Double Imputation

Introduction: The Critical Question and the Doctrine of Justification

0:02 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, July 1st, 2007, at Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:14 Now will you please turn with me to a portion of the Word of God that we will look at in some detail well into the message this morning. I will not begin expounding this passage, but it will be helpful if we become familiar with the basic language and flow of thought in it. I'm referring to Romans chapter 5, verses 12 through 21. Romans chapter 5, verses 12 through 21.

0:47 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, and verses 13 and 14 are a parenthesis, for until the law of sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law, nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come. But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one, the many died, much more did the grace of God in the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abound unto the many. And not as through one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment came of one unto condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses unto justification.

2:06 For if by the trespass, of the one, death reigned through the one, much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ. So then, as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation, even so through the 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. And the law came in besides that the trespass might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly, that, as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

3:26 There are many important and many fascinating things in the world around us, concerning which ignorance or indifference are neither fatal nor tragic. There are many things in this fascinating world in which God has placed us, but indifference or ignorance about them neither tragic nor fatal. However, there are other things concerning which ignorance or indifference are indeed both tragic and fatal, and among such things perhaps none is more important, and the Bible's answer to this basic question, how can sinful man be made right with God? The importance of that question must not be evaded by any one of us sitting in this place this morning. And you ask why? Because you with me are part of the fallen, condemned, and spiritually impotent family of our first father, Adam.

4:47 And the passage just read in your hearing, along with the statement of 1 Corinthians 15.22, clearly teaches, as in Adam, all die. You with me are part of Adam's family under condemnation, not just of physical death, but of spiritual death, spiritual and eternal death. Furthermore, we are on our way to that time and that place described in the Scriptures as the final judgment.

5:24 And in that day, our experience in relationship to this question, how can sinful man be right with God, will find us eternally consigned either to heaven, or to hell. For the Bible that says, it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this judgment, describes the conclusion of the judgment with these words, these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Hence, no ignorance or indifference to this question is either sane, or safe. And the answer to that question, how can sinful man be made right with God, is found in one place, and in one place alone. And that is in the biblical doctrine of justification based upon the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so I embarked last year upon a fresh study of this.

6:40 I wrote a wonderful provision of redemptive grace, set it aside for a number of months, and then two Lord's days ago, I sought to reduce into two sermons the main points of the fourteen previous sermons on this glorious provision of God's saving grace called justification. Having considered the importance of this central and foundational doctrine of the Word of God, I then sought to reduce into two sermons a certain principle of the word of God, to demonstrate that it has a larger context, and that context is comprised of who God is in himself as a holy, just, and truth-speaking God, what he is in relationship to us as creator and lawgiver and judge, and what we are in relationship to him as accountable, moral creatures. And then the larger context is comprised not only of what God is in himself, what he is in relationship to us and we to him, but the larger scope and purpose of God in redemptive grace. Justification is a central and foundational element of what God purposes to

7:58 do for hell-deserving sinners, but it is not the whole of what he purposes to do, and it is only the whole. It is only when it is seen in relationship to the full spectrum of God's saving purpose that it can be rightly appropriated, and we can live as God's people comfortably with that wonderful provision without in any way eroding the impact of the other provisions of God's redemptive grace that come to every single person whom he justifies. I then proceeded to prove that the biblical word to justify speaks of a judicial or a legal act. It has to do with a declaration that God makes in the courtroom of heaven concerning us. It does not have to do with what he does in us, but what he declares is true about us. It is a declarative act of the judge of heaven, the living God himself.

Review of Justification's Elements and the Centrality of Imputation

9:06 Then we began to try to grasp the major elements of this marvelous provision using the larger catechism of the Westminster Standards as our teaching framework. That question in the larger catechism, what is justification, is answered this way. Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners in which he pardons all sin. All of their sins accepts and accounts their persons as righteous in his sight, not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ by God imputed to them and received by faith alone. And I said, I like to think of this marvelous definition. As a large, beautiful, seven-room house, and each one of those rooms is rich with biblical substance with respect to this doctrine. We consider the author of justification. It's an act of God in

10:25 which he imputes. It is God himself and God alone who justifies. The source is the free grace of God. His sovereign love showing mercy to the undeserving. The objects are sinners. Sinners in a two-fold light. Sinners in their objective standing and condition before God are the kind of people God justifies. In fact, the Bible is bold enough to say he justifies the ungodly. Romans 4 and verse 5.

