"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness
for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and
sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their
own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!"
Isaiah 5:20-21
for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and
sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their
own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!"
Isaiah 5:20-21
Untold harm has been done to the followers of Jesus Christ by their leaders who speculate about Bible questions and then base doctrines of salvation on that speculation. Ultimately whole movements of God-fearing people are led to disobey God and disregard the Lordship of Christ. One such doctrine is called “the imputation of righteousness.” As with many human speculative doctrines, it gets complicated real quick. For most, it is overwhelming. It is easier just to take their word for it. In this essay, I will try to clarify the issues by examining the Scriptures.
The effort to understand and express the Truth with clarity on this question is exhausting. At the same time, it is exhilarating to stand in God’s presence and consider afresh His great principles of redemption. We are redeemed! May God be glorified in us!
So what is the meaning of the word “impute”?
The word "impute" is used in the Bible about seven times especially in the King James Version of the New Testament (Romans 4:6,8,11,22,23,24; 2 Cor. 5:19; Gal. 3:6).
“Imputation” is used by modern theologians to designate any action of word or thing as reckoned to a person. Thus in doctrinal language,
- The sin of Adam is imputed to all his descendants, i.e., it is reckoned as theirs, and they are dealt with thereof as guilty.
- The righteousness of Christ is imputed to them that believe in Him or so attributed to them as to be considered their own and
- Our sins are imputed to Christ, i.e., He assumed our “law-place,” undertook to answer the demands of justice for our sins.
In all these cases the nature of imputation is the same (Romans 5:12-19; Philemon 1:18-19).
In other words, God does not impute sin, but rather righteousness. It means that God grants righteousness. Then once one has righteousness laid to one's account, then he is righteous before God. This is absurd! Why? Because it is impossible for the personal righteousness of Christ to be imputed to the sinner. The Word of God does not teach this error at all! Period!
Think for a moment, if this were true as Calvinism asserts, then the sinner's righteousness is not his own and is not obtained by any action on his part whatsoever. He simply (by God's choice) becomes a partaker of Christ's sinless life and righteousness. The doctrine of “imputation” (to attribute to one what belongs to another) is fundamental to Calvinism. Calvin's concept of imputation (the imputation of Christ's personal righteousness to the believer) without a doubt is the glue that holds together the five points of the acrostic "Tulip."
- Calvinism denies man's ability to do anything good due to his inherited depravity, the sinful nature.
- Calvinism firmly believes that Christ's excellent righteousness in some way is transferred to the sinner.
- Since man is helpless and lost because of Adam's sin, he then is saved because of Christ's moral excellence and perfection (His own righteousness).
According to the doctrine of “imputation,” Adam's sin is imputed to all mankind. All of man's sins are likewise imputed to Christ. Therefore, Christ’s perfect obedience or righteousness is then attributed to the believer, the penitent sinner. This absurd doctrine, from beginning to end, is fallacious and anti-biblical. It is full of errors based on more error, and there is no end to it!
Calvinism teaches:
- that all men are born sinners and that God chooses, those who are to be saved.
- that Christ lived and died only for the elect.
- that the Holy Spirit has to touch the heart of the elect to regenerate him (miraculous conversion), and
- that those who are saved can never fall from grace.
This doctrine of “imputation” is based mainly on the misconception that all men must keep God's Law perfectly in order to be righteous. And since nobody has been able to do it, then Christ did it for him, i.e., Christ's perfect life becomes then a substitute for man's imperfect life. To these false teachers, man's justification does not happen as a result of God's forgiveness toward man as taught in His revealed Word (Romans 4:7), but rather it is a legalistic system (to keep God's Law perfectly).
Calvinism also teaches:
- that Christ came into the world to live a perfect life (sinless) as a substitute for us (the believers), and
- that Christ's perfect life then is attributed to the believers as their clothing.
