We sin because we have a sin nature that was passed on to us and that inclines us in the direction of sin,
but Adam was directly created from God with no sin nature, and thus no propensity to sin.
What impelled him to sin?
Quoting: KoFFee_ Adam was created in God's Image - meaning the Godhead. Father, Son, Holy SPirit. Don't have the reference, but someone can find where the scripture says, "Let Us make man in OUR IMAGE."
Later, after the fall, we read that Adam and Eve bore children in THEIR image (a fallen, sinful image).
So, to a poster who posed the question earlier in this thread, YES, I believe our DNA was changed (in Adam) after the fall.
What impelled Adam to sin? Easy answer: FREE WILL.
Yes, Adam was created with a free will (the ability to
freely make moral choices), he had within him the God-given ability to move in either moral direction.
This was an incredible ability!
Today, man no longer has an absolutely free will, as Adam and Eve had. He has
a will, and he does exercise choice, but because of his fallen nature, his choices
have become limited to that which is consistent with his nature.
From his vantage point, man appears to exercise a free will, but only from a limited range of options
(i.e., the choices consistent with a fallen nature that is hostile to God).
For example, prior to the fall Adam could have chosen to do a truly righteous act, but the natural (unregenerated) person is incapable of producing righteousness
(Rom. 8:5-8).
A righteous deed is motivated from a heart that sincerely desires to please God above all else. Even redeemed people can perform righteous deeds only with the enabling of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9-10).
