The sinful condition that affects our whole nature.
- Imputed
- Counted or credited to someone; Adam’s guilt is counted to those he represents.
WCF 6.1 · The first disobedience
Satan tempted Adam and Eve, and they ate the fruit God had forbidden. They chose to sin. God permitted this within his wise plan and would direct events to his glory, but their disobedience was truly their own.
Genesis 3:13; 2 Corinthians 11:3; Romans 11:32.
Who was responsible for Adam and Eve’s disobedience?
WCF 6.2 · What the fall changed
By sinning, Adam and Eve lost their original uprightness and fellowship with God. They became spiritually dead, and sin affected every part of them, body and soul. The problem was much deeper than one mistaken action.
Genesis 3:6-8; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Romans 3:23.
Why do sinners need more than better habits?
WCF 6.3 · Adam’s sin affects us
Adam and Eve are the first parents of the human family. Adam’s guilt is counted to his ordinary descendants, and they inherit a sinful nature and spiritual death. We are connected with him as our representative, not merely copying a bad example. Jesus’ birth and sinlessness are explained in chapter 8.
Genesis 1:27-28; Genesis 2:16-17; Acts 17:26.
What does it mean for someone to represent others?
WCF 6.4 · Sin comes from within
Our inherited corruption leaves us unwilling and unable to do the spiritual good needed for salvation on our own. Our sinful thoughts, words, and actions grow from that inward problem. We need God to change our hearts.
Romans 5:6; Romans 8:7; Romans 7:18.
Why is changing our hearts deeper than changing appearances?
WCF 6.5 · Christians still fight sin
Even after the Spirit gives us new life, sin remains in us during this life. Through Christ it is forgiven and weakened, but it is still really sin. We must keep fighting it rather than pretending it has disappeared.
1 John 1:8; Romans 7:14; James 3:2.
Why should Christians still confess their sins?
WCF 6.6 · Sin deserves judgment
Every sin breaks God’s righteous law and makes the sinner guilty. Both our sinful nature and our sinful actions deserve his judgment. Sin brings spiritual harm, suffering, and death, including eternal judgment. We need a Savior who can deal with our guilt, not simply help us feel better.
1 John 3:4; Romans 2:15; Romans 3:9.
Why do we need forgiveness rather than excuses?
1. This corruption of man’s nature is commonly called total depravity. Two examples in the Scripture demonstrate that being human is not equivalent to being sinful—that of Adam before the fall and of Christ in His human nature. Since the fall every part of man’s nature is affected by sin. His understanding is darkened; he is motivated by wrong principles, is rebellious and wholly unable of his own will to love God or to obtain salvation. Natural men are not equally evil, nor as evil as they might be. They may conform to some human standards of goodness. Heb. 4:15; Gen. 6:5; Rom. 5:12-17; Rom. 8:7; Rom. 3:23; Rom. 7:18; Eph. 4:18; Gen. 3:22; Mark 10:20.
2. Every man was created in the image of God. His life, therefore, whether he is regenerate or unregenerate, should be recognized as having value to himself, to society, and to God. Prov. 16:4; Gen. 9:5-6; Matt. 10:29-31; Gen. 1:27; Rom. 5:7-8; Acts 17:24-29; Rom. 9:20-24.
Words to know
- The fall
- Adam and Eve’s first disobedience and the ruin it brought.
- Corruption
- The sinful condition that affects our whole nature.
- Imputed
- Counted or credited to someone; Adam’s guilt is counted to those he represents.
Testimony 6.1
Sin affects every part of us and leaves us unable to turn to God on our own. This does not mean everyone is equally evil or as bad as possible, or that being human itself means being sinful.
Read original point 1 and its Scripture proofs →Testimony 6.2
Every human life has value because every person bears God’s image, whether or not that person is a believer.
Read original point 2 and its Scripture proofs →Source: The Constitution of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, updated 2026, A-26, A-27.