Adam was, "by God's appointment," the representative head of all mankind. When he sinned, the guilt of it was imputed to all mankind, and the sin nature is passed on to all the generations after him. All men are conceived in sin (Ps. 51:5), meaning that all men have a sin nature from the moment of conception. We are, as the confession states, "utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil."

This corruption does not cease to exist when God saves a sinner. It still remains! There is still that war that wages on in the soul of the regenerate. Although their sins have been pardoned and they have been declared righteous through Christ (justification), and by the power of the Holy Spirit are being made holy and mortifying their sins (sanctification), the corruption still remains. It will not be gone until we are glorified and in the presence of God (1 John 3:2).