Calvinists will teach that we are all born guilty of sin. This must not be confused with being born with a sinful nature. Being born guilty of sin asserts that as soon as you come into existence, then you are already guilty of sin against God, and are destined for the lake of fire as you have inherited the guilt of sin that Adam committed. 

They being the root, and by God’s appointment, standing in the room and stead of all mankind, the guilt of the sin was imputed, and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death, and all other miseries, spiritual, temporal, and eternal, unless the Lord Jesus set them free.

Second London Baptist Confession of Faith

Romans 5:12-19 is used to support the idea of imputation of sin. However, this passage does not teach imputation of sin at all.

Looking at Romans 5 verse 12:

Romans 5:12

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 

The highlighted part clearly shows that death passed upon all men because all have sinned. Without that part, then it would imply imputation of guilt.

Now let us look at verse 18:

Romans 5:18

18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 

Let us first pay attention to the second part of the verse. Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world, yet does that mean everyone is going to Heaven? Or is there something we must do in order to get to Heaven? Acts 16:30-31 explains this:

Acts 16:30-31

30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 

So, if there is a condition required in order to be saved, then what must we do in order to be condemned as described in the first part of the verse? Even calvinists will have to agree that condemnation cannot be unconditional because of what Adam did. Yet they will still affirm unconditional election: they can’t have it both ways.

Here is a list of verses to prove that sin is not actually stored in the balls like Augustine claims:

1. Each person is conceived without sin. They do not get involved in sin until they have personal agency.

If imputation of sin is true, then we need to reconcile that with what these verses say.

Ecclesiastes 7:29

29 Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

Psalm 139:13-14

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. 

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.

Psalm 58:3

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

Psalm 22:9-10

9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. 

10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: Thou art my God from my mother’s belly.

Psalm 71:5-6

5 For thou art my hope, O Lord God: Thou art my trust from my youth. 

6 By thee have I been holden up from the womb: Thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: My praise shall be continually of thee.

Luke 1:15

15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.

Luke 1:41

41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

The calvinists will often use this verse below to say David was imputed with sin:

Psalm 51:5

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.

However, this is a misinterpretation.

David was not conceived in sin. His mother was defiled by her previous fling with the Ammonite king Nahash, a pagan who worshipped Milcom and Molech, and her subsequent remarriage.

1 Chronicles 2:13-16

13 And Jesse begat his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimma the third, 

14 Nethaneel the fourth, Raddai the fifth, 

15 Ozem the sixth, David the seventh: 

16 Whose sisters were Zeruiah, and Abigail. And the sons of Zeruiah; Abishai, and Joab, and Asahel, three.

Zeruiah and Abigail are David’s half-sisters.

2 Samuel 17:25

25 And Absalom made Amasa captain of the host instead of Joab: which Amasa was a man’s son, whose name was Ithra an Israelite, that went in to Abigail the daughter of Nahash, sister to Zeruiah Joab’s mother.

Psalm 69:8

8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children.

David’s half sisters Zeruiah and Abigail were children from a previous fling/marriage of David’s mother to Nahash, an Ammonite King.

1 Kings 11:1-2

1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; 

2 Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.

God commands that the children of Israel not to go into the Ammonites carnally.

Deuteronomy 23:3

3 An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever:

Therefore, David’s mother was defiled by her previous fling/marriage to the Ammonite, a pagan people who worshipped Milcom and Molech.

2. The sins of the father are not the sins of the Son.

God makes it clear we do not answer for the sins of our fathers. We are all accountable for our own sins.

Deuteronomy 24:16

16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

Ezekiel 18:19-20

19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. 

20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Jeremiah 31:29-30

29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, And the children’s teeth are set on edge. 

30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: Every man that eateth the sour grape, His teeth shall be set on edge.

2 Kings 14:6

6 But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

3. Spiritual death only passes upon all men because all men have sinned.

As mentioned at the start of this post, spiritual death happens to us all who have sinned against God, not because of Adam, but because of our own doing. If I am born guilty because of Adam, then am I really at fault?

Romans 5:12

12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 

James 1:13-15

13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 

15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

4. We are only accountable for the sins we have committed in our own bodies – not the bodies of our forefathers.

To further nail in the point:

2 Corinthians 5:10

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Ezekiel 33:20

20 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

5. Paul affirms the age of accountability.

This answers the questions about infants or those who do not have the mental capacity to understand they are sinning against God.

Romans 7:9

9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

6. God only judges nations generationally, not individuals. And he still protects the righteous remnant.

Isaiah 14:21-22

21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; That they do not rise, nor possess the land, Nor fill the face of the world with cities. 

22 For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, And cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, And son, and nephew, saith the Lord.

Deuteronomy 5:9-10

9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 

10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

1 Thessalonians 2:14-15

14 For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: 

15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:

Matthew 27:25

25 Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

7. There was hope for Cain. Yet he was a reprobate.

Cain was not born already damned for hell.

Genesis 4:6-7

6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 

7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

And the verses below prove he was a reprobate.

Hebrews 11:4

4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

Jude 1:10-11

10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 

11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

1 John 3:10-13

10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. 

11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 

12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. 

13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.

And finally, to summarise this post:

“We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, and chastisements, and good rewards, are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Since if it be not so, but all things happen by fate, neither is anything at all in our own power. For if it be fated that this man, e.g., be good, and this other evil, neither is the former
meritorious nor the latter to be blamed. And again, unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be. But that it is by free choice they both walk uprightly and stumble, we thus demonstrate.”

Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 43