Original Sin: It’s Not My Fault, Right?
April 18, 2024 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
One of the most difficult biblical doctrines to understand and accept is the imputation of sin, or original sin. “Imputation” means to credit to one’s account, as if it is one’s own. The Westminster Confession of Faith 6.3 says, “[Adam and Eve] being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed; and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation.” Why should Adam’s sin of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil be counted as my own sin? Why should I receive the guilt, death, and corrupted nature for that sin?
The key passage to answer these questions is Romans 5:12-21. Paul begins in verse 12 to draw out a comparison between Adam and Christ, but gets sidetracked for a few verses. He says in verse 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 sinned—” The first two phrases of this verse are pretty clear: 1. Sin was introduced into the world of humans through Adam. We know this as the story of the Fall in Genesis 3: 2. Death enters into the world of humans through sin. Once again, we know this truth as the consequence of sin when God warned Adam in Genesis 2:17.
The third phrase is the hang up. “So death spread to all men [i.e. all humans] because all sinned.” The guilt and corruption of sin has spread to all people, “because all sinned.” In what way did all sin?
John Murray, the 20th Century New Testament professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, explains in his commentary on Romans that there are three ways to understand the causal statement. First, it can mean that, like Adam, all have voluntarily sinned, and so, suffer the guilt and corruption of sin. While it is biblically true that we will be held accountable for our personal sins, Murray argues that this option falls short of what Paul is trying to teach in Romans 5. Paul will say in verse 14 that not all sin like Adam. And Paul’s main point is to make a comparison between Adam and Christ, between the imputation of sin and the imputation of righteousness. If the guilt and corruption of sin is ours because of our voluntary sin, then justification and holiness must be ours based upon our voluntary righteousness.
The second way to understand the causal statement in verse 12, “because all sinned,” is that all have inherited the corruption of our nature from Adam, therefore all suffer the guilt and death of sin. While it is biblically true that we inherit sinful corruption from Adam, Murray explains that the guilt of sin is not inherited; it is imputed. The distinction is spelled out in the third way to interpret Romans 5:12.
The third way of understanding “because all sinned,” is to say that when Adam sinned, we also sinned. God credits, or counts, Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden as if it was each of ours. Adam stood as the representative for all the human race; as he sinned, so we all sinned.
John Murray explains the crux of the issue in Romans 5:12-21, “The central strand is the analogy that exists between the passing of condemnation and death to all by the sin of the one and the passing of justification and life to the justified by the righteousness of Christ” (p. 187). This comparison between Adam and Christ comes out in verses 15 and following in Romans 5. Consider how Paul repeats himself:
Verse 15: For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
Verse 17: For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that 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.
Verse 18: As one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
Verse 19: For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
Every time, Paul emphasizes that it was the “one man’s trespass/disobedience” that led to the guilt, death, and corruption of sin affecting all people. Adam’s sin is imputed to all people, and all people suffer the consequences.
The flip side is the work of Christ. It is the “one man’s obedience/act of righteousness” that leads to salvation. The righteousness of Christ is imputed to all those who unite themselves to Christ by faith, and they enjoy all of the benefits of being counted righteous before God.
For the comparison between Adam and Christ to be parallel, as Paul emphasizes multiple times, the manner by which the sin or righteousness becomes ours must be the same. If Christ’s righteousness is credited unto us as our own, then Adam’s sin is credited unto us as our own. This understanding of the imputation of sin and of righteousness is foundational to understanding salvation by grace through faith. Salvation is freely given to us; it is not of works.
I’ll close by highlighting the benefits of this doctrine of original sin united to the doctrine of justification. Mark Jones says, “Original sin meant we incurred guilt, pollution, and a loss of sonship. But in Christ we receive benefits from Him and in Him that answer to these ills: justification, sanctification, and adoption” (p. 38). May we not despair over original sin, but find hope and joy in Christ’s victory over sin.
