Original Sin

Opening the third major division of the series, 'The Salvation We Receive and Proclaim,' Pastor Martin demonstrates that the work of salvation is the central activity of God in Scripture and identifies its primary object: man. He treats man as created in the image of God (Genesis 1-2), man as fallen in Adam (Genesis 3; Romans 5; 1 Corinthians 15), and man as ruined in sin under four realities — guilt, pollution, bondage, and impotence. He closes with two searching questions: have you ever felt the weight of these facts, and do you maintain the remembrance of them in the presence of a vigorous faith in the Redeemer?

Pastor Martin opens up the biblical concept of imputation - the charging or reckoning of one's account to another - as the very fabric of the doctrine of sin and salvation. He traces the word's general usage in Leviticus, 2 Samuel, Psalm 32, Romans 4, and Philemon, then sets out the three great imputations: Adam's sin imputed to the race, the sins of God's people imputed to Christ, and the righteousness of Christ imputed to believers. The basis of all three is federal headship and covenant union.