Hamartiology - Imputed Sin

All right, take out your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 5, if you would please.

We've been here since 6 .30. We've been outside all day.

Oh, I'm so sorry. There should have been a sign on the door that said to come to this door. We locked the door for security because we can't see that. No, you're fine. No, I'm sorry that the door was... that we didn't have the...

We're glad you interrupted. Yeah, yeah. I apologize. Yeah. Very, very sorry about that.

Yeah.

Well, let's... again, let's open our Bibles to Romans chapter 5. Last week, we began this lesson and I said during that that I didn't think I would get through it all in one sitting. As you know, we're in the doctrine of sin, the doctrine of hamartiology, the study of sin.

The Greek word for sin is hamartia, which means what? Come on, don't do this to me. You did this to me last week. Nobody wants to talk. And Dan, you're here. You're going to talk, but Pat, you got your hand up.

Yes, here.

Yes.

What does hamartia mean? Somebody. To miss the mark. It means that there is a standard and the standard has been missed. What is the standard? How do we define sin?

Yes.

Unrighteousness.

That's true. It is unrighteousness, but what is the standard? When you say unrighteousness, that's the negation of something. What's the standard?

God.

God Himself. He is righteous, therefore He is the standard. And anything that is opposed to Him, anything that falls short of His standard, is sin. Typically in the old theological creeds and confessions, sin was defined as anything that does not conform to the law of God.

It either wants conformity to the law of God, or it violates the law of God. And so, law is how we define sin. In fact, that's how the Bible defines sin. It says that sin is lawlessness. And if you'll remember when Jesus, in Matthew chapter 7, talked to those who said, Lord, Lord, and He says, Depart from Me, I never knew you.

Remember that? What did He say? He says, Depart from Me, I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness. Lawlessness, iniquity, same thing. Same word. But the idea is that's how we define sin. Hamartia.

The act of violating God. And all people have violated God. We've looked at the nature of sin. We've looked at the origin of sin. It originated in our first parents, Adam and Eve. We've looked at the consequences of sin, which are many fold.

They both have internal and external consequences. They have consequences in our bodies, but also in our environment around us. And then last week we began to look at the extent and the imputation of sin.

And I spent all last week basically looking at those who would deny the imputation of sin. Now, let me just remind you that word. To impute means what? What does that mean? Who said charged to? I heard it.

Speak up, Jackie, when you know it and you're right, say it. Be confident, because you were right. To impute means to charge to someone's account. So therefore, if I had a debt, and Dan was kind enough to take my debt upon himself, that which was in my charge, what was charged to me, would then be charged to Dan.

He would then take my debt. And it would be imputed from me. It would be imputed to him. It would be taken from me and imputed to him. So, when we talk about sin, and we talk about the imputation of sin, what we are talking about is the guilt of Adam, which is charged to the account of all people.

Everyone is a sinner by nature, because of the sin of Adam, who sinned in our place. Adam acted as a representative of every human being. And when he acted as a representative of every human being, when he sinned, we sinned.

And in his sin, we died. This is why 1 Corinthians 15 clearly says, In Adam, all die. So, that's the doctrine of imputation. Many people hate it. I quoted last week several. I quoted Pelagius from the 4th century, who I call the arch-heretic Pelagius, because he not only denied original sin, but he denied so many other key foundational Christian teachings.

And he was a heretic. He denied it. Another one was Charles Finney from the 19th century. Very popular. Very bad false teacher. I was listening to a debate just last night between two men, not on the doctrine of original sin, but on the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement, which is something we'll study in a few weeks, because when we get to soteriology, that is the heart of soteriology, is penal substitutionary atonement.

And as I was listening to the debate on that, I noted that not only did Charles Finney deny original sin, but the guy who was denying penal substitutionary atonement.

Used Finney in his argument.

He said Finney also denied that.

The very heart of the Gospel.

So Finney was a heretic as well. A heretic of the first order. Brian McLaren, more modern, contemporary teacher, also denies original sin. And the list goes on and on. Many churches, many people. One can't even define it, because we have so lost our theological edge, we have become so dull theologically that we can't even define the most basic of Christian principles.

And I don't say that to be ugly, it's just the truth. And we've lost the sharp edge that we have had in years past. I wonder if we have the theological depth to even write something like a confession anymore.

Think of how much time and devotion went into writing the 1689 London Confession. Somebody said not much time, because it was almost a carbon copy of the Westminster Confession of Faith. But the Westminster took a lot of time.