I have summarized Calvinism's concept of imputation as follows:
I. THE IMPUTATION OF ADAM'S SIN TO MANKIND:
Calvinism’s first and most fundamental error is the so-called “original sin.” It is stunning to me to see some preachers and teachers teaching and promoting some of these errors on the imputation of the personal righteousness of Christ to believers as if it were a Bible doctrine ordained by God. I just have to shake my head in frustration when I hear them talking and teaching such an error. They just don’t see the serious implications of what they are teaching and accepting! They are naive, inconsistent and may be unwilling to accept the Truth for what it is on this subject of imputation (Adam's sin imputed to mankind, man's imputed sins to Christ and Christ's personal righteousness imputed to all believers).
There is no verse anywhere in the Bible, from Genesis to the Book of Revelation, that teaches or supports this dull doctrine. And if there is one at all, I'd like to know! It is man's invention whose purpose is to keep man responsible and guilty of his own sins. If indeed, God condemns all men because of Adam's sin, then He is not a just and righteous God. Period! This ridiculous doctrine contradicts all common sense. Do you suppose that it is right and just to punish any man (scourging and put to jail) for the crime of another one?
This is exactly what Calvinism teaches. They teach that when Adam sinned, he lost the “enabling grace.” I don't see anywhere in the Bible that gives the slightest hint or suggestion of such a doctrine. Why do I say that? Because from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, God's grace extends to all, i.e., those who obey God are blessed while those who disobey Him are punished.
This system of theology is pure madness and fallacious. They teach that when Adam sinned, he lost his free will and all his descendants after him were born sinners. Therefore, they are depraved or with a sinful nature, without God's "enabling grace" and "free will." We are no different than the animals, just like Charles Darwin said. According to them, the humanist unbelievers and the Nature worshipers are right. The Gnostics in the first century denied the deity of Jesus precisely because of this belief. This is irrational and absurd!
Augustine, Luther and Calvin without a doubt failed here in their study. Once man speculates and accepts such a hypothesis, the rest of their system of theology follows quite logically. Which system of theology? The whole system that is explicitly designed to explain their fallacious view of redemption based on the assumption of “original sin,” “total hereditary depravity.” Once their whole system of theology is removed, their TULIP becomes unnecessary.
In the Bible “imputation” never means "transfer" as Calvinists use it. The Word of God indeed teaches that He does impute sin (Romans 4:8), but He never transfers sin from one person to another. Sin is only imputed (put down to the account of) to the one who commits it. It is vital that we all grasp this. It is crucial that we understand that God blames each of us when we sin and that He NEVER charges someone else's sin to our account, Adam's or anyone's account. I must stress this!!!
In Galatians 6:5, Paul declares that “each man shall bear his own burden.” Moreover, in Ezekiel 18:4,20 we read that,
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The soul that sinneth, it shall die: the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
Therefore, we infer from this passage that sin is not and can never be inherited from previous generations, our ancestors or Adam, nor it is passed or transferred from one person to another. Take heed! The basic foundation of the Calvinistic doctrine of total hereditary depravity is the imputation of sin: the guilt of Adam's sin or transgression is imputed (transferred) to mankind, us. If you allow Calvinists to define “impute” as “transfer,” you will lose your case. They will sustain their position at all cost! May the Lord help us to defend His Truth with boldness and correct all error!
Although Albert Barnes was a Calvinist, when it came to the doctrine of imputation he had it right; he gave the right definition of transferring guilt from one to another in his notes of Romans 4, page 102. Notice what he wrote:
“The word is never used to denote imputing in the sense of transferring, or of charging that on one which does not properly belong to him... No doctrine of transferring, or of setting over to a man what does not belong to him, be it sin or holiness, can be derived, therefore, from this word.”
Therefore, imputation never means transfer. That simple!
It is amazing to me how Calvinists and some of my brethren have tried to make Barnes’ commentary on imputation to mean “transfer” when they quote from him. It is dishonest! If you have the Truth, why must you lie to support it?
II. THE IMPUTATION OF THE SINS OF MANKIND TO CHRIST:
This second fallacious doctrine teaches that the sins of mankind are imputed to Christ. Again, I am perplexed to see many brethren misuse Scriptures and wrongly define the terms “transfer” instead of “impute.” When are they going to learn about the right definition of imputation?!!