11:03 But not only sinners. Sinners, in the objective, real condition and standing, but sinners in the felt reality of their identity as sinners. For Jesus did not come to call those righteous in their own eyes, but those who have come to own the reality of their sinnerhood. He calls them to repentance. And then we considered in the fourth place the activity of God in justification. What's involved when God makes the declaration? Reconciliation concerning the justified person. Two things. It is an act of complete and irreversible pardon of all of their sins and an act of accepting and accounting their persons as righteous in his sight. In one, there is a negation of the court's complaint against us. In the other, there is the conferral of that which makes the court vindicate us as righteous, and worthy of all the rewards of a righteous man or a righteous woman. And then the ground or the basis of justification. Again, the catechism definition brings together the biblical lines

12:22 of truth so accurately. Negative, not for anything done in us by God, or not for anything done by us, either in self-effort, or in self-righteousness. Even by God's enabling grace. The ground upon which God says to guilty sinners, fully pardoned, fully accepted, has nothing to do with what he may do in us, nothing to do with what we may do, but positively, again, two things. For the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ.

13:02 That is the totality of the obedience. For the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, on behalf of his people, God takes what Christ has done in fully satisfying the demands of the penal sanctions of the law, and he accepts what Christ has done on behalf of every penitent believing sinner, and then he credits to that sinner the perfect obedience of his Son. Now today, we move on to exactly what we have been talking about in this wonderful, accurate, seven-room house, constructed by the Westminster divines, as they call them. They weren't gods, but the old word divine means a pastor-theologian, and that is the method, or the manner, of our justification. What is the method by which God pardons, accepts, and gives? Accepts and receives, as righteous, every penitent believing sinner. Well, the definition has these

14:15 few simple words. Hear carefully. Not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, and here's the key words, by God imputed to them. By God imputed to them. Now, there is a critical importance of grasping and being grounded in this biblical concept of imputation. And you ask me why? Because perhaps no part of the biblical doctrine of justification, and these parts of the definition that we are wrestling with, have been so freaked out by the fact that we are imputed to them. Now, there is a critical importance of grasping and being grounded in this doctrine. And you ask me why? Because perhaps no part of the

15:19 this doctrine has been under more concentrated attack in the past, and even unto the present day. This whole concept of the imputation of the full obedience of Christ unto death, being grounded in this doctrine, and consistently attacked in the past, distorted, denied in every way, the righteousness that God puts to the account of believing sinners is an issue that the devil hates, and therefore he has continually stirred up people both without and within the church to pervert it, to deny it, and to assault it. In our day, there are several vigorous attacks upon the idea of imputed righteousness. Books are spilling out of printing presses in great numbers. Before long, it will be accurate to say, by the dozen, some attacking the concept of imputation, thankfully others rising to explain, expound, and to defend it. And I remind you that one of the tasks God's word lays upon a pastor is that of Titus.

Historical and Contemporary Attacks on Imputed Righteousness

16:34 Titus 1.9, that he may be able both to exhort in the sound or healthy teaching and to convict the gainsayers. And so it is incumbent upon God's servants to rise up and to seek to defend this assaulted doctrine. Listen to the words of a man who wrote in 1853. Do a little mathematics and you'll know how long ago that was. This is what he wrote concerning the this opposition to the concept of imputation. It may well excite amazement that the doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteousness should be so violently opposed as it sometimes is. And then he quotes from John Owen, writing in the 1600s, In our day, nothing in religion is more maligned, more reproached, more despised, than the imputation of righteousness unto us, or our imputed righteousness.

17:42 John Owen, who is not given to hyperbole and to exaggeration of speech, said nothing is more maligned, more reproached, than imputed righteousness. Dr. Thomas Scott says, The proud heart of man is prone to deny or object to it, even with blasphemous, in undeniable Buffalo. Douglas Ashby said, No part of evangelical doctrine has met with a more determined opposition than the doctrine of imputation. It has been loaded with re- It has been loaded with re- approaches as a doctrine the most unreasonable, reproaches as a doctrine the most unreasonable, the most dangerous, and the most impious, the most dangerous, and the most impious, the most dangerous, and the most impious, which have been made to it are founded on a misapprehension or a misrepresentation of the true nature of imputation. It is said by a theologian of our own country, this is in 1853, that, let me lost my line here, it has been said by a theologian of our own country, has been so far

19:01 left to himself as to say publicly, quote, imputed righteousness is imputed nonsense. And then in our own day, Dr. John Piper, whom God has raised up to defend this doctrine, he was pressed to write a book called Counted Righteous in Christ to take time off from normal pastoral duties. Why? He tells us, I quote him, third, the challenge to the imputation of Christ right. Righteousness reached a climax for me in a very unlikely place. In two successive issues of the magazine called Books and Culture, January and February of 2001, and the March-April of 2001, Robert Gundry, scholar in residence at Westmont College, a Christian college in the West Coast, argued, quote, that the doctrine that Christ's righteousness is imputed to believing sinners needs, quote, imputed. Needs to be abandoned. Continuing to quote, that doctrine of imputation is not even biblical.