And the point is this. Do we understand the heart of the doctrines that we believe? Does it matter? It should. Theology matters. We should remain humble, as Brother Andy said, in his devotion, and that's true.

In fact, you made me think of a passage when you were talking, Andy, when you talked about we've got to find that balance, we always want to be high, bring God low. What did John say? I must decrease, He must increase.

And as I've always said, it's like a teeter-totter. The higher I am, the lower God is. I have to decrease if God is going to increase in my life. I have to humble myself. So it's not about creating some kind of a sense of superiority, knowing these things.

But these things matter. What you believe about God matters. What you believe about sin matters. What you believe about the nature of sin matters. So tonight we're going to look at the extent of sin and the imputation of sin.

And even though we've already defined imputation of sin, we're going to actually prove it. It doesn't do well if I just tell you it's true. I want to show you that it's true. And also show you why. So in your Bibles, Romans chapter 5, we read this last week.

We're going to read it again. Beginning at verse 12. Everybody there? Okay, I don't even get an amen.

All right.

Romans 5, 12. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sin, for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through the one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by that grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

And the free gift is not like the result of the one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if because of one man's trespass death reigned through the one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Notice, before we go to verses 18 to 21, notice any time when you're reading the Bible, and I've said this many times, when you hear a repetition, it's important, that is a typical Hebrew expression. Any time you hear something over and over, it is the emphasis of the text.

We're going to see this on Sunday morning. In the image of God, He created man. Male and female, He created them. We hear that word created over and over. That means that's the focus. Well, what's the focus of this passage?

One man.

You go back and read it.

One man. One man. One man. One man.

Because it's about Adam. What did Adam do? The one man brought condemnation to all men. And then the one man, Christ, brought justification in life. See, that's the point. It's two men. One, Adam. One, second Adam.

One brought death.

The other brought life.

One man. One man. One man.

It's throughout the text. And that is the emphasis.

Verse 18.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification in life for all men. For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

That is our text for the evening. And the two things we're going to see tonight, as you see in your notes, one is the extent of sin, and two is the imputation of sin. How far does sin extend in the world?

Universal.

It's in your notes, right?

It is universal. Sin is universal.

Now, I have a question. You ever wonder why that is? You ever wonder why nobody saved Jesus Christ, and we'll leave him out for a minute because he doesn't qualify in this regard, because he is the God-man, and I believe was born without the taint of original sin, and we'll talk about that and why in a minute, but the point is, outside of Jesus Christ, there is not one,.

Anywhere,.

Who has not sinned.

True?

Very true.

Why?

Romans 3 .23.

Yeah, but why?

Because we're all sinners.

Yeah, but that's the question. That's what I'm trying to get to. Do you realize, I think it was Aristotle who said, and remember, Aristotle was before Christ. He said if anybody ever came along who was perfectly righteous, that he wouldn't survive.

People would kill him.

And then Jesus comes along,.

And proves, almost as a prophecy, the one perfect man.

Who was hung on a tree.

We're satisfied.

We live our lives with that statement. Nobody's perfect. I don't know how many times I've heard that as a pastor. I call someone to repentance. Well, pastor, why do you expect me to... Nobody's perfect.

Everybody sins.

Why?

You would think, if Pelagius was right, and if you weren't here last week, basically Pelagius said that Adam's sin has not affected us at all. Every man is born his own agent, his own free man, in a sense.

Every man is born his own free will, is able to choose good or bad. If that is the truth, and there is no impetus, there is no nature, there is nothing that affects us, you'd think somebody would have beat the curve.

The extent of sin.

Is part of the proof of the imputation of sin. I remember, and I talked about it last week, because I said I was sitting right where Jackie is, when the office used to be there. And I remember the guy telling me, yeah, I believe somebody could live their life and not sin.

I don't believe anybody ever has, but I believe it's possible. Why not? Why has no one done it? Rachel, you already mentioned it. It's because it's the nature, right? That's Romans 3 .23. But that's a statement, that's an indicative, right?

That's saying all men have. My question is why, and the answer is what you said before, is the nature. It's the nature. Now, here's an important thing, going back to Romans 5. Paul tells us that sin is universal in verse 12.

He says,.

Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and death spread to all men, because all sinned. So, we have Romans 3 .23. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But this is an even more specific point, saying the reason why all men die, is because all have sinned.

