Imputation of Righteousness

Romans 4:8 - Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Romans 4:23-24 - Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

2 Cor. 19-21 - To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Imputation is a wonderful principle of the plan of God, and you have been involved with imputation since the day you were saved. To impute means “to set something to one’s account or charge, to reckon to or to ascribe to.” In the Bible imputation is used as a legal term in several different ways. For example, when Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon, he told Philemon that if Onesimus had gotten any debts they were to be put on Paul’s account (Philemon 17,18).

When a groom says to a bride “with all my worldly good I thee endow”, he is talking about imputation, placing to the bride’s account all of his property.

Three Different Imputations in the Scripture:

1. The imputation of Adam’s sin to all mankind – Rom. 5:12-21

God imputes to us what actually belongs to us in the first place. Where Romans 5:12 says that “death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned”, death is part of our spiritual heritage from Adam. Death has been reckoned to our account. Adam’s sins was not his alone, but it was placed on every person’s account.

2. The imputation of the world’s sins to Jesus Christ - 2 Cor. 5:21, I Pet. 2:24, Isa. 53.

God the Father imputes to the Lord Jesus Christ that which does not belong to him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says that “He (God) made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin…” This is the Bible concept of substitution; Christ died for our sins, not his own (Isaiah 53:4-6). The verse does not say that Christ became a sinner, but that sin was set to his account that was not his (1 Peter 2:24).

3. The imputation of the righteousness of Christ to the believer – 2 Cor. 5:19-21, Romans 3:22; 10:4; Philippians 3:9; 2 Pet. 2:24

God imputes (credits) to the sinner what is not actually his. Again, 2 Cor. 5:21, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Here, the actual perfect righteousness of God is reckoned to us. This righteousness, which is placed on our account, is known as imputed righteousness for our justification.

God declares men to be righteous on the basis of faith. Read Romans 4:4-5. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Evangelist Rodgie Quirante

The Workman's Treasure Study Series