20:11 Still less is it essential to the gospel. Still quoting, the notion is passe, neither because of Roman Catholic influence, nor because of theological liberalism, but because of fidelity to the relevant biblical text, end quote. These two articles by Gundry, writes, Piper, gave me the push I needed to respond, but he's not the soul or the main exponent of the challenge. He simply seems to be one of the most courageous and straightforward and explicit and clear-headed. He minces no words. He puts forward the relevant evidence, lays down the challenge unlike anyone else has. But he's not alone, and he makes that plain by saying, now I'm quoting, I join the growing number of biblical, theologians, evangelical and non-evangelical alike, who deny that Paul or any other New Testament author speaks of a righteousness of Christ, whatever it may include or exclude, that is imputed to believing sinners. And they find instead a doctrine of God's righteousness as his salvific activity in a covenantal framework, not in terms of an imputation of Christ's righteousness in a bookkeeping.

Question 1: What Does 'Impute' Mean?

21:31 So, dear people, this is going to be an intellectual exercise for you. I have labored, I've scoured my books, I've cried to God to be as simple and plain as I can be. But if you value your soul, you'll value it enough to put on your thinking cap in the language of Peter, gird up the loose ends of the folds of your mental garment, gird up the loins of your mind, and you'll be able to live a life of peace and peace. And think with me, as we address this very important matter, so simply, so beautifully, so succinctly stated in this answer to the question, what is justification, by God imputed to them. And as my outline, I'm going to raise four questions and seek to answer them from the scriptures. Question number one, what does the word impute mean? Well, to impute means to reckon or credit on or to the account of another. There's

22:43 one major Hebrew word used about a hundred times in the Old Testament, and in many of its usages, this is obviously exactly what it means. Look at a couple of examples with me. Leviticus chapter 7 and verse 18. Leviticus chapter 7, and verse 18. In the section where God has given directions through Moses about their various sacrifices, verse 18, and if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offers it. It shall be an abomination, and the soul that eats of it shall bear his iniquity. God said, bring your sacrifice this way, in this time frame, and it will be imputed as an acceptable sacrifice. Bring it contrary to my directions, and it will not be imputed, it will not be reckoned, it will not be credited to your account as a viable and acceptable

23:55 sacrifice. Leviticus 17 and verse 4, for another and similar use. Leviticus 17, and verse 4. And he has not brought it into the door of the tent of the meeting to offer it as an oblation to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord. Blood shall be imputed to that man.

24:17 He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. Here is someone that takes what should have been a sacrificial offering. He slew the animal, but he did not present the blood as he ought to, and so the text says, blood shall be imputed to him. He will be charged with the unwarranted shedding of blood.

24:41 And then the lovely, familiar words of Psalm 32 and verse 2, in one of David's penitential psalms. Verse 1, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes not iniquity. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes not iniquity.

25:04 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes not iniquity. Blessed is the man to whom God charges no iniquity, puts no iniquity to his account. His iniquities, his sins are pardoned and forgiven. Then in the New Testament, there are two great words that embody in themselves the concept of imputation. The first and the most frequent is logidzomai, and it means accounted, to be credited, imputed, to put on the table. And then there is the word logidzomai, which means to be credited, on someone's account. Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. And verse 3, for what says the scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed, it was reckoned, it was accounted unto him for righteousness. And then from this part, verse 3, through to the second last verse of this chapter, verse 24, 10. Other usages of this Greek verb, logidzomai. And it's translated variously, it was reckoned, it was accounted, it was imputed, it was placed to the account of the one of whom it is spoken.

