What does it mean when Lehi says that ‘all mankind were in a lost and in a fallen state’? Romans 3:23 is the footnote for ‘lost’, and it says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” So ‘lost’ means ‘sinned’. But what does ‘fallen’ mean? The footnote for that does not help me as much. It goes to the Topical Guide for ‘Death, Spiritual, First.” So ‘fallen’ means ‘spiritual death’. But what is that? The Bible Dictionary for ‘death’ says, “… spiritual death, which is to die as pertaining to, or to be separated from, righteousness …” In conclusion, ‘all mankind were in a lost and fallen state’ means that before Jesus came, everybody was had sinned and were ‘separated from righteousness’ (not righteous), and some more than others. I do not think that it means that everybody was wicked, just that people were not perfect, and we still aren’t.
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