They must do violence to one of our most beloved Scriptures to make their point. Isaiah 53:8 expresses the sacrifice of the Suffering Servant Messiah. Jesus took upon Himself our sins and our sorrows when He died on that cruel cross. They surely abuse this text when teaching the transfer of our guilt to Jesus. I can accept this from false teachers but from my brethren, come on!!! The Bible does not teach that man's sins are transferred to Christ in any sense whatsoever, period!! All that Isaiah 53:8 is saying is that Jesus our Lord and Savior died for our sins. This is how Christ took upon Himself our sins, our offenses, and our iniquities. Jesus, the Christ, died for “our transgressions,” was “bruised for our iniquities.” Take note that our own sins are imputed to us alone and no one else; we are accountable and responsible for them. And though Jesus took our punishment upon Himself, He DID NOT take our guilt upon Himself. If we say otherwise, we are rejecting Ezekiel 18:20. Paul stated the same in 2 Cor. 5:21 saying, “Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf,” i.e., Jesus took the penalty and punishment of sin (death on the cross) that we might live again.
Jesus, our Lord, was sinless. Therefore, no sins can be imputed to Him at all. He through love took the punishment and the penalty for our sins that were charged to us. Please, let us not destroy the beauty of Jesus' suffering and death on the cross by teaching error saying that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ had sin imputed to Him. This is pure foolishness and madness!!!!
III. THE IMPUTATION OF THE PERSONAL RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST TO BELIEVERS:
- Romans 4:1-8:
"What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 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 wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.'"
Now, the synonym of “to impute” in verse 6 (KJV) is “to count” in verse 3. The two words are used interchangeably. The word “counted,” of course, is a term that is used in accounting, i.e., that which is put or added to someone's account.
Romans 4:1-8 is one of those Scriptures that is terribly misused to teach that the personal righteousness of Christ is imputed to believers. There is not a word of Scripture anywhere in the Bible that says such a thing, not in this text nor any other. Take heed!
Notice that in Romans 4:3-6, Paul at no time is saying that Abraham was counted (reckoned) righteous because he received that righteousness from some else. God can only reckon a man what he is or becomes. Abraham believed in God and because he believed it was reckoned to him, or put down to his account, or considered. Nowhere in this text, do we see anything that would imply that faith was counted or reckoned as a substitute for righteousness.
Indeed, Abraham's faith was reckoned or counted to him for righteousness (“eis” meaning into, or in order to, or unto). Paul used the word “eis” which is used in Acts 2:38, “for the forgiveness of your sins.” This same word “eis” is employed in Romans 4:3 and Gal. 3:6 to express purpose: righteousness. On the grounds of his faith, all that faith included, God forgave him (Abraham) of his sins, thus declaring him to be righteous. If man is guiltless of sin (sins charged against him), then he is a righteous man. In like manner, if a man never sinned then he would be righteous by works; if he sinned and God forgave him, removing sins entirely from him, then he would be righteous by God's grace or favor. Abraham, therefore, had no grounds for boasting when he obtained righteousness through forgiveness. The faith of Abraham was not an “experience of faith,” (an irresistible gift of God imposed on him) but rather it was his life lived, walking by faith, (Romans 4:12), thus in righteousness, (Genesis 15:6); his obedient faith. When God called him (Genesis 12; Hebrews 11:8), he left his home to go where God told him to go. His life of obedience was counted, reckoned (attributed) to him (put to his own account) for righteousness.
Many of us are flat out wrong in our definition of the word “imputation.” It is in no sense a “transfer” of one person’s assets into another’s account. The Bible nowhere teaches that the “righteousness of Christ” is transferred to the believer. The moral excellence or the “perfect doing of Christ” is not transferred from His account to the account of anyone else. This is the point that Protestants assume without an iota of Scripture. It is just like the doctrine of Original Sin, where they assume that we inherit not just the guilt but the depravity of a sinful nature. No Scripture is given, just the assumption. Christ was sinless, walked in perfect obedience, and He was absolutely pure. If this were not true, Christ's sacrifice and death on the cross would have no more effect for paying the penalty for our sins on our behalf than the deaths of the two thieves that were crucified at the same time with Him. Christ was sinless, and that is why His death paid the penalty for our sins:
“for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” (Hebrews 9:26-28).
