In the last post we began unpacking the doctrine of original sin. We noted that original sin teaches that the sin that affected affect all of humanity and the physical creation originated in Adam. To review, I am laying forth what will ultimately be four main propositions that define the doctrine of original sin:
(1). Adam initiated original sin.
(2). Guilt was imputed by original sin.
(3). Corruption is inherited from original sin.
(4). Inward bent from God is a consequence of original sin.
Today's post will again draw from a recent set of sermons I preached on this subject. In today's post we will unfold the second of the above points.
Guilt was
imputed by original sin. Job 31:33; Hosea 6:7
To “impute” means “to credit” or “to reckon” or “to regard with another’s work”. As we shall see, this term is vital in not only understanding what took place when Adam's sin came to affect all humanity, but also what Christ's accomplished work would come to achieve in the lives of those who unite to Him in saving faith.
The doctrine of "imputation" involves God rendering a legal pronouncement, a judgment, upon an individual. In the sight of God's perfect justice, the imputation of guilt or innocence legally renders that person to be either of those, based upon the actions of someone outside the individual. When we read passages such as Romans 4:5; 5:12-18; and 2 Corinthians 5:21, we see what theologians call a "triple imputation".
1. Adam's original sin and guilt is imputed onto the human race. This is the first imputation.
2. As each human being participates in actual sins, in Adam, legally declared "guilty" of Adam's imputed sin, such a condition would come to be "imputed onto Christ". On the cross, Jesus was treated "as if" He had committed every sin, of every sinner, and ultimately Adam. This second imputation meant then that the perfect Second Adam, Jesus Christ, was viewed judicially as the first Adam, and was treated as if he had committed my actual sins, even though He never sinned once.
3. The third act of imputation from God involves what occurs at saving faith. The doctrine of justification by faith alone asserts that Christ's perfect life, substitutionary death, and resurrection are "credited", "imputed" unto me. As Christ had "imputed" to him my sin, my guilt, an alien unrighteousness for which He clearly was not; so it was that at saving faith, God the Father credited, imputed to me an alien righteousness not of my own (the Latin "alienus", meaning "outside of myself"). That imputed righteousness was Christ's. Hence, the Christian is regarded as righteous and pure as Jesus, since on the cross He was legally declared "sin". This then is why the doctrine, the idea of "imputation" is so central to our understanding of Biblical salvation and Christ's atonement.
Distinguishing imputed sin and actual sins
In the last post I made a careful distinction between "actual sins" and of course original sin. When we speak of actual sins, we refer to our own guilt, brought about by our own sin.
Ezekiel 18:20 “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.”
This, as we noted at the beginning, speaks of actual sins. The question is of course, "why do we sin"? Historically, three answers have been offered.
A. The first suggests we sin by imitation of others. This first option has of course a grain of truth, since the influence of others can exacerbate our sinning. Yet, it does not get to the heart of the matter "why do I sin?" It doesn't take seriously how much our moral self-determination (i.e. the human will) was affected by our internal sinfulness inherited from Adam. Historically, thinkers such as Pelagius of the 5th century and Socinus of the 17th century tried to make this "moral influence" theory of sin tenable. Both thinkers were regarded as heretics, since in severing the link between Adam's sin and my own, they taught it was technically possible to achieve sinless perfection in this life.
B. The second historical answer in relating to the question of "why we sin" has to do with the effects of the fallen world. Certainly, Scripture teaches how the fallen world, its decay, its "groaning", came forth as a result of Adam and Eve's disobedience (Romans 8:21-25). No doubt this too contributes to each person's individual sin. Afterall, no sin is committed in a vacuum. Most evangelical, Bible believing Christians will opt for this second explanation.
As much as I agree this is a necessary component to explain why I sin, it does not sufficiently, by itself, explain. It is a necessary condition, but not sufficient in unpacking why sinners sin. In other words, do I sin because I see other people sin (option #1)? Do I sin due to my environment (option #2)? Or is there more that can be stated?
C. The third historical answer in the history of Biblical interpretation has offered that the reason why I sin is because of the vile, putrid, sinful fountain of original sin, contracted from Adam and Eve's rebellion, with its guilt imputed or credited to me as a member of the human race. We sin, because we are sinners.
This third option helps give Biblical clarity to the other two options. As unpopular as the teaching of original sin is in so many theological circles today, it is no mystery. To say the source of those sins inside of us is a putrid fountain, original sin, from which I sin, and in which I gladly cooperate, does not bode well with the popular notion that "deep down inside, we have an island of goodness".
In other words, the guilt with which we are born as transgressors of the God's Law isn’t just the personal guilt that stems from my actual sins. I am responsible for the sins I commit as it pertains to my own personal sinning. The issue remains as to why I do those things, and why the pattern of sinning is so universal among the human species.
The answer lies in the fact that guilt was transferred onto us from Adam. We know this to be the case because even before we consciously sin, the Bible uniformly declares we are sinners from conception (Psalm 51); that when we're born we're predisposed to lie (Psalm 58:3); and that God judicially has imputed the sentence of condemnation on us as a human race (John 3:36). This spiritual condition is why human beings so readily reject the Gospel (see 1 Corinthians 1:14).
A Biblical illustration of imputed guilt.
To prove that imputation of sin isn't some invention of Augustine or the later Roman Catholic Church, an examination of the Biblical text shows the truth of this doctrine. We see examples of imputed guilt
in the Bible. 2 Samuel 24, King David takes a census of his armies. David
represented the people before the LORD as their King. He was a covenant head of
the people. As a consequence of his actions, 70,000 men died from a plague of
judgment from God. God had imputed guilt on the whole nation due to the actions
of one man.
Job asked in Job 31:33,
“Have I covered my transgressions like Adam, By hiding my iniquity in my bosom.”
Israel’s history of treachery against Yahweh bears the marks of Adam’s transferrable sin and guilt. Hosea the prophet wrote in Hosea 6:7,
“But
like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; There they have dealt
treacherously against Me.”
How original sin affects the Christian
This is what original sin does even to the Christian. Thankfully in Jesus we are declared righteous. We get a new nature, a new heart, and thus a new way of thinking (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Christians inner-most being is restamped in the image of Christ from salvation. Nevertheless, we still have this physical body, this flesh, which still contains the seeds of our corruption from Adam.
The reader may refer back to one of my original illustrations of my grandfather's septic tank. Although the inside pipes in his home were cleaned out by the plumber, thus rendering the home habitable once again, it still remained that my grandfather had a septic tank that was cracked and seeping into the ground.
For the Christian, the inside of the heart is cleansed and made new by the work of regeneration or the new birth (2 Corinthians 5:17). For the Christian, God the Father has the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the second Adam, imputed, transferred, credited to their account in justification by faith (Romans 3:24-26; Romans 4:1-6; Romans 5:1-5; Galatians 3:26). But the fact of original sin, as to its left-over effects, remain in my physical being, my flesh, resulting in the internal struggle between the new nature in Christ and my old, unredeemed flesh (see Romans 7:14-25).
In other words, original
sin, though capped in regeneration, can still seep through into our thoughts,
our flesh. This is why we need the Spirit and the Word to keep it at bay.
So, original sin in Adam’s Fall
initiated with Adam and imputed or credited to us guilt. In the next post, we will
pick up on the last two of our four points pertaining to our definition of
original sin (Original sin led to inherited corruption, Inward bent away from
God.)