Now, this will hit you on the side of the head, and you might not like this, and if you don't like it, just write me a letter. But this is why I don't believe babies are born innocent. Now, we can talk about babies going to heaven, that's not what I'm saying.

I don't believe babies are born innocent. Babies are born with a taint of original sin, just like everybody else is. Or else they wouldn't die. Babies die. That might cause you some consternation, you might want to talk to me afterwards, but you tell me why they die.

Then.

No, please.

Yeah, no, I'm saying. No, I'm saying.

A guy on Facebook was arguing with me.

Sure.

And he was going over the script, and he said, that babies have a sin nature.

Yep.

I said, of course they do. And he said, no, they become a sinner. They become a sinner, because they sin. I said, no, they sin because they are a sinner. They have a sin nature. But he, he ended up starting calling names, so I said,.

Well, the internet is such a wonderful place to have a conversation, isn't it? Well, the reality is, people don't want to believe it. Now, there is very popular, especially in Baptist theology and other theologies, you'll have something called the age of accountability, where someone will say that you're not a sinner until you're 12.

I remember very specifically being taught that,.

Not here,.

But in other churches, hearing that. And some people say, well, it's not the age 12. It's when the person is cognizant of their sin. And I say, man, I've met 18-year-olds that were pretty ignorant. And in the Bible, if you go to the Old Testament, the only thing close to an age of accountability you'll ever find is in the wilderness.

Everyone 20 years old and younger were not accountable for the sin of the generation that came before them. So, if you want to make an age of accountability,.

Is it 20?

Andy, did all 20-year-olds and under make it? I don't want to get you off, but you understand the point. There is nothing that says 12, and I don't believe it's 20. Well, again, I don't want to get off on that side.

My point is this. When we use the word innocent, now, we can talk about innocent of actual sin. And for that case, when I talk about, let's say, a person who is killed, if I say an innocent person was killed in a shootout, I don't mean that person is sinless.

I mean they didn't deserve to get shot in the shootout.

Right?

And so if I ever refer to a baby as innocent, I'm referring to that baby of not having transgressed any actual law of God by its own will, because the baby doesn't have the capacity to do that. But we see the expression of the sin nature in the child every time we tell it no.

And if you don't believe that, I'll send my two-year-old home with you, and you will learn what it looks like. You know what? John MacArthur, I think, said this. He said, you know what's so dangerous?

If you were to take a two-year-old mind and put it in a full-grown man body, it would be the most dangerous person in the world because it would have no impulse control, no bodily function control, and would want what it wants and would be willing to kill to get it.

That's right. That's right. Yeah, it's like the old comedian said. You see them getting the cookie,.

And what do they say?

I was getting it for you.

No, you weren't.

You're a liar.

You're stealing the cookie.

So I've kind of gone off track. The point simply being, death has spread to all, and it's from the moment... I would say it's from the moment of conception we are sinners because David said to him, sin did my mother conceive me.

And that doesn't mean that she was sinful in the conception, that she didn't have an illicit affair, but the point was he was sinful from the moment of his conception. So with that, sin is universal. But I want you to notice something else from the text.

It says that sin is universal because of our relationship to Adam. Look at verse 13.

It says,.

For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Now hold on to that for a minute, folks. Sin is not counted where there is no law. That's a pretty important statement.

One in which I could take the whole rest of the time to get to and I don't want to, so I'm going to make it quick. Sin is not counted where there is no law, but, he goes on in verse 14,. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses.

Which means this, Adam was given a direct law from God. Donated the tree, he did it, he received the condemnation. The next time we see law given, specifically, is to Moses.

And yet,.

Between Adam and Moses, people still did evil, people still died. What's Paul's point?

Two-fold.

One, they sinned because they knew in their heart it was wrong, because they had the conscience of mind to know what right and wrong is because God has placed that in their heart. We see this in Romans chapter 2, which tells us that every man, when he does what is right, knows it's right, because God has put that information in his heart.

It shows that the work of the law is written on his heart. That's number one. But number two, they also died, not just because they were sinners, but because of their relationship to Adam. The reason people died from Adam to Moses was because of Adam's sin.

That's Paul's point. Were they actual transgressors?

Yes.

Genesis 6. They did only evil continually. They were actual transgressors. But that's not Paul's point. Their actual transgression is not the argument of the text. It's the imputed transgression of Adam that causes all men to be sinners.

Now take that home and think about that, because nobody likes that. That's the part. Everybody goes, wait a minute, you're telling me everybody from Adam to Moses died because of Adam?