26:22 And the second Greek word used only two times, elogeo, which means literally, it's a commercial term to charge to one's account. It's found in Romans 5 and verse 3. Verse 13, for until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed. Sin is not charged as specific law-breaking when there is no law. And then we have a beautiful illustration of it in its second usage, and that's in the book of Philemon. In the book of Philemon, after Timothy and Titus, you have Paul's word to Philemon about this runaway slave, Onesimus, who was a slave to Jesus, who's been converted. But if he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, and here's our verb, elogeo, put that on my account. Charge it to me. It's not my debt, personally. I've taken

27:21 nothing from you. I owe you nothing. But this runaway slave may have taken stuff, money, material when he ran away. And if he has a legitimate debt and owes you anything, charge it.

27:35 To me. Impute it to me. Place it on my account. So with reference to this family of words used in the word of God, I can do no better than to quote the words of Charles Hodge. Listen carefully.

27:53 The word impute is familiar and unambiguous. To impute is to ascribe to, to reckon to, to lay to one's charge. When we say, we impute a good or bad motive to a man, or that a good or evil action is imputed to him, no one misunderstands our meaning. Philemon had no doubt what Paul meant when he told him to impute to him the debt of Onesimus. When the man of God said, let not the king impute anything to his servant, 1 Samuel 22, 15, let not my Lord impute iniquity to me, 2 Samuel 9, 17, 19, and then he quotes the same verses I quoted from Leviticus. We understand what it means. The meaning of these and similar passages of scripture has never been disputed. Everyone understands them. We use the word impute in its simple and admitted sense when we say,

28:55 the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the believer in his justification. So question number, 1, I hope I've answered to your satisfaction. What does the word impute mean? It means to charge to the account of another, to reckon as being in the credit of another. Question number 2 is this, what specifically is put to our account when God justifies us? If to impute means to put to the account of another, then it means to put to the account of another. If to impute means to put to another, what specifically is put to our account when God justifies us? Well, I answer, according to the scriptures, it is nothing less than righteousness. That is, a perfectly right standing

Question 2: What Specifically is Imputed to Us?

29:54 before the law of God in the court of heaven before God himself, the supreme judge.

30:05 Let me give that to you again. It is nothing less than righteousness. That is, a perfectly right standing before the law of God in the court of heaven before God, the supreme judge himself. One old writer in a very enigmatic and fascinating way when asked, what is righteousness? He says, it is the righteousness which the righteousness of God requires. It is that standard of perfect equity before his law that God accepts as being acceptable in his sight. And with respect to the demands of the law, there are two aspects of those demands. The law says the wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth, it shall die.

31:06 You will by no means clear the guilty. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. And so, if there is ever to be a righteousness in which we can stand before God, all of our violations of his law must be punished. And either we must be punished and banished forever from his presence.

31:35 Or, an adequate substitute must stand in our place and bear the equivalent of the punishment that we deserve. So that, if we are to have a righteousness that answers to the court of heaven, there must first of all be a righteous dealing with our breaches of the law. The wrath that our sins deserve, we must bear. And if we are to have a righteousness that answers to the court of heaven, we must bear. And if we are to have a righteousness that answers to the court of heaven, there must be vented upon us, or upon a duly appointed and God-approved substitute. But then secondly, if we are to be vindicated in the court of heaven, God's law not only has what is called its penal aspects, the breaking of it deserves punishment, but it has its preceptive demands. If we are to be given the reward of full obedience, then we must bear the punishment that we deserve. And if we are to have a righteousness that answers to the court of heaven, there must be a this do and thou shalt live, God says in his law, the preceptive demands of the law must be met.

32:44 Either we in our persons must be able to stand before the searching eye of God and be vindicated as having fully, completely, perpetually, perfectly kept his law from the moment of our conception, or some acceptable substitute in our place and in our condition, must render that kind of perfect obedience to all of the precepts of the law so that he can be accepted on the basis of his works, his work of total, complete, impeccable obedience to the law. And the righteousness that is wrought out for us, that is the stuff that is placed to our account, is precisely the righteousness wrought out in the perfect life of the obedience of Jesus in our condition, a righteousness in which he fully obeyed the law, and a righteousness in which he fully satisfied the demands of a broken law, so that there is in Jesus Christ this perfect obedience and full satisfaction, enabling us to be able to live in the perfect life of Jesus Christ. And if we are to be given the reward of full obedience, then we must bear the punishment that he was given for this.

