The Biblical View of Imputation

 

Calvinism teaches that the sinless, perfect life of Jesus is imputed or reckoned to the believer so that God does not see the Christian's sins: He sees only the perfect obedience and righteousness of Jesus. This is a fundamental point in the doctrine of "the eternal security of the believer" or the "perseverance of the saints" (also called "impossibility of apostasy," or simply "once saved, always saved"). Does the Bible teach the imputation of Jesus' life of sinless perfection? Are we "saved by Jesus' doing and dying," or is the sacrifice of Jesus' death on the cross all we need for salvation? 

Imputation is a Scriptural word. The question is: What does God impute to us and how? In particular, is the sinless life of Jesus somehow imputed to our account?

Here is what the Calvinists teach:

Regarding Adam and Eve: "They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity...." - Westminster Confession of Faith (Presbyterian Book of Confessions, Par. 6.033).

Hence, the guilt of Adam's sin is imputed to you (which the Bible never insinuates). This "guilt" is on your record and you must pay the penalty as though it was your own personal sin. In other words, you are reckoned guilty for the sin Adam committed.

Calvinism also teaches the doctrine of imputation of Christ's life:

"Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth: ....by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing wrought in them or done by them....; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness, but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them...." - Westminster Confession (ibid., Par. 6.060)

"Christ not only bore our penalty on the cross, but in his life he perfectly obeyed his Father. It is the personal righteousness of Christ's sinless obedience that is put to our account, on the basis of which we are declared not guilty" - Calvinist Gordon H. Clark (via Grushon, Searching the Scriptures, 10/74).

"....a man will be justified by faith when, excluded from the righteousness of works, he by faith lays hold of the righteousness of Christ, and clothed in it appears in the sight of God not as a sinner, but as righteous. Thus we simply interpret justification, as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favour as if we were righteous; and we say that this justification consists in the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ...." - Calvin's Institutes, Book III, ch. 11, #2.

"To declare that we are deemed righteous, solely because the obedience of Christ is imputed to us as if it were our own, is just to place our righteousness in the obedience of Christ." [He illustrates this by comparing it to Jacob receiving Isaac's blessing because he put on Esau's clothing.] - Institutes, Book III, ch. 11, #23.

So the teaching goes that when you placed your trust in Jesus Christ, God imputed to you the sinless life of Jesus. The sinless life of Jesus is credited to your account. What it boils down to is that when God looks at you, He does not see your sins, but only the sinless life of Jesus. It's interesting that when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, that Christ's works will be judged. There would be no need for the judgment seat of Christ if Jesus' sinless life is imputed to us.

Teachings from those who only accept part of Calvinism:

"The 'just requirement' of the law is the law's demand for a perfect life which man was unable to accomplish because of fleshly weakness. Without doing any violence to the text whatever we could paraphrase Paul in this way: 'You have proven that because of your fleshly weakness you cannot meet God's demand for perfection: therefore, stand aside and let Christ meet this demand for you.' .... Therefore, we can say that the perfect obedience of Christ is imputed to us because the law is fulfilled in us!" - R.L. Kilpatrick in Ensign Fair, quoted with approval by Arnold Hardin in Persuader, 5/28/78, via Neo-Calvinism, p. 218.)

"....faith in Him (Christ) brings to the sinner's account the merits of his perfect obedience (satisfaction of law) and death (satisfaction of penalty for the broken law)" - Arnold Hardin, Persuader, 5/3/77; via Willis, Truth Magazine, 2/9/78.

It is clear that sinners need only two things to receive eternal life: (1) forgiveness of sins, plus (2) A record of having kept God's law without ever having sinned. We are taught that Jesus Christ is our substitute on both accounts.

The consequence of this doctrine as taught by Calvinist use the imputation of Christ's sinless life to teach "once saved, always saved."

"....the Father embraces us in Christ when he clothes us with the innocence of Christ, and accepts it as ours, so that in consideration of it he regards us as holy, pure, and innocent.... Provided with this righteousness, we constantly obtain the remission of sins through faith. Our imperfection and impurity, covered with this purity, are not imputed, but are as it were buried, so as not to come under judgment...." - Calvin, Institutes, Book III, chap. 14, #12.

