“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
Judgment Day is a reality all people from all time will experience. Paul tells us plainly in 2 Corinthians 5:10 that “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” How might any one of us stand in the presence of God in safety on the day of judgment? There is only one way, and that is to be “clothed” in the very righteousness of Christ.
What does that actually mean? The righteousness of Christ is reckoned to the account of those who believe on Christ by faith from a renewed heart and mind. This is God’s law of justification.
In and of ourselves we are filthy, full of sin, unpresentable before God. In and of ourselves we are doomed, because God is holy and just and cannot simply overlook or dismiss or excuse away sin. A holy God demands, by law, that sin be punished.
While just, God is also gracious and devised a plan of redemption for us. Christ died for his people. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” When we become a child of God, He exchanges our sin for Christ’s righteousness; a double transfer occurs.
In legal terms, God reckons, or transfers, the righteousness of Christ to His people as if it were their own. We hold title to Christ’s righteousness. In God’s eyes, it is no different than if we ourselves had suffered and satisfied His requirements according to both His character and His Law. This is the genuine and proper usage of the word imputation, when that which is personally done by one is accounted and reckoned to another… laid on his account just as if he had done it.
The Holy Spirit frequently expresses this truth throughout Scripture. Romans 4:6 explains, “just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works,” and verse 11, “that righteousness might be imputed unto them also,” (Rom. 4:11).
This doctrine of imputation is so important that one cannot get to heaven without it. In order to satisfy the justice of God, the sins of God’s people were imputed and reckoned to Christ; and in order for us to partake of the benefit of that satisfaction and be delivered by it, Christ’s righteousness must be imputed and reckoned to us.
Isaiah 53:5-6 says it so beautifully, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities,” etc., for, “the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Consider also, Romans 5:19, “As by one man’s disobedience [Adam] many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one [Christ] shall many be made righteous.” And 5:17, “As by one man’s offence death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”
Thomas Brooks explains the contrast, “From the comparison between the first and second Adam, it is evident that as Adam’s transgression of the law of God is imputed to all his posterity, and that in respect of this they are reputed sinners, accursed and liable to eternal death. So, also Christ’s obedience, by which He fulfilled the law, is imputed to the members of His mystical body, that in regard of God, they stand as innocent, justified and accepted to eternal life. Look, as Adam was the common root of all mankind, and so his sin is imputed to all his posterity, so Jesus Christ is the common root of all the faithful, and His obedience is imputed to them all.”
The apostle Paul’s parallel between the two Adams clearly demonstrates that as the guilt of Adam’s disobedience is truly imputed to us, insomuch that in his sinning we all sin; so the obedience of Christ is just as truly imputed to us, insomuch that in His obeying, legally, we also obey.
How did Adam’s sin become ours? Only by way of imputation. He transgressed God’s covenant and ate the forbidden fruit, and his sin was justly reckoned to us. Even so, Paul says, in the same way, the obedience and righteousness of Christ are reckoned to God’s children. This is the only way we can safely stand before the judgment seat of God. Christ is without sin, completely and utterly pure and righteous. That same righteousness is conveyed to those who believe in His Name. Glory be to God for His unspeakable gift!
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).
- Lord, I can never expect to fully understand the full impact of the doctrine of justification, though Paul clearly explains the analogy between the two Adams to demonstrate how this imputation of Christ’s righteousness works. Christ was made sin for me only by way of imputation, so I am made righteous only by the imputation of His righteousness to me.
- How was Christ made sin for me? It was by imputation, for He had no sin in Him. He was holy, harmless, and undefiled. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to me in the same way that my sin was imputed to Him. My sin was imputed to Christ, not only in its bitter effects, but He took the guilt of my sin on Himself. His righteousness must be imputed to me if I am to stand in safety before You on the day of judgment.
- Lord Jesus, you fulfilled God’s law as a second Adam, and God has imputed what You accomplished to me, as if I had done it in my own person. What amazing love! You, Lord Jesus, are “the Lord my Righteousness,” (Jer. 23:6).
- There is no way to stand before You Father, in my own righteousness for it is filthy, weak and imperfect in Your eyes. Christ’s righteousness is the only pure, clean, white, spotless righteousness that will be acceptable to You on Judgment Day.
Further References for 2 Cor. 5:21
Rom. 1:17; 1 Cor. 1:30; Heb. 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22; Isa. 45:24