34:06 And if we are to be given the reward of full obedience, then we must bear the punishment that he was given for this. It is finished, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. He was the obedient servant in the language of Philippians 3, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And John Piper again has very helpfully stated in the very opening section of chapter 2, but when he begins to, open up this doctrine. He says, I begin with a definition. By imputation, I'm referring to the act in which God counts sinners to be righteousness through their faith in Christ on the basis of Christ's perfect blood and righteousness. Specifically, the righteousness that Christ accomplished by his perfect obedience in life and death. My aim in this book is to give exegetical foundation, that is, a foundation based upon the opening up of text, to the historic Protestant teaching that the basis of our justification through faith is the provision

35:21 of Christ for both pardon and imputed perfection. In other words, I will try to show that this is the case. I'm going to try to show that this is the case. I'm going to try to show that this is the case. I'm going to try to show that this is the case. I'm going to try to show that Christ has become our substitute in two senses. In his suffering and death, he becomes our curse and condemnation. And in his suffering and life, he becomes our perfection. On the one hand, his death is the climax of his atoning sufferings, which turn away the wrath of God against us. And on the other hand, his death is the climax of a perfect life, of righteousness imputed to us. Oh, dear people, that's it. That's it. He lives the life we should live and did not. He dies the death we deserve and dare not. And in that obedience unto death

36:19 is the turning away of the wrath of God and the culmination of a perfect life of obedience. And it is this that God places to the account. Of every penitent and believing sinner. That's why the catechism so accurately says when dealing with the ground of our justification, not for anything wrought in them. It's not the work of the spirit regenerating us, transforming us and sanctifying us or anything done by us in our own native strength or even in the power of the spirit who works in believers to will and no, no, it has nothing to do with us. It has to do with something for us. And the for us is comprised of this perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ by God imputed to us and received by faith alone. So question number one, what is imputation? It's placing to the account

Question 3: How Can God Justly Impute Another's Righteousness?

37:28 of another. What is imputation? It's placing to the account of another. What is imputation? It's imputed to us in our justification. It is the righteousness of Christ's perfect life of obedience, even them to the death of the cross , question number three. And I hope you're thinking, how can God justly put to our account the righteousness wrought by the perfect suffering and obedience of another. How can God justly put to our account the righteousness wrought by the perfect suffering and obedience of another? How can God just lay How can God just lay put to to our account, the righteousness wrought by the perfect suffering and obedience of another. You got the question? How can God justly do that? Not arbitrarily, but justly.

38:16 How can he do that in a way that magnifies his justice and puts no tarnish upon his justice or upon his truth? Well, the answer takes us directly to Romans 5. It takes us directly to Romans 5, and I want you to turn there with me. You'll never understand the answer to that question without having some understanding of the main lines of truth in Romans 5, verses 12 to 21.

38:49 Remember the structure of Romans? I've gone over it a number of times in past preaching. Chapter 1, verses 1 to 15, introduction and greeting. Chapter 1, verses 6.

39:02 16 and 17, announcement of the theme. The gospel, I'm not ashamed of it. It's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, for therein is revealed a righteousness of God. It is a God-righteousness that lies at the heart of the gospel.

39:22 Now do you see why the devil fights it? If it's a God-righteousness, and it's comprised of the doings of the three persons of the Godhead in its procurement, and in a unique way focuses on the person and work of Christ, and received by faith as God imputes it to believing sinners, surely the devil who hates the gospel is going to hate imputation. So Paul announces the theme, and then in chapter 1, 18, all the way to chapter 3, in verse 20, he shows the universal need for this righteousness. Everybody needs it.

39:57 Jew and Gentile, people who've never heard the gospel, never seen the lids of a... Then in chapter 3, 21 to 5, 11, the divine provision of righteousness in the person and work of Christ, one to be received by faith alone.

40:16 3, 21 to 5, 11. Now then, why verse 12 of chapter 5? Therefore, whenever you see a therefore, ask why for? Paul has demonstrated that in the person and work of Christ, God has revealed this righteousness that is the central blessing of the gospel.

40:40 And he has said, when embraced by faith, that righteousness becomes ours. But now the question is, how can God justly put to our account that righteousness wrought by the perfect suffering and obedience of another? Paul's going to answer that question in chapter 5, verses 12 to 20, and the framework for this provision. Now hear me carefully.

41:09 The framework within which God does all of the wonderful things from 3, 21 to 5, 11 is representative headship. That's the framework by which God does it. By the principle of representative headship. In other words, God's going to show us through the apostle, by this Adam-Christ comparison, that the manner in which sin, death, judgment entered the world through the one man, Adam, is the paradigm by which righteousness and justification and life come to sinners. Understand how sin and condemnation and death came in the first Adam, representative headship, Adam standing for the whole human race. And then you'll understand how God can justly take the righteousness of one man, Jesus Christ, and make it the possession of all who are in him.

