What is imputed sin?

And now a word as to "imputed righteousness." No such term is in Scripture, but imputing righteousness, of which the sense is wholly different in English, and a different word employed in Greek. Imputing righteousness is simply counting or reckoning us righteous. Imputed righteousness is a certain valuable sum put over to our account. Thus in Philemon: "If he owe thee anything, put that to my account." And so "sin is not imputed where there is no law." You cannot put that specific act as a transgression to the man's account, because, when there is no law, it has not been forbidden, as it could be under the law in Israel, though the reign of death proved they were sinners and lost. Now this and the passage in Philemon are the only places where this word is used. But imputing righteousness used some eleven times is, as the Thirty-nine Articles justly state, simply accounting the man righteous. But, whatever the blessed fruits of divine life or of the Spirit, which there surely will be where that life and the Spirit are, and be the proof that it is really there, still, if God justifieth the ungodly, and that it is to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, that faith is imputed for righteousness, it is evident that it is not because of what a man is himself, but of another, that he is accounted righteous. "By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." And mark the difference. We are not accounted righteous according to the poor measure of the fruits which we produce, with the defects which may accompany them, but according to the measure of Christ's work, in which He has borne our sins on the one hand, and perfectly glorified God, when made sin, on the other; the former represented by the sin-offering in Leviticus, and the other by the burnt-offering, or, in another aspect when both were parts of one sin-offering, by the blood on the mercy-seat, and the sins of the people laid on the head of the scapegoat.

Imputing righteousness to a man is accounting a man to be righteous, without by that saying why. When imputed righteousness is said, it means that righteousness has been in some way made out by another, so that it exists; and so, being made out, is then, as a sum worth so much, put to the account of the person. Now imputing righteousness never means this in scripture. It means, simply accounting a man righteous (whatever the reason), as Article II justly states it. One is holding a man in a given state; the other is a quantum made up beforehand which is then put to his credit. In the former case, the reason for accounting a man to be righteous has still to be settled. As a general statement I have no objection to Article II, though I should have liked to see Christ's blood more in the foreground, but as far as it goes it is all well. My opponents may hold Christ's fulfilling the law to be the accomplished righteousness which is put to our account; another the value of His precious blood; others may take a wider view of the whole matter. But in any case imputing righteousness to a man, in scripture, only means holding him for righteous, and does not state why he is held so. This may be stated too, but imputing righteousness does not mean it. One is a person held to be in a certain state; the other, a thing done, a sum of righteousness accredited to a person. A person being accounted righteous may be in a thousand ways, may be by his own keeping the law, but you could not call this imputed righteousness. Imputed righteousness can only be in one way, namely, righteousness in a needed quantity, made out by another and afterwards appropriated. I insist on this, because I affirm, that in scripture imputing righteousness only means what the Thirty-nine Articles give as the force of justifying. And all the errors of my opponents flow from a totally false use of the words of scripture, assigning to them a meaning they never have nor can have there.

Romans 4:8 is just a proof that it does not mean what Dr. B. says. The Lord does not impute the sin, that is, reckon the man guilty of it. It is his own doing which is not imputed, not somebody else's doing which is.

Verses 17 to 19 are illustrative of a very important principle. The apostle first of all reminds Philemon that they were partners. The word used for this expression is ‘koinonia’, which is also translated 'fellowship' and means complete oneness. Then in verse 18 there is a suggestion that Onesimus had robbed his master before running away, and now Paul says: 'If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought put that to my account'. And then, confirming his suretyship, he adds: 'I will repay it'. This reminds us of the doctrine of imputation, although it is put before us as an illustration and not given as direct teaching. Psalm 32:2 says: 'Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity'. And Romans 4:8 confirms this with the words: 'Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin'. But man is a sinner, we all are, our sins are mountain high and in due time we will receive the wages of sin, for sin is a conscientious employer. So sin is imputed to us and the question arises, how can we become (if I may coin a word) unimputed? Paul said: 'Put Onesimus' debt to my account, I will repay it'. I am sure that Paul would not wish us to say it, but quietly and reverently I would venture to say that here Paul is a beautiful type of our blessed Redeemer. In effect the Lord Jesus said: 'I will repay', and He did so upon the Cross. There in those three hours of darkness He accepted the wages that you and I would have received. He entered into the dark domain of death and redeemed or bought us back at the cost of, not silver or gold but with His own precious blood (1 Pet. 1:18 ). Our sins are lifted, removed for ever from the sight of God and no longer imputed to us. But is there someone who is wondering or indeed asking: 'How do I get into the good of these blessings, how can I be sure that they are effectual for me'? The answer is simple. Take your Bible and turn to John's gospel. In John 3:16 we read: 'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life'. Now turn to Acts 16:31 and listen to Paul's answer to the very question that you are asking: 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved'. It is recorded of Abraham in Romans 4:3 that he believed God and it was counted, or imputed unto him, not for sin but for righteousness. In Hebrews 7:22 we are told that Jesus was made a Surety of a better covenant. The Christian is in the good of that. Not the old covenant which said 'do this', but a new covenant which says 'all is done'. May I ask: 'Is this your place'? All that is required is a simple belief in the words of God regarding His Son. Could anything be more simple? In verse 21 in the solicitations of Paul there is the hint that he is urging a new triumph of grace in the heart of Philemon, to wit that he might even grant Onesimus his freedom. We are not told if such took place, but I like to think that it did.

