Enmity toward God--our natural estate--is evil. Sin is an ethical disposition against God--not something we contract only after acting sinfully. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners. This is why we must be born again "from above," why we must have "new hearts" given to us. When that happens our internal ethical magnet flips its polarity and we are ethically inclined toward pleasing God (Eph. 2), yet not without ups and downs (Rom. 7).