Yep.

I would say everybody from Adam to Kiefoski died because of Adam. Adam's sin brought death to all men. In Adam, all died. You see, this doctrine of imputation is so widespread.

The extent is universal. No one has beat it.

Save Jesus Christ. And notice what Jesus Christ did not have. He did not have an earthly father. And I would argue therefore He did not have the taint of original sin. He said He had an earthly mother.

Catholics come along with the doctrine of immaculate conception which says that Mary didn't have a sin nature, therefore there was no sin nature passed on to Christ. Protestants have always rebuffed that and said no, it's not that Mary didn't have a sin nature, but that the sin nature is not passed from the mother but from the father.

Therefore Adam's sin nature was not passed on to Christ because Christ did not have an earthly father. Now that is an inference, not an explicit statement made in the text, but I do believe it's accurate.

I believe Christ did not have an earthly father, therefore did not have a sin nature. But, everyone else does. Anybody else here virgin born?

Negative.

Nope.

So there's no one else that doesn't have an earthly father, therefore no one else does not have the taint of original sin which is passed down from our first father who is Adam. The sin of Adam is universal and its extent is universal.

By the way, the passage I keep quoting in 1 Corinthians 15, 21, and 22. For as by a man came death, so by a man has come resurrection from the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

That is a very important principle. Here represents, and green is not showing up well, so let me use a different color. This represents all of humanity. All of humanity is in Adam.

All of humanity dies.

Now, I'm going to draw another circle and it's going to be inside that circle. This is a Venn diagram. What do you think that circle represents?

Christ.

Because in Christ you're made alive. So everybody's in Adam, but not everybody's in Christ. Those who are in Adam die. You're in Adam, you're going to die. But if you were in Christ, you will be made alive.

Death is not the end. You will rise from the dead. You will see eternity. You will be with Christ in glory. In Adam, all die. In Christ, only those who are in Christ will all be made alive. Make sense?

And by the way, that's also imputation because the reason why you're going to be made alive is because your sin was imputed to Christ. Adam's sin was imputed to you. That's unfair, people say. But then you say, well, your sin can be imputed to Christ if you will place your faith and trust in Him.

I like that.

I didn't like the other thing,.

But I like this thing.

Well, guess what? They're both based on the same principle. The principle of imputation. Adam sinned and it affected all of us. Christ did not sin and it affected all of us. So that's the extent of sin.

Sin is universal. Now I want to look at the imputation of sin for the last few minutes that I have because I do not want to carry this over another week. I want to get to the issue of the bondage of the will.

That's next week's lesson.

Now, you'll notice on your sheet,.

It says the imputation of sin and it has a word next to it. What's the word?

Immediate.

Now, most of us, when we hear the word immediate, we think of something that happens quickly. If I tell my child, I want you home immediately.

What does that mean?

It means right now. Ashley, you ever heard that?

Yep. Yep.

If I say I want you home immediately, you better get home toot-sweet. But actually, what the word immediate means, and you probably remember this from some of our previous lessons, it means to be without a mediator.

Immediate means to be without anything in between. Okay? And this is an important concept because Adam's sin is charged to us and it is charged to us, it's imputed to us immediately in the sense that it comes to us, really, it comes from Adam to us.

Now, we talked earlier about the fact that it comes through the Father and that's why we believe about Christ. But in a sense, it comes to us without any sense of mediation. This is my point. Some people believe, and if you do believe this, I'm not telling you that you're 100 wrong.

I don't want to challenge this. There are two views of imputation. One view is called the federal view, and you've all heard me use that term and you know that's the view I hold to. But there is also a view called the seminal view.

The seminal view. Now, the root of the word seminal is semen. And what it refers to is just what the word implies. And this is what the seminal view says. The seminal view says, and this isn't exactly what I was talking about with Christ and the passing of the Father and the Son.

This has to do with the fact that some people believe that we were all present when Adam sinned physically in His seed. All of the DNA that makes up you and I were there physically. Therefore, we had a physical connection to Adam through our relationship of being His seed.

And that's called the seminal view of imputation. Now, you say, where do they get that? Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7, verses 9 and 10. The text is talking about Levi. You know who Levi is? Levi was one of the sons of Israel.

He was one of the twelve. He was the priestly son. Remember, it was the Levitical line, the book of Leviticus, the Levitical line. Hebrews 7 says this. I'll just read it. One might even say that Levi himself, who received tithes, paid tithes through Abraham,.

