The Three Great Imputations of Scripture

 

The Three Great Imputations of Scripture

Pastor Terry L. Reese, Valley GBC of Armagh (10/05/25)

2Cor. 5:21: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

 

Imputation (Gk., logizomai) is the idea frequently expressed within the Scriptures (more than 40 X’s in the NT; 10 X’s in Rom. 4 alone—sometimes called the “imputation chapter”) that indicates that something is credited unto, reckoned unto, or accounted to a person. Imputation involves attributing something—good or evil—to an individual, and then proceeding to deal with that person in accordance with their ascribed status. It is not about changing the inward state of the person; it has to do with what has been charged unto that person (i.e., sin or righteousness).

 

Logizomai is variously translated in the New Testament as counted, reckoned, and imputed.

 

The Old Testament also contains this idea—imputing either righteousness or sin unto an individual.

 

1Sam. 22:15b (Ahimelech, unto Saul): “Do not let the king impute anything to his servant or to any of the household of my father, for your servant knows nothing small or great of this whole affair.”

 

Ps.106:30-31: Then Phinehas stood up and interceded, And so the plague was checked. And it was counted to him for righteousness, From generation to generation forever.

 

In this discussion, we are dealing with the question of our legal status; how we are legally regarded in the sight of God. Scripture deals with three great imputations, in this sense.

 

I. The sin of Adam has been imputed (i.e., reckoned) unto his offspring (Rom. 5:12, 1Cor. 15:22). The sin of the Head of the Human Race, our common father Adam, has been attributed to every human being (the Virgin-born Christ alone excepted)—even to unborn children and those without Biblical revelation (Rom. 5:13-14). From God’s perspective, we were in Adam, and are thus guilty in Adam. As a Puritan Colonial American textbook for children accurately affirmed:

 

“In Adam’s fall we sinned all.”—The New England Prime

 

When Adam, our Father, failed his probationary exam in the Garden, so did YOU. When he rebelled against the Most High, YOU rebelled. His sin was YOUR sin, His penalty was YOUR penalty. His fall was YOUR fall.

 

Following Paul’s argument in Rom. 5: unto the ENTIRE WORLD Adam's sin was imputed; ALL have sinned through the one (v. 12), and ALL are thus condemned to DIE (v. 12, 19; Rom. 6:23)!

 

·         The demonstration of this: universally, men have died from Adam unto Moses (vv. 13-14)—even those without the Mosaic Legal code, and even unborn babies!

 

·         In v. 18, Paul compares the “one transgression” (Adam) with the "one act of righteousness" (Christ), arguing that "as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men."

 

Additionally, we are also deemed guilty for our inherited disposition towards sin (i.e., Original Sin; Ps. 51:5), as well as for the personal transgressions that arise from out of our native depravity. We are thus legally guilty, guilty, guilty in the sight of God (Rom. 3:23)!!! And the wages of sin is DEATH (Rom. 6:23a).

 

This is GRIM: How then, can a sinner be right and just with a Holy God?

 

ANSWER: our great God has a great remedy (Rom. 6:23b): Double Imputation (referred to by Martin Luther as the “Great Exchange”)—beautifully illustrated in Paul’s Epistle to Philemon (1:17-18)!

 

Phm 1:17-18 : If then you regard me a partner, accept him as you would accept me. But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account.

 

The formerly unregenerate Onesimus, a runaway slave, was unprofitable (Rom. 3:12) to his master, Paul’s friend, the noble Philemon. Paul asks that the slave—now his son in the faith—would be treated by Philemon in a manner that he would treat Paul himself. On the other hand, if Onesimus has sinned against his master or defrauded him, the Apostle further requests that the slave’s sins would be charged unto Paul—a profound depiction of the work of Christ on the believer’s behalf! The believer’s sins were charged unto Christ, and His righteousness is imputed of reckoned unto the believing sinner!

 

II. At Calvary, the believer’s sins were imputed or reckoned unto Christ, our Suffering Substitute (Isa. 53:5-6; 1Pet. 2:24, 3:18; 2Cor. 5:21)! Though Christ was sinless, He was reckoned guilty for our transgressions. He became the God-forsaken One for us; He answered the penalty for our sins and satisfied the Father’s required holy demands for justice (becoming our propitiation, appeasing the Father’s righteous wrath; 1John 2:2, 4:10).

 

He became our vicarious penal substitute, offering a complete (John 19:30) atonement.

 

1Pet. 2:24: Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness; by His WOUNDS YOU WERE HEALED.