42:30 So what does he do? He does it. He does it. Here in this chapter, he's established in verse 14, Adam is a figure, a type of the one to come.

42:41 And who is the one to come? It's Jesus. So you have Adam, and you have Jesus. And what came into the world through Adam?

42:51 Verse 12, Through one man, sin entered the world. Why? For all sinned in that one man. Verse 15, But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift.

43:06 For if by the trespass of the one, the many died. The one, the many died. Verse 16b, For the judgment came of one unto condemnation. Verse 17, For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned.

43:26 Verse 18, So then, as to the one trespass, the judgment came. Verse 19, As to the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners. Can God make it plainer? You kids should be able to grasp that.

43:43 Because of what Adam did, the many, the all, are brought into a state of sin, condemnation, and death. How? Because God sovereignly chose that Adam should stand as the head and the representative of the, the entire human race, as the old Puritan, Goodwin, described it. God put a belt on Adam and he hung us all on that belt.

44:12 And when he fell, we fell in him and with him into a real state of sin, of condemnation, and death. You say, well, wait a minute, I wasn't there to vote on it. No, you weren't. God never asked your opinion nor mine.

44:26 And he's not going to undo what he's done and say, excuse me, I know in America it's one man, one vote. And you don't like the idea of being implicated. No, no. God chose to do it.

44:36 That's reality and you're living proof of it and so am I. Now he says, though there are contrasts, see you have both comparison and contrast, not as. You'll find areas where, though Adam is a type of him to come, there is disparity, but there is comparison. Just as, now verse 19, as to the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners.

45:01 Even. And so, through the obedience of the one, shall the many be made righteous. How can that be? Because God appoints Jesus as the head and the legal representative of his people.

45:21 So that what Christ does in his life, he does as and for and in union with his people. What Christ does in his death, he does as and in union with his people. That's why Paul can write and say, we thus judge. If one died for all, therefore all died.

45:47 We died in Christ and we lived in Christ. He was united to us. We are not united to him experientially until we're regenerated and come to faith. That's enough.

46:01 Another message. But Christ was united to us. We read about it this morning. He said, Father, there was a people that were yours and you gave them to me.

46:14 I pray for them. I pray not for the world. And so, in answer to the question, how can God justly put to the account the righteousness wrought by the perfect suffering and obedience of another? The answer of the Bible is, Because Jesus was the divinely appointed representative and head of his people, of all of God's elect.

Double Imputation in 2 Corinthians 5:21

46:43 And you have this so beautifully expounded in a number of texts. But I want us to just look at one. That if you get hold of this, it can be the key to many others. And that's 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

46:58 As our representative, he's committed. He's committed to absorb the full weight of the penal sanctions of the law. Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things that are written in the book of the law. Christ has redeemed us from the curse becoming a curse for us.

47:21 Look at the language of 2 Corinthians 5.21. Beautiful language. But back up to verse 20.

47:30 We, the apostle and his companions, are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ. As though God were entreating by us, we beseech you on the behalf of Christ. Be reconciled to God. And on what basis can that appeal be made?

47:47 Verse 21. Him who knew no sin, he, God, made to be sin on our behalf. In order that we might become the righteousness of God. In him.

48:07 Get hold of these two simple statements. The sinless Christ is made sin by imputation. The sinful man is made right with God by imputation. Look at the language of the text.

48:28 We are told that the one who knew no sin. In other words, Christ was utterly sinless. He did not know sin by personal experience, by personal commission, by personal defilement. There was no personal wrath deservingness in Jesus.

48:51 The Father spoke from heaven on several occasions. This is my Son in whom I am well pleased. And yet the text says he was made sin. Now, did God actually make him?

49:07 A sinner, so that he was defiled with our sin? No. The thought is abhorrent. Did God actually make him one who committed our sin?

49:16 No. In what sense is Jesus made sin? He doesn't commit sin. He is not made to be implicated in the defilement and the pollution of our sin.

49:28 How is he made sin? By imputation. God puts our sin in its wrath deservingness. To his account.

49:38 If that's not imputation, I don't know what imputation is. He made him sin by imputing to him. By holding him legally liable in the court of heaven. For all the torrents of the hell that you deserve and I deserve.

49:57 All the fury of divine wrath. He's made sin. How? Not by infusion.