How could Adam's disobedience plunge all of us into sin? Theologians from all the major branches of the Christian Church agree that Adam acted as "federal head of the human race." That is, he represented all of us, and his initial act of sin had consequences for everyone, for all time. In his letter to the Romans, Paul sums it up by saying, "Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Rom. 5:12). Because Adam was our representative, God counted us guilty because of his sin."

I shall now state the doctrines from Mr. N.'s own writings, and first from No. 6 of the second* edition of the "Christian Witness," vol. 2, 111, 113. "In order to form a scriptural judgment on these things, it is needful to consider attentively the state in which we, as the descendants of Adam, are placed before God. There are three particulars which mark our condition as sinners before Him: first, original, or vicarious guilt, imputed (or reckoned) to us on account of the transgression of our first parent, of which Romans 5 treats; secondly, Original sin, or indwelling corruption; and thirdly, Actual transgression.

In the introduction to the paper entitled "Doctrines of the Church in Newman Street considered;" which introduction was prefixed to the original article, in the second edition of the Christian Witness, Mr. N. says, "In order to form a scriptural judgment on these things, it is needful to consider attentively, the state in which we, as the descendants of Adam, are placed before God. There are three particulars which mark our condition as sinners before Him: — First, original, or vicarious guilt, imputed (or reckoned) to us on account of the transgression of our first parents, of which the 5th chapter of the Romans treats. Secondly, original sin, or indwelling corruption. And, thirdly, actual transgression."

The distinction between imputed transgression, and indwelling corruption, Mr. N. proceeds to illustrate as follows: "The children of an exile in Siberia, though innocent of rebellion themselves, might yet be involved in all the penalties of their parent, and be punished for, and on account of him. Even so, the one transgression of Adam in the garden, exposes all his posterity to be treated by God as transgressors, on account of him. The penalty of death would still have impended over them, even though they could have been born pure as angels in themselves."

But instead of being born thus pure, Mr. N. goes on to remark, that all Adam's natural descendants derive from him a corrupted nature; and thirdly, that in such, we have besides, "multiplied personal transgressions, — the foolish thought, and word, and action: and he that offendeth in one point is guilty of all."

The meaning of these verses is not that people are condemned solely by the imputation of Adam's sin. It is true that his sin is imputed to his race, but there is also the personal state of the individuals, who are condemned for their own sins. We are under the consequences of Adam's sin in two respects, as to position and as to nature. We are born far from God, and we have borne a nature at enmity with Him. The son of a man given up to dissipation is found in this double misfortune, that he is born fortuneless, and that he has a nature disposed to dissipation. As another comparison, suppose the Czar, for example, sends a man to Siberia because of rebellion, and he has a son born there, and of course fallen from the rights of a Russian subject. There, however, is the limit of the penalty he endures for the conduct of his father. But if he happens to show the enmity to the Czar which brought his father to exile, the Czar leaves him also in exile: this son of the proscribed abides in disgrace because of his personal enmity. Just so, we are born under guilt, but we cannot be guilty without sinning. The apostle avoids separating our fall in Adam — our state under the fall — from the state of the heart estranged from God. He does not sever guilt from the presence of sin in the individual. In the mystical sense employed about Levi in Heb. 7:9-10, there need be no difficulty in saying that we sinned in Adam. However, this is evidently not the sense of the passage. Exclusively understood, it is contradicted by such scriptures as Ezekiel 18:20, and Jeremiah 31:29-30. Further, remark that there remains nothing to guard the conscience, the moment we make the sin of Adam the sole cause of our condemnation; for if we die for that sin, our conduct matters little!

"Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death and thus death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." By one man, the first Adam, sin entered into the world (not sins, but sin). And death followed, which is physical death. "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," and this death has passed upon the race because of sin. The margin of the authorized version contains a statement which is responsible for a very unscriptural teaching. The margin states "in whom all have sinned"; upon this it has been taught that the guilt of Adam has been imputed to all. This is not correct. We are not responsible for the sin of Adam nor are we held responsible by God for a sinful nature; we are responsible for the outworking of that nature, that is for our own sins. The wicked dead, those whose sins were not taken away, because they believed not, will not be judged for having had a sinful nature, but solely according to their works (Revelation 20:12). Death comes upon us on account of our sins, as it is stated in this verse "death passed upon all men for that all have sinned.

This term is often used by theologians, but they are not agreed as to its signification. It is not found in scripture. Man has derived an evil nature from Adam, but his sins are his own. Death passed upon all men because of Adam's sin, but all have sinned. Rom. 5:12.