So it is said that once a person is a believer, the sinless life of Jesus is imputed to him. The believer's eternal destiny has nothing to do with his personal conduct, because the only thing God sees now is the sinless life of Jesus, which has been imputed to that believer. Hence, "once saved, always saved." If such a person were to believe this doctrine, that Christ's own personal righteousness is awarded to the child of God, without further acts of obedience to God, then from the moment of being born again, any sin he commits cannot cause him any guilt. No matter what sin he commits, he cannot be found guilty because this teaching says that the perfect righteousness of Jesus is now possessed by the believer. The new creature who succumbs to sin (1 John 1:9; 1 John 2:1), those sins will not be held against him.

As one person put it, Whatever sin is committed by the believer who is united with Christ has no bearing at all on his eternal salvation, if the theory is true. By virtue of faith, the sins of the believer are never seen by God. Some describe imputed righteousness as an “umbrella” placed over the believer at the point of faith, which “covers the believer so completely, God does not see his sins.” That expression has always made me wonder how God manages to see the good things a believer does if He cannot see the sins of the believer. Naturally God can see or not see as He pleases, but this false theory puts God into a position of having to ignore the sins of His own children. The believer cannot be less than complete and perfect under this imaginary “umbrella.” Therefore, the believer may sin (and all do) but it is really the same as if he had not sinned. Sin means nothing to the believer. Whether one is a mass murderer or a pious and godly saint is all the same, if this theory is true -- but it isn’t, is it?

 

 The Significance of Christ's Sinless Life and Sacrificial Death

 

(1) The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is conditional (Rom 8:12-14;1 Cor 15:2; Col. 1:22-23; Heb 3:6; Heb 3:14; Rom 2:6-7; Ro. 11:21; 1 Tim 4:16, etc.) and that the believer can sin as to be lost (Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Cor 6:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:19; etc.). Since it is possible to be lost, then the imputation of Christ's life cannot be true.

(2) The Bible clearly teaches us to rebuke Christians who sin, and in some cases how to treat one who is not repentant (1 Cor 5:5). Why would we be warned not to be deceived and to reprove a brother or sister caught in sin if they are destined for eternal life which cannot be lost?

Let us look at what the Bible says about Jesus' life and death, then see applications to the doctrine of imputation.

The Bible clearly shows that Jesus lived a sinless life.

It is clear that Jesus was not guilty of sin.

Question: Where in the Bible does it say the sinless life of Jesus is credited to the believer? Where does it say that Jesus lived His sinless life in our place so that God now treats us as if we had live that life?

 

 Jesus' Sinless Life is Important to Us, Even Necessary to Our Salvation

 

(1) Jesus' sinless life gives us a perfect example to follow.

1 Peter 2:21,22 - We should follow Jesus' example. To show us how to live, Jesus did not sin. This leaves us without excuse when we do sin. [Cf. 1 Cor. 10:13; Heb. 4:15]

(2) Jesus' sinless life makes Him an ideal priest and mediator between God and man

Hebrews 4:14-16 - Because Jesus was tempted like we are, He can sympathize with our weaknesses. He experienced first-hand all the kinds of problems we experience. This gives us boldness when we approach God, knowing that we have an understanding high priest. [5:1-3]

Hebrews 7:25-27 - Because Jesus is undefiled and separate from sinners, He does not need to offer sacrifice for His own sins, but just for the sins of the people.

Because He committed no sin, Jesus is able to communicate with God on our behalf. Our sins separate us from God, so He will not hear (Isaiah 59:1,2). Jesus can obtain forgiveness for us because He is sinless.

Jesus is the perfect high priest and mediator between God and man, because He partook of the nature of man and yet lived a sinless life so He can communicate with God. In that way He can maintain a relationship with both God and man. [Heb. 5:8,9; 1 Tim. 2:5]

(3) Jesus' sinless life gives us a perfect sacrifice for sin.

1 Peter 1:18,19 - We were redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus as a lamb without blemish and without spot. Old Testament animal sacrifices had to be without blemish. This was a symbol of the fact our sacrifice had to be sinless. [Lev. 22:18-22]

1 Peter 3:18 - In order to bring us to God, Christ had to suffer as the just for the unjust. Christ died as a sacrifice suffering punishment though He was innocent, so we could go free though we were guilty. To pay this penalty for us, He had to be sinless.

We could not pay the price for anyone else because we are sinners and deserve to die for our own sins. Had Jesus not been sinless, He could not have been punished for our sins. He could suffer in our place only if He committed no sins for which He deserved to be punished.

Christ saves us, not by living a sinless life in our place, but by suffering the punishment of sin for us. His life is not substituted for our life; rather, His death was a punishment that freed us from punishment.