Jesus, our Lord, was the anti-type, a shadow, a figure of all the Old Testament Law sacrifices. All the Old Testament Scriptures were pointing us to Christ, (Hebrews 10:11-12; Hebrews 8:5). Christ's perfect, sinless, innocent and holy life qualified Him for that sacrifice:
“For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son, who has been made perfect forever.”
From these Scriptures, we can infer and establish that Christ’s perfect and sinless life, as well as His death on that cruel cross, paid the penalty for our sins. YET, nowhere in the entire Bible is there a single word that gives us the slightest indication that His moral excellence or His righteousness is put to our account, that is, imputed to us; much less that we (the believers) wear a robe of Christ's righteousness to cover our sins. Indeed, Christ's death on the cross propitiated the wrath of God (Romans 3:24-26) and reconciled us back to the Father through His Son so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:18-21). But take heed. This propitiation is possible only when one repents and is baptized into Christ, believing in Jesus, surrendering to His will alone. It is then that God the Father forgives us of our sins (those sins which have been put to our account). It is through this process that God can impute righteousness to you and me. Therefore, since our sins are then forgiven, there is no way at all for the sins to be imputed (reckoned, counted, counted, taken into account against) any longer:
“Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” (Romans 4:8).
It is then after the forgiveness of one's sins that God restores us to a condition of righteousness which we had before we sinned. "Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices." (Ecclesiastes 7:29). He then declares the one who is forgiven righteous through God's forgiveness on the basis of pardon.
Therefore, the only inference in Romans 4 is that righteousness is supplied by God to us on the basis of pardon or forgiveness and not something supplied or given to us on the grounds of Christ’s own personal righteousness being transferred to us. When a man sins, he cannot become righteous again without the forgiveness of God. No act of charity or sacrifice, no matter who noble or heroic, can redeem us from our sin. Take to heart the words of Ezekiel 18:20 that says:
“The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.”
From Ezekiel’s statement, we can infer that neither sin nor lawlessness nor righteousness can be transferred. Take heed!
Let’s consider some other Bible texts that are severely abused to teach the imputation of the personal righteousness of Christ attributed (reckoned or counted) to believers:
- Romans 5:10:
“For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”Calvinism teaches that during Christ's earthly life, He kept all the commandments of God perfectly and therefore we are saved by his perfect life which is counted, reckoned, attributed to us, the believers.
BUT, that is not what Romans 5:10 says. This passage says,
- that Christ's death and suffering opened for us a way through which we could be reconciled to God;
- that Jesus now intercedes for us, ruling in our hearts and directing our lives as well; that we might be eternally saved.
If we go back to Romans 5:9 we will notice that it says “justified by his blood,” and not “justified by his perfect life.”
“Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him.”
Later on in Romans 5:10 He explicitly says that “we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.” So, my question is: Which “life” is Paul talking about when he says “shall we be saved by his life.”? Obviously His resurrected life. This text is not talking at all about Jesus' earthly life before He died on the cross.
Notice what Romans 4:25 says, “who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised (resurrected) for our justification.”
So we infer from both these texts that we are not justified by Christ's perfect earthly life but rather that he was raised (resurrected) for our justification.
Hebrews 7:24-25:
“but he, because he abideth for ever, hath his priesthood unchangeable. Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
Jesus is our High Priest in His resurrected life; He is our Advocate, our Mediator with the Father. Through this Mediator, Christ, we have the forgiveness of our sins since He is our Propitiation for them, (I John 1:9-2:2).
- I Corinthians 1:30:
“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.”
Calvinism wrongly uses this verse saying that Christ's perfect (righteous) life is attributed (reckoned, counted) to the believer. The problem is that if this were to be true, the wisdom of Christ is imputed to the believer as well, and no one will believe that.
So what is this text really saying? It is saying that the blessings that the believer (Christian) receives (justification, sanctification, and redemption) are God's expression or the demonstration of the wisdom of God (true wisdom) in contrast to the so-called wisdom of the world (verses 19-20).
