Do people become sinners because they sin or do they sin because they are sinners?

Answer 1

The word "sin" is tossed around by the religions of the world, while very few of them bother to define to their flocks what it is. God defines "sin" as "THE TRANSGRESSION [breaking] OF THE LAW!" (I John 3:4) "The Law," being the "Ten Commandments":

"...unless I had been taught by the Law, I should have known nothing of sin as sin. For instance, I should not have known what covetousness is, if the Law had not repeatedly said, 'THOU SHALT NOT COVET.' [which is the tenth Commandment]" (Rom.7:7 WEY Weymouth's New Testament)

The Bible also tells us that: "...the wages paid by Sin are DEATH..." (Rom.6:23 WEY).

And that: "...seeing that DEATH [the wages of sin] CAME THROUGH MAN, through man comes also the Resurrection of the dead. For just as THROUGH ADAM ALL DIE, so also through Christ all will be made alive again." (I Cor.15:21-22 WEY)

Once the FIRST TWO PEOPLE CREATED "sinned" [BROKE GOD'S LAW, the Ten Commandments, which have ALWAYS existed; Moses just recorded them FOR US, today - see Acts 7:38]... then from that point on, they and all of their descendants [all the succeeding generations of mankind] were the SLAVES OF and indentured to... sold in bondage to... THE GOD OF THIS WORLD, Satan, whom mankind has ignorantly worshiped and obeyed, since.

Mankind has NOT OBEYED GOD'S COMMANDMENTS [he has sinned] from the start. They chose a god OTHER than the True God: the FIRST COMMANDMENT, right off the top. Their new god opened their minds and hearts to covetousness, they stole what wasn't theirs. In so doing, they disrespected and defiled the Holy, Sacred Name of their Creator through their unfaithfulness. They followed it all up by "refusing to repent" of their "sin"... and denied [lied about] being sinners at all; blaming instead everyone but themselves [and there weren't a lot of people around to blame at that time] with Adam even implicating GOD in their sins:

"...it was the woman YOU GAVE ME who brought me the fruit, and I ate it." (Gen.3:12 NLTNew Living Translation).

And mankind has lived in rebellion to God's ways ever since.

Men LIE, STEAL, MURDER, COVET, DISRESPECT GOD and ONE ANOTHER, HAVE FAILED TO REMEMBER CREATION AND HIS CREATOR [teaching, instead, evolution; creation without a Creator]. Man is UNFAITHFUL to God and one another. In other words: man has lived LAWLESSLY [the way of his chosen god]... contrary to his Creator's Law... throughout his generations.

So, innocent babies are MADE SINNERS by their awakened "rebellious, selfish NATURE" - the nature of the flesh.

The generations of mankind have INHERITED SIN from their forebearers.

The systems, societies and governments of this world ARE SATAN's [see Luke 4:5-6]. The first two people created, to whom God gave sovereignty OVER THE WHOLE EARTH -- GAVE IT to their new god!

Sin is the BREAKING OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS! And the world is geared to disobeying them by the god man chose to worship from the beginning. The god whom mankind STILL, IGNORANTLY, WORSHIPS to this day. The god who has "one more man" in mind, who shall come to power and usher in the Day of the LORD; the Day of Jesus' return... when He shall begin to rectify what sin has done... and remove the god man ignorantly chose to worship and obey.

This "soon-to-appear" man [the Beast] and his world-ruling government, the world will WORSHIP [idolatry], right along with the "Dragon god" that the world has worshiped from the beginning:

"...it was to the Dragon [Satan] that he owed his power and his throne and his wide dominion... the whole world was amazed and followed him. And they offered WORSHIP TO THE DRAGON, because it was to him that the Wild Beast owed his dominion; and they also offered worship to the Wild Beast, and said, 'Who is there like him? And who is able to engage in battle with him?'" (Rev.13:2-4 WEY)

Man is BORN INTO A READY-MADE WORLD OF SIN... LAWLESSNESS! None of us asked to be born. We didn't make the miserable, suffering world into which we were thrust. We INHERITED it from our parents and generations of sinners that date back to the first two people created; who had sin [lawlessness; rebellion] awakened within them by the god of this world:

"The Great Dragon, the ancient serpent, he who is called 'the Devil' and 'the Adversary' [Satan] and leads the whole earth astray..." (Rev.12:9 WEY).

If only there were more people who "believed" it.
Most Christians, for example, believe people are born fallen. This means people sin because they are sinners. Individuals, as well as faiths, have a variety of beliefs.