The sinless life of Jesus was essential to our salvation because it was necessary to qualify Him as the sacrifice for our sins. But no passage says that His sinless life is credited to our account as if we ourselves had lived that sinless life.

 

 What Does Jesus' Death Do for Us?

We have seen that Jesus' sinless life was necessary in order for Him to offer the sacrifice for our sins. Note how often the gospel emphasizes the importance of this sacrificial death. If we also need Jesus' life as a substitute for our lives, where are the passages that emphasize that His life is imputed to us like these passages emphasize His death was died for us?

Jesus' death was the sacrifice for our sins.

1 Peter 3:18 - He suffered for sins, the just for the unjust.Isaiah 53:5 - He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
Hebrews 2:9 - He tasted death for every man.
[1 Peter 2:21-24; 2 Cor. 5:14f; 1 Cor. 15:3; 5:7; Eph. 5:2]

Jesus' blood redeems us from sin, purchasing us, and making us His.

1 Peter 1:18,19 - Animal blood was the price of redemption under the Old Testament, but this could not permanently remove guilt (Heb. 10:3,4). We were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without spot.
Ephesians 1:7 - We have redemption through His blood.
Revelation 5:9,10 - Jesus redeemed us to God by His blood.
[1 Tim. 2:6; Acts 20:28; 2:38,41,47; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 5:25]

Jesus' blood gives forgiveness or remission, cleansing or washing us from sin.

Ephesians 1:7 - Through His blood we have even forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 26:28 - His blood was poured out for many for remission of sins.
1 John 1:7 - His blood cleanses us from all sin.
Revelation 7:14 - We wash our robes white in His blood.
[Heb. 9:22,25-28]

Jesus' blood gives us peace and reconciliation with God, saving us from His wrath.

Colossians 1:20-22 - We are reconciled to God because Jesus made peace through the blood of His cross.
Romans 5:9,10 - We are saved from wrath because, while we were enemies, we were reconciled through His death.
[Heb. 5:8,9; Eph. 2:12-16]

Jesus' blood justifies us from sin.

Romans 5:6-9 - We have been justified by His blood.

Jesus' blood sanctifies us.

Hebrews 10:9,10 - Under the New Testament we are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus once for all. [Heb. 10:14-18; 13:12]

Jesus' blood defeated Satan and delivered us from fear of death - Hebrews 2:14,15.

God's word states again and again that Jesus' death saves us from sin - we are saved by His dying. If we are also saved by His doing - if we also need Jesus' sinless life imputed to us in order to be saved - why is this not similarly emphasized in Scripture?

We are counted righteous, not because Jesus lived a sinless life in our place, but because He died as a sacrifice for us. His sinless life was necessary, not because it is imputed to us as though we lived that sinless life, but because He had to live a sinless life in order to be qualified to die for our sins.

To claim we need Jesus' sinless life credited to us is to deny that the blood of Jesus is sufficient to save us from sin!

__________________________________________

One of many things to consider

David Breese, one of the OSAS advocates said, "The Christian is the possessor of imputed righteousness and nothing can be laid to his charge whatsoever. He has perfect standing, complete salvation in the sight of God.

What makes this salvation a great treasure is that it is eternal salvation. It is valuable beyond measure because it never can be taken from us. How sad that the 'salvation' in which many Christians believe is frothy and flighty and can disappear in a moment's notice. This is not a treasure, nor is it salvation at all." (David Breese, Destiny Newsletter [Hillsboro, KS: Christian Destiny], Nov. 1995, p. 1.)

David Breese implies that if one does not believe in OSAS there isn't salvation at all. Paul knew the true meaning of imputed righteousness (Rom. 3:22; 4:5,11,13; 9:30-10:4; Gal. 3:6; Phil. 3:9).

Breese's assumption that "nothing can be laid to his charge whatsoever' is not true, based on sin's defiling abilities. Moreover, Rom. 3:22 uses a continuous tense believe for imputed righteousness. God's word continuously tells us that if we stop believing on Jesus we forfeit this standing. This is clearly a possibility (Luke 8:13; 2 Tim. 2:18; Col. 1:22-23, 1 Tim. 1:18-20; etc.) Consider the last reference. Paul definitely shows that he believed Timothy could have even shipwrecked his faith or he would have never given him the safeguards stated there against such .....holding faith and a good conscience.

 

_________________________________________________