Indeed, the doctrine of sin nature suggests that humanity's original wholeness has been fundamentally corrupted. While Catholics maintain that baptism completely removes original sin, the Lutheran position—that Christians remain thoroughly sinful while being covered by Christ's righteousness—appears more consistent with observable human behaviour. Even the most devout individuals continue to struggle with sin, suggesting our corruption runs deeper than what the Catholic doctrine of complete removal of original sin through baptism would indicate.
So, how do we reconcile the Catholic teaching about baptism's complete removal of original sin with the persistent reality of human moral failure?
That’s a good question. Unlike Calvinism and, perhaps, to a lesser extent, unlike Lutheranism, in Catholicism the will of man holds a place in his salvation, beginning in Eden when man freely
de-saved himself, so to speak. God could’ve overridden Adam's will-or gave him less freedom to begin with- and He can completely override our wills now, making us into some kind of do-good automatons if we are to begin behaving totally better as a result of our encounter with Christ,
or He can decide to simply ignore our sins altogether, “pretending” that they don’t exist when, in fact, they do- as if the gospel were little more than a reprieve from man’s obligation to be righteous as long as he
believes. But none of that has ever been the idea.
The goal, the very reason we’re here now, is to come back to the God we spurned in Eden, to the extent that we can return to that vital
state of justice with the essential help of grace. Humanity now knows both good and evil,
literally, viscerally, directly by experience in this world, and the choice between the two
should be all the more obviously necessary, especially once the Ultimate Good contacts, calls, informs and moves us by His grace. Baptism, known as the “sacrament of faith”, is a “formal” act of faith in response to Jesus’ model and command. It’s acknowledged that without faith the sacrament would be worthless. Faith/baptism are the regrafting of the branch into the Vine. But that doesn’t mean that, unlike Adam before the Fall, I’ve now become perfect in my wisdom and will, perfected in love to place it in another perspective. So while I
know somewhat better now, or should, concupiscence still draws and tests us; we won’t necessarily deny ourselves totally; pride/ego still exist together with their compadre: fear of other’s opinions, and can keep us attracted to the family tradition of distance from God while unduly attracted to other, lesser, created things instead, or return us to those attractions.
It’s a struggle, a battle, but a supremely good one that has the final purpose of creating something even greater than God began with when He first created man, and that can only be won by virtue of our union with Him as we join and remain in Him now, ‘apart from whom we can do nothing’, in a continuous walk with God the Holy Spirit. It’s a process, a journey home, where we make our calling and election sure, working out our salvation with He who works in us. In that, as we “invest” our gifts as per the Parable of the Talents/Bags of Gold, our justice/righteousness and conviction and willingness all grow, and we become nearer to God in likeness and in our love. This journey for man actually
begins in Eden
.
In my own life, this testing, this challenge, this struggle has been-surprisingly to me- dramatic at times, with the prospect of ergegiously failing well understood. God has a
purpose in all this, a trial by fire in a way, and a molding, and that purpose is more than just stocking a number of His otherwise worthless, sinful creation in heaven and filling hell with the rest, but in creating, growing, cultivating, something grand, of much higher value than He began with as we’re increasingly drawn to willingly partake of and participate in His goodness and love, in
Him.
