XI.
The Reality of Remaining Sin
This section defines the nature of original sin as a condemning reality that persists in believers even after grace is applied.
XI. We also believe that this vice is truly sin, enough to condemn the whole human race, even little children from their mother's womb, and that God counts it as such; even after baptism, it remains sin with regard to guilt, although its condemnation is abolished for the children of God because, in his free goodness, God does not count it against them.1 Besides this, it is a perversity that continually produces fruits of malice and rebellion, so that even the holiest people, though they resist it, remain stained with infirmities and faults as long as they live in this world.
Read the original French
XI. Nous croyons aussi que ce vice est vraiment péché, qui suffit à condamner tout le genre humain, jusqu’aux petits enfants dès le ventre de la mère, et que pour tel il est réputé devant Dieu; même qu’après le baptême, c’est toujours péché quant à la coulpe, bien que la condamnation en soit abolie aux enfants de Dieu, ne la leur imputant point par sa bonté gratuite. Outre cela, que c’est une perversité produisant toujours des fruits de malice et de rébellion, tels que les plus saints, encore qu’ils y résistent, ne laissent point d’être entachés d’infirmités et de fautes pendant qu’ils habitent en ce monde.
Notes
- 1 ↩Coulpe is culpa, guilt, as distinct from the penalty or condemnation (condamnation). The claim is that remaining original sin is still truly sin as to guilt, though its condemnation is not charged to the children of God.
French Confession of Faith (Confession de La Rochelle / Gallican Confession) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit