I. SOME SPECIFIC SINS

Our Lord used all the major words for sin and in so doing He specified a number of sins. The following is a list of the individual sins He mentioned in His teaching.

A. Sacrilege (Mark 11:15-18)

In cleansing the temple of the money changers, He condemned their sin of sacrilege (that is, violating the temple which was consecrated to God and showing irreverence toward hallowed things). Christ cleansed the temple at the beginning and end of His ministry (see also John 2:12-16).

B. Hypocrisy (Matt. 23:1-36)

In His scathing condemnation of the hypocrisy of the Sadducees, scribes, and Pharisees, our Lord pointed out several specific ways they showed that hypocrisy.

(1) They did not practice what they preached (vv. 1-4).

(2) They sought to exalt themselves by encouraging the adulations of the people (vv. 5-12).

(3) They escaped performing their oaths by trying to make a difference between swearing by the temple and swearing by the gold of the temple (vv. 16-22).

(4) They scrupulously tithed but neglected to promote justice (v. 23).

(5) Outwardly they appeared to be righteous, but inwardly they were hypocrites (v. 25).

C. Covetousness (Luke 12:15)

Sensing this was the root problem of the man who wanted the Lord to settle a dispute he had with his brother, the Lord warned the crowd against the sin of greed.

D. Blasphemy (Matt. 12:22-37)

By ascribing the miracles of Christ to the power of Satan, the Pharisees were blaspheming. However, they could right the situation by a correct confession of Christ.

E. Transgressing the Law (Matt. 15:3-6)

To avoid having to care for aged parents, the scribes devised a way to dedicate the money that would have been used for that purpose to the temple, eventually to receive it back. This, the Lord said, was a direct violation of the commandment to honor parents.

F. Pride (Matt. 20:20-28; Luke 7:14)

Pride of position or seeking places of honor has no place in the life of the true servant.

G. Being a Stumbling Block (Matt. 18:6)

Doing something that might cause others to sin is itself a sin.

H. Disloyalty (Matt. 8:19-22)

Putting comforts or even proper duties before loyalty to Christ is sin.

I. Immorality (Matt. 5:27-32)

This sin can be committed in the body, in the heart, or in marriage.

J. Fruitlessness (John 15:16)

Because believers have been chosen to bear fruit, not to do so would be contrary to God’s purpose.

K. Anger (Matt. 5:22)

Anger, the Lord cautioned, can lead to murder.

L. Sins of Speech (Matt. 5:33; 12:36)

The Lord warned against perjuring oneself by failing to keep a promise made under oath. He also said that we shall be accountable for all our useless words.

M. Showing Off (Matt. 6:1-18)

Parading one’s supposed piety is sin. This may be done in doing good things like almsgiving, prayer, and fasting but doing them with a view to attracting praise from men rather than approval from God.

N. Lack of Faith (Matt. 6:25)

Having anxiety concerning one’s needs shows lack of faith in God’s provision.

O. Irresponsible Stewardship (Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27)

Both parables illustrate the need for responsible stewardship on the part of Christ’s followers. The talents represent different abilities given to different people, while the minas which were distributed equally represent the equal opportunity of life itself. The servants who did not use their abilities and opportunities were condemned for their irresponsible conduct.

P. Prayerlessness (Luke 18:1-8)

We ought to pray at all times and never lose heart.

I am sure this list could be lengthened, but it certainly demonstrates how many particular sins the Lord spoke of.

II. SOME CATEGORIES OF SIN

These many specific sins may be grouped under certain categories.

A. Violations of the Mosaic Law

“Corban” illustrates this category well (Mark 7:9-13). Corban is the transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning a “gift.” If a son declared that the amount needed to support his parents was Corban, the scribes said he was exempt from his duty to care for his parents, a duty which the Law commanded. Apparently he was not really obligated to devote that sum to the temple but could use it himself.

B. Open Sins

While all sins are sinful, not all sins are of equal magnitude. Some sins are truly more sinful than others. The Lord affirmed this in His teaching on the speck and log (Matt. 7:1-5) and when He said that Caiaphas’ sin of delivering Christ to the authorities was greater than Pilate’s (John 19:11).

Some examples of open sins which are often of greater magnitude include sins of speech, especially those which show defiance of Christ’s claims (Matt. 12:22-37) and open opposition and rejection of God’s messengers (21:33-46)

C. Wrong Inward Attitudes

Outward actions bespeak inner attitudes and character, and the Lord often put His finger on the inward root of sin. Notice Luke 12:13-15 and Matthew 20:20-22.

D. Leaven

Everywhere in the Bible, leaven typifies the presence of impurity or evil (though some understand Matt. 13:33 to be an exception where leaven indicates the growth of the kingdom through the power of the Gospel). However, unquestionably when Christ warned of the leaven of the Pharisees or Sadducees or Herodians, He was referring to something sinful.

1. Of the Pharisees. The leaven of the Pharisees was externalism. Though outwardly they were righteous (Matt. 5:20), knowledgeable about the Scriptures (23:2), tithers (Luke 18:12), those who fasted (Matt. 9:14) and prayed (Luke 18:11), inwardly they were unclean, and our Lord denounced their leaven of hypocrisy (Matt. 23:14, 26, 29; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1).

2. Of the Sadducees. Their leaven was spreading false doctrine. Their beliefs were rooted in the senses; therefore, they did not believe in the existence of angels or in resurrection. Our Lord did not denounce this so often, for false teaching is in itself something more apparent because it is more difficult to hide (Matt. 16:6).

3. Of the Herodians. Their leaven was secularism and worldliness. As a party they supported Herod and the Roman rule which gave him his power. Thus they sought to use worldly power to promote “spiritual” ends, and Christ warned against this (Mark 8:15).

These same sins—externalism, false doctrine, and worldly methods—are all too apparent in some groups today. And our Lord’s warning against them is all too relevant.

III. SOME SOURCES OF SIN

A. Satan

Christ was acutely aware of the power, program, and procedures of Satan. Some have tried to suggest that the Lord really did not believe in the reality of Satan but was accommodating the ignorances of the people when He taught about Satan. However, He spoke of Satan on occasions when there was no need to unless He believed Satan actually existed (e.g., Luke 10:18). Our Lord acknowledged Satan as the ruler of this world (John 12:31), the head of his own kingdom (Matt. 12:26), the father of rebellious people (John 8:44), the father of lies (v. 44), the evil one who opposes the reception of the Gospel (Matt. 13:19), the enemy who sows tares among the good seed (v. 39), and thus the one who causes people to do these things which he promotes.

B. The World

Satan’s world stands in opposition to God’s people and promotes Satan’s purposes. So the world system is a source of sin when anyone conforms to it (John 15:18-19).

C. The Heart

Often the Lord emphasized that what a person does externally is a reflection of what is in his heart (Matt. 15:19).

V. SOME CONSEQUENCES OF SIN

A. It Affects Destiny

Sin causes people to be lost (Matt. 18:11; Luke 15:4, 8, 24). If unforgiven it causes them to perish (John 3:16). It brings people into judgment (Luke 12:20).

B. It Affects the Will

The Lord made it clear that the Pharisees were slaves to the desires of the devil (John 8:44). When He announced His mission in the synagogue in Nazareth, He indicated that one thing He came to do was to free the captives (Luke 4:18), apparently a reference to those who were spiritually captive, since the Lord did not effect the release of those who were jailed.

C. It Affects the Body

Of course not all sickness is the result of sin (John 9:3), but some evidently is. The Lord indicates this in the case of the man who was healed at the Pool of Bethesda (5:14). Notice also Matthew 8:17.

D. It Affects Others

The sins of the scribes affected widows and others who followed their traditions (Luke 20:46-47). Clearly the sin of the prodigal son affected his father (15:20). Additionally, the sins warned against in the Sermon on the Mount all have their effect on others. No one can sin in total isolation.

IV. THE UNIVERSALITY OF SIN

In a direct statement the Lord said that only God is good and no human is (Matt. 19:17). He stated that His chosen disciples were evil (Luke 11:13), even though He recognized that they could do good things. Sin alienates people from God, and all are sinners.

VI. THE FORGIVENESS OF SIN

A. The Basis for Forgiveness

At the beginning of Christ’s ministry John the Baptist announced the purpose of it when he pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The Lord Himself made it clear that His death was the basis for forgiveness (Matt. 20:28; 26:29).

B. The Ramification of Forgiveness

Forgiven people should forgive others. This is a recurring theme in the Lord’s teaching (6:14-15; 18:21-35; Luke 17:34).

VII. THE ESCHATOLOGY OF SIN

In His great eschatological discourse, the Lord detailed the future out-working of sin in the coming period of Tribulation on this earth (Matt. 24:1-28).

A. In International Affairs

Sin will be the cause of wars during the Tribulation days (vv. 6-7).

B. In Personal Affairs

Sin will cause people to betray one another and to hate one another (vv. 10, 12).

C. In Spiritual Affairs

The Tribulation period will be a time of intense spiritual deception. Many false religious leaders will deceive people with miraculous signs that they will be empowered to perform (vv. 5, 11, 24), and the Antichrist will bring false religion to its zenith when he sits in the temple in Jerusalem demanding to be worshiped (vv. 15-21). During this time evil will be more open and more damaging than at any other time in history.

To sum up: Our Lord’s teaching covered many aspects of sin emphasizing both the variety and specifics of sin. He always underscored man’s personal responsibility for sin, and His teaching was laced with the practical ramifications of sin.

THE INHERITANCE OF SIN

I. A DEFINITION

Inherited sin is that sinful state into which all people are born.

Theologians have used several labels to describe this concept. (1) Some call it, as the title of this chapter, inherited sin. This emphasizes the truth that all people inherit this sinful state from their parents, and their parents from their parents, all the way back to Adam and Eve. (2) Others call it the sin nature which focuses on the fact that sin has corrupted our entire nature. The term “sin nature” provides a clear contrast between that root nature and its fruits (which are particular acts of sin). (3) Still others prefer the term original sin because Adam’s original sin produced that moral corruption of nature which was transmitted by inheritance to each succeeding generation.

II. SCRIPTURAL EVIDENCE

The Bible clearly states that all aspects of man’s being are corrupt. “By nature” we are children of wrath—that is, objects of wrath (Eph. 2:3). By actions we are also objects of God’s wrath, but this verse refers to something innate. Psalm 51:5 indicates that this is something we have from conception, not something acquired by actions during our lifetimes.

Every facet of man’s being is affected by this sin nature. (1) His intellect is blinded (2 Cor. 4:4). His mind is reprobate or disapproved (Rom. 1:28). His understanding is darkened, separated from the life of God (Eph. 4:18). (2) His emotions are degraded and defiled (Rom. 1:21, 24, 26; Titus 1:15). (3) His will is enslaved to sin and therefore stands in opposition to God (Rom. 6:20; 7:20).

III. TOTAL DEPRAVITY

The scriptural evidence provides the basis for what has been commonly called total depravity. The English word “depravity” means perverted or crooked. It is not used in the translation of the King James Version, but some modern translations do use it to translate adokimos in Romans 1:28. This word means “not standing the test,” and gives us a clue as to how to define the concept of depravity. Depravity means that man fails the test of pleasing God. He denotes his unmeritoriousness in God’s sight. This failure is total in that (a) it affects all aspects of man’s being, and (b) it affects all people.

Negatively, the concept of total depravity does not mean (a) that every person has exhibited his depravity as thoroughly as he or she could; (b) that sinners do not have a conscience or a “native induction” concerning God; (c) that sinners will indulge in every form of sin; or (d) that depraved people do not perform actions that are good in the sight of others and even in the sight of God.

Positively, total depravity means (a) that corruption extends to every facet of man’s nature and faculties; and (b) that there is nothing in anyone that can commend him to a righteous God.

Total depravity must always be measured against God’s holiness. Relative goodness exists in people. They can do good works which are appreciated by others. But nothing that anyone can do will gain salvational merit or favor in the sight of a holy God.

IV. THE PENALTY CONNECTED WITH INHERITED SIN

The penalty that is particularly related to inherited sin is spiritual death. Now death always indicates a separation of some kind, so spiritual death means a separation from the life of God in this present life (Eph. 2:1-3). If this condition continues unchanged throughout life, then eternal death or the second death follows (Rev. 20:11-15).

Cut flowers well illustrate living human beings doing good things but who nevertheless are spiritually dead. Is the blossom that has been cut from the plant alive or dead? At first it is beautiful, fragrant, and in combination with other cut flowers may grace the finest home, church, or occasion. It looks alive; it is useful; but it is in reality dead, for it has been severed from the life of the plant which produced it. At this point the illustration breaks down, for it is not possible to give the flower new and eternal life, something God can do for the one who believes in the Lord Jesus.

V. THE REMEDY FOR INHERITED SIN

God’s remedy is twofold: (a) new life in Christ on believing, which judges the flesh (Rom. 8:1; Gal. 5:24); and (b) the gift of the Holy Spirit which empowers the believer to live free from the dominion of that old life.

VI. THE TRANSMISSION OF INHERITED SIN

The label itself indicates how original sin is transmitted from one generation to the next and the next and the next. We inherit it from our parents as they did from theirs, and so on back to the first parents, Adam and Eve. After they sinned they could only propagate after their kind; that is, their children were sinners by birth (Gen. 4:1; Ps. 51:5; Rom. 5:12). This means that everyone born into this world is a sinner. No one is born good, nor is anyone born partly good and partly sinful. All are equally sinful in God’s sight. If this were not so, then those who were, say, only 50 percent sinful would need only 50 percent of God’s salvation.

VII. THE REMEDY FOR INHERITED SIN

The remedy is twofold. (1) Redemption includes a judgment on the sin nature so that the believer is no longer bound to serve sin (6:18; 8:1; Gal. 5:24). All that which belongs to the old life has been crucified with Christ. Death always means separation; therefore, His death separated us from the dominion of original sin. (2) However, the old is not eradicated until the resurrection; therefore, God has given us His Holy Spirit to give us victory over sin in daily life.

We are separated from the dominion of sin by Christ’s death, and we are free from its domination by the power of the Spirit.

VIII. SOME ATTACKS AGAINST THIS DOCTRINE

A. Pelagianism

Pelagius, a monk from Britain, who preached in Rome around A.D. 400, believed that since God would not command anything which was not possible, and that since He has commanded men to be holy, everyone therefore can live a life that is free from sin. He taught that man was created neutral—neither sinful nor holy—and with the capacity and will to choose freely either to sin or to do good. Everyone is born in the same condition as Adam before the Fall; only now man has before him Adam’s bad example. But Adam in no way transmitted a sin nature or the guilt of his sin to his posterity. Man has a will that is free, and sin comes from the separate acts of man’s will. Man is also free to do good works, and all of his good deeds come from the unassisted capabilities of his human nature. Thus Pelagianism exaggerates the merit of works and their efficacy in salvation.

B. Semi-Pelagianism

Pelagius’ teaching was opposed by his contemporary, Augustine, who emphasized man’s total inability to achieve righteousness and therefore his need for sovereign grace alone. Semi-Pelagianism is a mediating position between Augustinianism (with its strong emphasis on predestination and man’s inability) and Pelagianism (with its insistence on man’s complete ability). Semi-Pelagians teach that man retains a measure of freedom by which he can cooperate with the grace of God. Man’s will has been weakened and his nature affected by the Fall, but he is not totally depraved. In regeneration man chooses God who then adds His grace. The Roman Catholic church’s doctrine of sin is semi-Pelagian. Original sin is eliminated in water baptism.

C. Socianism

This movement, named after Lelio Socinus (1525-62) and his nephew Faustus (1539-1604), was the forerunner of Unitarianism. Its teachings include a denial of the deity of Christ, a denial of predestination, original sin, total inability, and penal substitution.

D. Arminianism

Though the views of Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609) were not so divergent from traditional Reformed theology, those of his successors were increasingly so. Arminianism teaches that Adam was created in innocency, not holiness, that sin consists in acts of the will, that we inherit pollution from Adam but not guilt nor a sin nature, that man is not totally depraved, that man has the ability to will to do good and to conform to God’s will in this life so as to be perfect, and that the human will is one of the causes of regeneration. Wesleyan theology, sometimes called evangelical Arminianism, holds similar views on the subjects of Adam’s sin and man’s ability, though it differs in other points.

E. Neoothodoxy

In general, neoorthodoxy takes sin very seriously. It is defined as self-centeredness, rather than God-centeredness. However, the account of Adam’s sin in Genesis 3 is not historical in that it was an actual event that happened at a certain time and in a particular place. Adam was not a real individual who actually lived on this earth, yet Adam represents man at every stage of his development. The story of Adam’s fall is the story of all of us. With such a view of biblical history, there can be no connection between the sin of Adam and his posterity.

THE IMPUTATION OF SIN

I. THE MEANING OF IMPUTATION

To impute means to attribute or reckon or ascribe something to someone. It is not mere influence but involvement that is at the heart of the concept.

The Old Testament provides several examples of imputation. Leviticus 7:18 and 17:4 indicate that lack of blessing and guilt were ascribed to the Israelite who did not follow the prescribed ritual in the offerings. In 1 Samuel 22:15 and 2 Samuel 19:19, KJV, are pleas not to impute something to certain individuals. In Psalm 32:2 David expresses the happiness of the person to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity. In all these cases imputation includes some kind of involvement, not mere influencing.

The New Testament refers several times to imputation in the Old Testament. Paul states that sin is not imputed as a specific violation of a legal code when there is no law (Rom. 5:13). He refers to the righteousness God imputed to Abraham when he believed and to the righteousness David knew when he confessed his sin (chap. 4). James also refers to Abraham’s imputed righteousness (James 2:23). The death of Christ enabled God not to impute man’s sins against him (2 Cor. 5:19).

The Letter to Philemon contains what is probably the most beautiful illustration of imputation. Paul tells Philemon that if his slave Onesimus owes anything to reckon it to Paul’s account. In other words, any debt Onesimus might have incurred would be charged against Paul’s account and Paul would pay it. Similarly, our sins were attributed, ascribed, reckoned to Christ, and He paid our debt fully.

II. THREE BASIC IMPUTATIONS

Theologians have generally recognized three basic imputations.

A. The Imputation of Adam’s Sin to the Race (Rom. 5:12-21)

This is the one that concerns us in this section on sin, and we shall return to a full discussion of it.

B. The Imputation of Man’s Sin to Christ (2 Cor. 5:19; 1 Peter 2:24)

C. The Imputation of Christ’s Righteousness to Believers (2 Cor. 5:21)

III. THE IMPUTATION OF ADAM’S SIN

A. The Central Passage (Rom. 5:12)

The concept of imputed sin arises from interpreting the meaning of “all sinned” at the end of verse 12.

Some understand it to mean that each individual sins personally and because of these sins people die. “Sinned refers to actual sins (cf. 3:23) viewed as an individual expression and endorsement of Adam’s representative act” (Leslie C. Allen, “Romans,” A New Testament Commentary, ed. by Howley, Bruce, and Ellison [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1969], p.352). However, babies die even though they have not committed sins personally. Also, “all sinned” is connected with the one man, Adam, through whom sin entered the world. The verse does not say that Adam sinned and others sin also. Five times in 5:15-19 Paul states that condemnation and death reign over all because of the one sin of Adam, not because of the various sins of all of us.

Some understand the meaning as “all are sinners” or “all are sinful.” However, the word is an active voice verb (all did something), not a noun or adjective (all are something). Of course, it is true that all are sinners, but that is not the meaning of “all sinned” in this verse. Shedd’s objections to the meaning “all are sinful” are much to the point. He observes that such an interpretation would be contrary to the invariable usage of the active voice of the verb, and it would require the addition of the verb “to be” (Dogmatic Theology [New York: Scribner, 1891], 2:183-5).

Barthians understand this to mean that sin is part of the experience of all people, but since they do not believe Adam was an actual person or that his sin was an actual time-space event, there can be no connection between Adam and the race. To them, this verse says nothing about original sin nor about imputed sin.

All sinned when Adam sinned. This seems to be the only meaning that does justice to the verb and its relationship to the preceding part of the verse. “The tense of the verb indicates a distinct historic entrance. . . Physical death came to all men but not because they were all in the process of individually sinning. All men did sin (except for infants dying in infancy) experientially. But Paul is not talking about that here. The sin of all is centered in that of the one man Adam” (A. Berkeley Mickelsen, “Romans,” The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, edited by Pfeiffer and Harrison [Chicago: Moody, 1962], p.1197).

B. The Relation between Adam and the Race

Though Paul clearly states the fact that all men sinned when Adam sinned, the question remains, how did they do so? What is the relation between Adam and the race?

Historically, two answers have been given. They are commonly labeled as (a) the federal or representative view, and (b) the seminal or realistic or Augustinian view.

1. The representative view. This views Adam as the representative of the whole human race so that when Adam sinned his sin became the ground of condemnation of his race. No one but Adam actually committed that first sin, but since Adam represented all people, God viewed all as involved and thus condemned. The word “federal” means covenant and indicates that Adam was appointed to represent the race in the so-called Covenant of Works. Because the covenant head sinned, the guilt of his sin was imputed to each of his posterity. Hosea 6:7 is cited as a reference to this covenant.

2. The seminal view. The seminal, realistic, or Augustinian view sees Adam as containing the seed of all his posterity so that when he sinned, all actually sinned. Mankind was not merely represented by Adam but was actually organically joined to Adam. “Paul’s concept of racial solidarity seems to be a universalizing of the Hebrew concept of family solidarity. A tragic picture of family solidarity is seen in Joshua 7:16-26, where Achan is discovered as the cause of Israel’s defeat at Ai. . . . Achan blamed no one else. . . . But in the administration of the punishment . . .everything connected with Achan was blotted out of Israel” (Mickelsen, Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 1197-8). Hebrews 7:9-10 furnishes another example of the se