For he was in the loins of his ancestor.

When Melchizedek met him. So here's what the text is saying. We pay tithes to Levi and the sons of Levi. But Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek. You say, Levi can't pay tithes to Melchizedek because that was 400 years before Levi was born.

But the writer of Hebrews is saying, well, Levi did pay tithes to Melchizedek because he was in the loins of Abraham and Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek.

Therefore, he was there. Isn't that a weird thing?

Isn't that just a weird thing to think about? I love the look of consternation on some of your faces. That's the weirdest lesson you've ever taught.

Maybe.

So this same idea is stretched out to the sin of Adam. We were all there in his loins. Therefore, we were all guilty because we all participated. That's called seminal headship. Now, I'm not going to tell you it's 100 wrong because, again, the writer of Hebrews makes the argument that Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham because he was physically present in the loins of Abraham.

Many generations before, but he was still in the loins of his ancestor. But I don't think, even though that is a truth, I don't think that's how we should understand headship when it comes to Adam. Now, again, if you believe that's the way you should see headship, I'm not going to tell you you're 100 wrong.

I just think that's a mediatorial headship. And I believe in an immediatorial or an immediate sense. I believe when Adam sinned, every one of us was guilty at that moment. I don't think it was a progressive thing that happened as each child was born.

I think it was an immediate thing that was now all are guilty. And when they're born, they're born.

Huh? Yeah. Yeah.

So, again,.

If you want to argue with me and you believe in seminal headship, that's fine. Again, I wouldn't say it's 100 wrong. And I think it's an interesting conversation because when you go to Hebrews 7 and you read Hebrews 7, it really does throw you for a loop to consider the fact that Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek because he was in the loins of Abraham.

And that does shed light on the idea of our being in our ancestors, in a sense, when they are acting on our behalf. Abraham paying tithes to Melchizedek. However, as I said, Reformed theology, and me particularly, and I believe our elders would all hold to this, would hold to a federal position.

And the federal headship does not require a physical connection. It is given by a legal declaration. When Adam sinned, all of his posterity was declared guilty. It was a legal declaration. In the same way when we are saved, we are declared righteous.

When Adam sinned, we were declared guilty. It didn't require a process, a physical reproduction. 1 Corinthians 15 .45. Thus it is written, The first man, Adam, became a living being. The last, Adam, became a life-giving spirit.

But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust.

And as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so shall we also bear the image of the man from heaven. Again, Jesus is the last Adam. And you say, why did you read that passage?

For this reason. We don't have a physical connection to Christ. There is no seminal connection between any of us and Christ because Christ didn't have any offspring. And if imputation relies on a seminal connection, then we can't have that connection with Christ.

Adam sinned. We are declared sinners. Christ is righteous. And by His righteousness, we are declared righteous. There is no need. There is no need for a seminal connection. Like I said, is there something to learn from Hebrews 7?

Yes.

Is there an interesting aside there?

Yes.

But I don't think that's how we should understand imputation. At least not in its fullness. As I stated from the beginning, this is a controversial doctrine, one that is difficult by no stretch of the imagination to understand.

But as we are going to see in our next lesson, the imputation of Adam's sin is not just a stand-alone teaching. It has important implications for other areas as well. Because as we have received the nature of Adam, the nature of sin, the nature of death, as we have received that, we have also received a will which is corrupted.

One of the most transparent things, one of the most obvious things in the world is not just that all men are sinners, but that all men love their sin. They love it. They wallow in it. And because of that, it takes a supernatural act of God to change the heart of a sinful man.

And that's what we're going to look at next week. We're going to see that the will, because of this imputation, because of this sin nature, because of Adam, because of our relationship to him, because of all of this, we are born in sin and we are bound in sin.

Until such time as the Lord Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit, sees fit to set us free. And he who the Lord sets free is free indeed. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this time to study.

Pray that it has been helpful and useful. Pray that anything that I have said, that it is an error, would be cleansed from our minds, Lord, and that we would only take those things which are true and righteous.

And Lord, I do pray that as we seek to understand more the doctrine of sin and the doctrine of the bondage of the will in the weeks to come, Lord, that you would show us in our hearts our desperate need for the Savior.

Lord, if we have him, may we rejoice that we have him. And Lord, if there are those here who do not have him, may tonight be the night that you open their hearts to see that the sin condition that they are in is remedied only by one, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it is in his name we pray.

Amen.