Take note that these blessings mentioned above are not attained as a result of the perfect (righteous) earthly life of Christ but rather as a result of His death on the cross. This wisdom of God “is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us who are saved it is the power of God,” (verse 18).
- Hebrews 5:8-9:
“though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became unto all them that obey him the author of eternal salvation.”
This Scripture clearly emphasizes Christ’s obedience. God prepared Jesus' body to be offered as a sacrifice for the sins of men. It is undeniable that Christ lived a perfect, righteous life to be a perfect sacrifice
“but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:19).
So in Hebrews 5:8-9, what obedience is it speaking of? The obedience that He learned in suffering. When was He made perfect?
- When Jesus died on the cross.
- When He was raised from the dead.
- When He was seated at the right hand of God as our High Priest interceding for us, (Romans 8:34).
- Hebrews 10:4-5:
“For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, But a body didst thou prepare for me.”
This Scripture is speaking of Jesus Christ's body. Then in verse 10, we were sanctified through the blood of the body of Jesus: “By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Christ's body was offered that we might be justified and sanctified by His obedience. What obedience is the verse speaking of? The answer is found in Philippians 2:8: “and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.”
- Romans 5:18-19:
“So then as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous.”
Calvinists love to cite these verses to say that Adam's sin is imputed to mankind; and that the personal perfect (righteous) life of Christ is then attributed, transferred to the believer. But this passage does not affirm such an error. Go back a few verses and notice what Paul is saying in verse 12: “Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned.”
There is not the remotest implication of “imputation” at all. The truth is that Adam introduced sin into the world and that his descendants after him did not inherit sin nor a supposed sinful nature; but imitated Adam: “because all sinned.”
Moreover, Paul is not talking about Adam's life of disobedience and much less of a life of obedience to Christ. Paul is speaking of only one act of Adam and one only act of Christ, His death on the cross.
- 2 Corinthians 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.”
Again, the world of Calvinism misuses this Scripture by implying that the sins of man were imputed to Christ, therefore, when Jesus died on the cross, He was the worst sinner in the world. How? When they interpret the phrase: “to be sin.” There is nothing here that implies “impute,” “reckon,” or “count.” Rather the word “sin” means “sacrifice for sin.” We see it in Exodus 29:14, “it is a sin-offering.” In Hebrew, the word does not say “offering for but rather “sin.” In Hosea 4:8: “They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity.” Here, the word sin obviously means “sin offering,” (sin cannot be eaten, but the sin offering was indeed eaten).
Isaiah 53:10: “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.”
- Galatians 3:13:
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.”
Another verse badly twisted to teach the imputation of man's sins to Christ. In Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians, he implied that Jesus became the greatest of all sinners, murderer, adulterer, thief, blasphemous, etc., (page 254). But the truth is that Christ was offered “as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ.” If Christ indeed had any blemish or spot, having sinned, He would not have been offered as a sacrifice. That simple!!
Our Lord Jesus Christ “bore our sins in his body on the tree (the cross), that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24). When Christ bore our sins on the cross as if he were guilty of them, He became a curse for us. God was not displeased with Christ, His ministry, or His sacrifice. Christ never sinned, and no sin was imputed to Him. Period! It is pure blasphemy to teach that God imputed the sins of all the men of the world to Christ and then later abhorred Jesus, turning His back on Him. It is ridiculous, madness and absurd!!
Therefore, to bear our sins is the same as to forgive them. In Matthew 8:17 we read, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases.”
So the phrase "took our infirmities" is the same as heal them. So when Christ “bore” our sins, He died so that we can be healed spiritually (forgiven). When Jesus took our infirmities, He did not get sick. Likewise, when He bore our sins, He did not become a sinner.
CONCLUSION:
The false doctrine of “imputation” has been invented in the minds of Calvinists to support the false teaching otherwise known as the Doctrine of the Perseverance of the Saints. The fifth point of Calvinism states that the elect, those chosen by God, cannot fall from grace.