50:04 Not by pollution. But by imputation. That's what Isaiah meant when he said though we like sheep have gone astray, the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all by imputing to him the guilt and wrath deservingness of our sin. And it is this that pressed his soul to feel the fires of hell when he cried, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

50:35 The sinless Christ is made sin. By imputation. Now, look at the text in order that we might become the righteousness of God in him. We become righteous in the same way.

50:52 He became sin. Did he become sin by infusion by participation? No, by strict imputation. We become righteousness in the same way.

51:06 By having. Yes, God regenerates God sanctifies God purifies. He also does something in us when he does something for us, but they are distinct and separate in the economy of God and they've got to be distinct and separate in your understanding and in the way you manage what it is to live as a sinner yet in this world sinful man is made right with God. He is made.

51:38 Nothing less think of it than the very righteousness of God. God's righteousness worked out in the life of Christ. Obedience and obedience even to the death of the cross. It is nothing less that God imparts imputes.

52:01 I'm sorry to his people in the gift of righteousness. One author writes. We are made righteous in Christ in the same way in which were made sinners in Adam in neither case. Is there an identity of persons?

52:18 I don't become Adam Adam done become me. I don't become Christ. Christ doesn't become me in neither case. Do the personal acts or qualities of these our representatives become our acts or qualities in both cases are we counted reckoned?

52:38 Guarded held and treated in the law as though their acts were ours. That's the key. We are held and treated and reckoned in the law as though their acts were ours as Christ did none of the acts which were imputed to him for the expiation of our sin. So we have done none of the acts which are imputed to us for our.

53:08 Justification. Oh dear people. If your heart begins to wrap itself around this, how can you keep but bellowing a hallelujah? That's how God can justly put to the account of guilty sinners.

Question 4: How Do We Become Possessors of Imputed Righteousness?

53:24 What Christ is done. It's because of Christ headship Christ. What the old writers would call his federal headship his true representation of his own then question number four. And then I'm done.

53:39 How do we actually come to become possessors of this imputed righteousness? Well next week, we're going to focus on that the last words of the definition in our catechism definition by God imputed to them and received by faith alone. However, I do want us not to anticipate by faith alone, but this very vital principle what there is. In.

54:10 Faith is that it completes our union with Christ. And in answer to the question, how do we actually become possessors of this imputed righteousness? It's when we are United to Christ. He procures it by being United to us taking upon himself is our head and representative.

54:32 All of the liabilities of our breaking of the law, all of the responsibilities of rendering a perfect, obedient to the law in his federal headship in his leadership in his capacity. He takes that upon himself and it all becomes mine. If I can get into Christ and therefore the scriptures clearly teach, we actually become possessors of this imputed righteousness when we get into Christ. So that it's not as though God declares us righteous as though.

55:09 Our sins have been truly paid for as though we had perfectly kept. It's better than that. It's better than that. I can say if I'm in Christ in my representative head, I died and the wrath of God was vented upon me in Christ.

55:31 I have perfectly kept the law and God welcomes me into his favor. So where do you get that? Well, look at our text in second Corinthians five, and then we're going to look at two others quickly. Him who knew no sin.

55:48 He made to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God. And what's the next two words in him? If I can get into him, I have the righteousness of God in him in him to other text. First Corinthians one and verse 30.

56:14 First Corinthians one and verse 30. But of him that is by God's action. Are you in Christ Jesus who was made unto us wisdom from God and righteousness? When is he made righteousness to me?

56:38 When by God's gracious activity, I am planted into Christ, then in Christ wrapped up in Christ. God sees me as he sees his son. Philippians chapter three, the last text, Olympians chapter three, Paul's passion. Verse eight.

57:05 Barely. I count all things to be lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things. And count them, but refuse that I may gain Christ. Now notice and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.

57:37 He says, if all I can just be found in Christ in Christ, then I have as my possession. The righteousness of God. It's a marvelous, marvelous reality by uniting us to Christ. God constitutes us righteous in his sight.

58:00 One author has written God justifies us by passing on us for Christ's sake. The verdict which Christ obedience merited. God declares us to be righteous because he reckons us to be righteous. And he reckons righteousness to us, not because he accounts them to have kept his law personally, which would be a false judgment, but because he accounts them to be united to the one who kept it representatively.