 

1Pet. 3:18: For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that He might bring you to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit…

 

Isa. 53:5-6: But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our peace fell upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

 

Our sins were imputed to Christ because they had to be legally answered for; God is Holy and Just, and the penalty had to be inflicted upon a willing, perfect, Divine-Human substitute.

 

III. Further, Christ’s perfect & infinite righteousness is legally reckoned or imputed unto the believer (Rom.4; 5:17-19, 2Cor. 5:21).

 

Question: Are YOU righteous?

Matt. 5:20: “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

 

Genuine righteousness is required to enter God’s Holy Presence—but our intrinsic native righteousness is imperfect and is as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6), falling short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Believers, however, are graciously clothed in the unchanging, immutable Righteousness of Christ (much like a redeemed Zion in Isa. 61:10)!

 

Isa. 61:10: I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh; my soul will rejoice in my God, for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

 

The great Bible commentator John Gill on the imputation of Christ’s righteousness unto the Elect, in reference to Matt. 5:20:

 

“…the righteousness of Christ, which is imputed to them, and received by faith… is their only right and title to eternal glory; and without which no man will be admitted into that glorious state.”

 

HIS righteousness is imputed, legally reckoned, accounted unto them that believe—the perfect, infinite, eternal, unchanging (Heb. 13:8) righteousness of Christ, the God-Man, who…

·         lived the perfect life you didn’t live,

·         who fulfilled all righteousness (Matt. 3:15),

·         who dared his contemporaries to convict Him of sin (John 8:46),

·         who kept the totality of the Mosaic Law’s demands (internally & externally, who omitted no positive responsibly and who committed no sin; 1Pet. 2:22)…

·         Overcame all temptation for every moment of His 33 years!

 

HIS righteousness is OUR righteousness in the sight of God, if we are in covenant with Him through Faith! This righteousness is thus called an “alien” righteousness—it is found outside of ourselves, in the Person of Jesus Christ…

 

Rom. 5:17-19: ¹⁷For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. ¹⁸So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. ¹⁹For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were appointed sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be appointed righteous.

 

Php. 3:8-9: More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own which is from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God upon faith…

 

Rom. 3:21-22:  But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe…

 

Rom. 3:28: For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

 

Rom. 4:1-5: What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God! For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS COUNTED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not counted according to grace, but according to what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes upon Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

 

Contrasted with the Romish doctrine of infusion. Imputation is distinct from impartation and infusion.

 

Imputation does not mean to be infused with some sort of new energy or power that has been imparted to enable us to live the sort of life that merits God’s pronunciation and verdict that we are legally righteous in His sight because of our works-performance. This is the essence of Roman Catholicism, which is a legalistic works-righteousness system that feigns grace.

 

Note the Lord’s total rejection of LEGALISM in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican:

 

Luke 18:9: And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt…

Luke 18:14: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

 

Note that the Pharisee (much like the modern Romanist) attempts to smuggle his prideful and arrogant legalism under the guise of “grace” in v. 11: “God, I thank You that I am not like other people…”).

 

Imputation is much different from infusion; imputation is a change of status, not of internal condition. It is not an imparted power unto righteousness (as is associated with sanctification—a result of salvation, not its cause; Eph. 2:8-10).

 

DEVOTIONAL RELEVANCE: AM I TRULY SECURE IN MY SALVATION?

We sometimes encounter folks who profess the basics of the Gospel—and yet persist in doubting the outcome of their salvation. While they profess to understand that salvation is by grace and not based upon good works, they are nevertheless burdened with a nagging sense that they are lacking a genuine righteousness before God. Perhaps modern believers would do well to revisit the neglected doctrine of Justification and Imputed Righteousness!  Note the example of the great non-conformist preacher John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress…

 

BUNYAN: “THY RIGHTEOUSNESS IS IN HEAVEN”

 

John Bunyan knew no peace, understanding that only a perfect righteousness would be acceptable before God. Happily, Bunyan came to internalize the wonderful doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness unto all who believe. This is Luther’s “Great Exchange:” even as the believer’s sins were imputed unto Christ at Calvary, the perfect legal righteousness of Christ is reckoned unto the believer! Note Bunyan’s testimony of the liberating power of this great truth:

 

“But one day, as I was passing in the field… this sentence fell upon my soul: Thy righteousness is in heaven; and methought withal I saw, with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ, at God’s right hand; there, I say, as my righteousness; so that wherever I was, or whatever I was a-doing, God could not say of me, He wants my righteousness, for that was just before him. I also saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday, today, and forever.”—Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners

 

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, did you hear these wonderful words: our righteousness is not on earth, but in Heaven, in the immutable Person of Jesus Christ! How DARE any Christian deny their eternal security!!!—AMEN!