By God Imputed to Us

The point: Put on your thinking cap and grapple with the concept of imputation to avoid a debased Christianity.

Martin quotes an author stating that 'a cheapened language both derives from and reflects a debased culture,' then quotes a modern writer's character, Sweeney, to illustrate disdain for precise language, setting up the argument for the importance of theological terms like 'imputation.'

by God imputed to them. And so our great concern this morning will be to come to grips with this biblical concept of imputation. Now as we stand on the threshold of that study, I want to quote a recent author who said, a cheapened language both derives from and reflects a debased culture. A cheapened language both derives from and reflects a debased culture.

7:01 - 7:42 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Through Old and New Testament examples (Leviticus 17, 2 Samuel 19, Psalm 32, Romans 4, Philemon), Martin demonstrates that scriptural usage of 'impute' consistently means to…

Paul's offer to Philemon, 'If he hath wronged thee at all, or oweth thee aught, put that to mine account,' is used as a clear, common illustration of what imputation means: transferring a debt or charge from one person to another.

though they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might be, here's the word again, imputed or reckoned unto them. And then verse 22 of the same chapter, wherefore also it was reckoned, it was imputed, it was put to his charge, it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. And most of the writers who seek to illustrate this wonderful truth of imputation use as an example of what imputation involves that statement in the book of Philemon. The book of Philemon, that oft-neglected little letter

15:55 - 16:38 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second great imputation is the charging of the sins of God's people to Jesus Christ, illustrated through Isaiah 53, the scapegoat in Leviticus 16, and powerfully articulated…

The ritual of the scapegoat in Leviticus 16, where Aaron lays hands on the goat to symbolically transfer the sins of Israel, is used as a vivid Old Testament type illustrating how sins were imputed to Christ.

have come to rest upon the suffering servant of Jehovah by an activity of hatred Jehovah himself. Jehovah hath made to light upon him the iniquity of us all. And perhaps the best expositor of that concept is the passage that Mr. Lethem opened in your hearing a few weeks ago from Leviticus chapter 16, where you had on the day of atonement the two goats. The one goat is slain and its blood is brought into the presence of God. But then

28:02 - 28:43 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Him who knew no sin, he, God, made sin on our behalf. I say to you, I say to you, I say to you, I say to you, I say to you, I say to you, I say that is some of the most shocking language in the Bible. The sinless one is …

Martin likens Christ's intercession for His elect to Paul's offer to Philemon, saying, 'If they owe thee anything, charge that to my account,' to explain how the Father charges the Son with the sins of His people.

to this text is the concept of imputation. Jesus Christ says, and blessed be God that he says it, one runaway slave who may owe a few shekels to a former master. But he says to the Father concerning all who are chosen in him, if they owe thee anything, charge that to my account. And the Father charges to the Son, makes him accountable for all the liability of all of his people

34:28 - 35:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: This reckoning is no legal fiction. This reckoning is real. So that the sin bearing is real.

The phrase 'as real as the fountains of hell' is used to convey the profound reality and depth of Christ's suffering and the Father's treatment of Him under the imputation of sin, emphasizing it was no mere legal fiction.

It is laid to his account. It is charged to him. It is reckoned to him. And when he carries it to the tree, this reckoning is no legal fiction.

39:44 - 39:54 Read in full sermon