A. Some people are better than some other
people, but no one is as good as Jesus Christ.
Man's righteousness is relative righteousness. Christ's righteousness is absolute righteousness. Matt 23:28; Rom 3:10, 12 , 21, 23; Psa
14:1-3; 53:1-3
B. Because man is unrighteous and God is
righteous man cannot (in sin) have fellowship with God.
1. Gen 3:8 - Adam and Eve could not have
fellowship as soon as they sinned. They
hid from His presence.
2. Pas 22:1-3 - on Christ was poured all the
sins of the human race. While He was
identified with our sins God the Father and God the Holy Spirit ("My God,
My God") forsook Him. Why?
"Thou - Holy." "Holy" usually means "Set apart unto
God." But when the reference is to God it means "absolutely
righteous."
3. Psa 66:18 - Temporally, if I have
unconfessed sin in my life I can have no fellowship with God, in prayer or
otherwise.
C. The more man works to try to lift himself
out of his miserable state, the more he works himself into debt. Rom 4:4. Man owes God perfect righteousness.
D. The word "impute" means to
credit to a bank account. The Greek
word (logidzomai) is sometimes translated as:
1. Counted - Rom 4:3, 5
2. Reckoned - Rom 4:4, 9, 10
3. Imputed - Rom 4:6, 8, 11, 22, 23, 24
In
the Bible imputation is used as a legal term in several different ways. When
Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon, he told Philemon that if Onesimus had
incurred any debts they were to be put on Paul’s account (Philemon 17, 18).
Today,
when a groom says to a bride “with all my worldly goods I thee endow”, he is
talking about imputation — placing to the bride’s account all of his property.
E. Since man cannot of his own strength be
absolutely righteous and thus be fit for God's presence, he must recognize an
imputed righteousness as his only hope.
Phil 3:9
F. Even as our sins were imputed to Christ on
the cross (Isa 53:5-6; 2 Cor 5:21; I Pet 2:24) so also is His righteousness
imputed to all those who place their faith in Him for salvation. 2 Cor 5:21
G. Such imputation is constituted legal
before God since Christ offered Himself without spot to God (Heb 9:14). His
presentation of Himself without spot provides a release of His merit to those
of us who had no merit.
H. Imputed righteousness is based on the fact
that the believer is in union with Christ, (2 Cor 5:21). As man in Adam partook of all that Adam was,
even so does the believer in union with Christ share everything that Christ
represents, even the righteousness of God which Christ is. 1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:4;
Heb 10:4
I. Summary of Three Types of Imputation
1. Imputation of Adam's sin to the whole
human race (imputed sin). - Ron 5:12-21. In this first type of
imputation, God imputes to us what was antecedently our own (what actually
belonged to us in the first place).
Where Romans 5:12 says that “death passed upon (logidzomai) all men, for
that all have sinned”, death is part of our spiritual heritage from Adam. Death
has been reckoned or debited to our
account. Adam’s sin was not his alone. It was placed into every human being’s
account.
2. Imputation
of man's sin to Christ on the cross -
Isa 53:5, 6, 11; 2 Cor 5:21;
1 Pet 2:24. The second type of imputation involves
God the Father imputing to the Lord Jesus Christ that which was not
antecedently (did not belong to) His. 2
Cor. 5:21 says that “He [Christ] was made to be (logidzomai) sin for us, even
though he knew no sin...”. This is the
Bible concept of substitution; Christ died as a substitute for us, paying the
penalty for our sins, not His own sins — He was sinless. Isaiah 53:4-6. The verse does not say that Christ became a sinner, but that sin
that was not His was set to His account.
3. Imputation
of God's absolute righteousness to the believer in union with Christ - Rom 4:5,
6, 21-24; 1 Cor 3:30; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:6; Eph 1:4; 5:27; Col 1:22;
Jude 24. The third type of imputation occurs when God
imputes (credits) to the sinner what is not antecedently his own. Again, 2 Cor. 5:21, “that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him.” Here,
the actual perfect righteousness of God is credited to us. This righteousness, which is placed on the
credit side of our ledger, is known as imputed righteousness.
God has declared men to be righteous
on the basis of faith in every dispensation. Romans 4:3. “Abraham believed God and it was counted to
him (logidzomai) for righteousness”. Gen 15:6 cf. Romans 4:3.