Calvinism is a three-fold imputation: 1. The imputation of the sins of Adam to mankind; 2. The imputation of the sins of mankind to Christ and 3. The imputation of the personal righteousness of Christ to believers. Indeed, this false doctrine is another outstanding example of building error upon error.
All of the Scriptures cited by Calvinism to support their errors are twisted and tortured by them (2 Peter 3:16). For there is nowhere in the Word of God that teaches that the sin or the righteousness of one person can be imputed (counted, reckoned, attributed) to someone else. Such a false doctrine eats away the soul as gangrene eats away the flesh. God abhors and rejects such false teachings as well as its teachers. They do not rightly handle the Word of Truth. Alas, how many souls have been perverted by this kind of false teaching!
In Matthew 15:14 Jesus said,
“Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
Paul also warned of those who were “insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.” (Titus 1:10-11). God does not have fellowship with those who practice false religion or man-made religions (i.e., any religion besides what He has authorized in the New Testament).
The Word of God clearly teaches that one is considered righteous by God when he obeys the glorious Gospel of Jesus and walks in righteousness, (1 John 3:7) rather than inputing the personal righteousness of Christ to us, the believers. The penitent sinner becomes righteous by God's pardon or forgiveness which is made possible by the atoning death of our Lord Jesus Christ and not by imputing His perfect, righteous life, (Matt. 26:28; Rom. 5:8-9). It is the penitent sinner's responsibility to repent and obey God's Law of Pardon, the Gospel of Grace, to be forgiven thus becoming justified, sanctified and made righteous, (Acts 3:38; 1 John 1:7-9).
The Calvinistic doctrine of imputation or imputed righteousness is in full rebellion and conflict with the divine nature of God and His glorious message of salvation, the Gospel, from Genesis to the book of Revelation.
Undoubtedly, Christ lived a perfect, righteous life without sin whatsoever. "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin, and live to righeousness; for by His wounds you were healed." (1 Peter 2:24). "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, 'Cursed is every one who hangs on a tree.'" (Galatians 3:13). He never sinned, and no sin was imputed to Him. He died so that we might be healed spiritually (forgiven).
Therefore, the sinless, perfect life of Christ is never transferred to the obedient believer. Not at all!! It was His sinless and perfect life that enabled Him to become a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Christ, our Lord, became the sacrifice for our sins dying on that cruel cross for our redemption. It was God's eternal plan to save all men through His blood. Jesus' obedience to His Father made it possible for God to dictate the terms upon which all sinners can be forgiven or redeemed. All this is possible by God's loving kindness and grace. We do not deserve it, yet God did it because of His love for us, (John 3:16). This moves me deeply!!!
“Imputed righteousness” in the Word of God does not mean that Christ's personal excellence or perfect obedience is transferred to the believer. What it does mean is that the sinner who has been forgiven can stand justified, sanctified before His Creator, our God. Christ's sinless life and sacrificial death made all this possible for the penitent sinner when he obeys the glorious Gospel of Christ that the apostles preached. And as long as he “walks in the Light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Therefore, God will not impute sin to his account.
The whole system of Calvinist theology can be defeated when one applies the Truth of Scripture to it. This can be accomplished only when we allow the Bible to interpret itself, especially those texts that are difficult to understand. God's Word is the only thing that can direct us in the right way and guide us in righteousness. God's Word is indeed "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12). God's Word teaches us pure doctrine to convict us, but we must love the Truth at all cost, spending time studying the riches of His Word that we might not be deceived by false doctrines that lead us to our destruction. YES, God's Word can fix all doctrinal errors and save those who have been taught error.
"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:10-11)
May we allow God's Word to be our only standard of truth. May we speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where it is silent. May we practice that which the Word of God authorizes and reject that which is the foolishness of the world, that which the Lord does not authorize for us. May we always affirm and hold fast to the preaching of the Truth rather than error. May we always walk by faith, in the Light as He is in the light to please our Almighty God in heaven. May we never abandon the revealed Truth of God but surrender to the yoke of Christ. May we never walk the path of rebellion and foolishness but rather walk the path of righteousness. May we always love, guard and defend the Truth no matter the price.
Luci
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