58:29 And that's a true judgment for Paul. Union with Christ is not fancy, but fact, the basic fact, indeed, in Christianity and the doctrine of imputed righteousness is simply Paul's exposition of the legal aspect. Of this blessing, our solidarity with Christ and Christ with his people is the objective basis on which sinners are reckoned righteous and justly justified. That was the question.

Luther's Paradox and Toplady's Hymn

59:02 How can God justly put to our account the righteousness wrought by another? It's because the another acted on our behalf. Luther was known to speak. Paradoxical things.

59:17 And then Luther's own inimitable way. He stated it this way. He said out of myself and in Christ. I am not a sinner.

59:31 God sees no sin in me. He sees all of my sins. Pardon. He sees the perfect obedience of his son that warrants his full acceptance now and for all eternity out of myself.

59:47 And in Christ, I am no sinner out of Christ and in myself. I am still a sinner. You got it out of Christ and in myself. I'm yet a sinner and he had the famous Latin phrase simultaneously both sinner and Saint at one in the same time.

60:12 And that's reality and you and I must learn to come to grips with it or we will never know. And that's reality and you and I must learn to come to grips with it or we will never know. And that's reality and you and I must learn to come to grips with it or we will never know. There's a lovely hymn of top lady.

60:27 It's a soliloquy part of it is breathing out to the Lord part of its talking to himself. And he grasped the nub of this matter of how it is. We can be justified. He wrote from whence this fear and unbelief has not the father put to grief his spotless son for me.

60:50 And will the righteous judge of men condemn me for that dead of sin which Lord was charged on the complete atonement. Thou has made and to the utmost farthing paid what air thy people owed nor can his wrath on me take place. It's sheltered in thy righteousness and sprinkled with thy blood. If thou has my discharge procured.

61:20 And freely in my room endured the whole of wrath divine. Payment God cannot twice demand. First at my bleeding sureties hand and then again at mine. Turn then my soul unto thy rest.

61:40 The merits of thy great high peace have bought thy liberty. Trust in his efficacious blood. Nor fear thy banishment. From God since Jesus died for thee.

Pastoral Exhortation and Concluding Prayer

61:55 That's it my folks. You say how could anyone who claims to love the Bible and love Christ. Want to undermine imputation. Frankly I don't know.

62:08 I have to wonder have they ever felt the pangs of an accusing conscience. Owen was careful to say in his massive work on justification. Never really been answered. In my judgment.

62:22 In the judgment. In the judgment of men far more knowledgeable than I. He said I don't want anyone to pick up this book to discuss or think. I'm sorry I pounded the pulpit and drew some blood.

62:32 If that bothers you I'm doing fine. I'm all right. I'm not going to need any stitches. I do that about once a decade.

62:40 So the cherry wood on this pulpit doesn't yield much to my hands. But coming back Owen said I don't want anyone to discuss the subject of justification. He had no doubt about it. He said I wouldn't ask anyone to count each time I took it.

63:00 He said I'd ask anyone to take it. I'm saying to you, I'm not hiring. I don't want anyone to come in here and say I don't know what you're doing. I don't dare to ask anyone to do it.

63:10 I just want everyone to know I haven't done anything good. I know I've been wrong. I've been wrong all my life. I've been wrong.

63:17 I've been wrong all my life. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner.

63:23 if I rest in anything other than an alien righteousness, one external to me, found in the perfect obedience of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. May God grant that if someone sitting here with a smiting conscience run to Jesus, get into Christ, and the perfect righteousness of the Son of God will be put to your account, imputed to you, never to be reversed. There is therefore now, right now, no condemnation to them who are where? In Christ Jesus.

64:07 That's where you've got to be. Run to Christ. Cling to Him. And never let Him go.

64:14 Let's pray.

64:20 Our Father, we confess that these truths at times stagger us and paralyze us. We feel utterly unable to wrap the fingers of our brain around them. And we delight when we at least sense a little bit of being swallowed up in them. And how we pray that the Holy Spirit will shine upon the face of your Son and all that He has done to procure for sinners that perfect standing with you in the blessed provision of a free life.

64:59 We pray for your people that you would grant them spiritual understanding to be well grounded in this truth and to measure all teaching by it. And we pray, Father, that you would help us all in managing our walk before you to learn how to turn this truth into our friend when we are crippled and feel the weight of our remaining sin and would become paralyzed. Oh, Lord, help us, help us to know the difference between our dealings with sin as your children who have been justified and the guilty criminal who yet stands outside your favor. So, Lord, bless your truth and make it profitable to all of our hearts, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.