JESUS BORE OUR SINS

ROMANS 1:18

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness

(Romans 1:18).

On what possible grounds could God ever say to you, “You are just,” when in fact you are not just? How can an unjust person be justified?

The Bible tells us that Jesus bore our sins. This language speaks of a quantitative act of transfer: The guilt that belongs on one man is given to another. Christ willingly took upon Himself all of our sin. Once this happened, God no longer saw a righteous person when He looked upon Jesus; instead He saw a mass of sin. Our sin was transferred or imputed to Jesus.

Now if this transfer had been all that happened, you and I would never be justified. If Jesus took all of our sins and the punishment for them, this still would not be sufficient to get us into the kingdom of God. All it would do is keep us out of hell. We would still not be just in the full sense.

The Concept of Positive Imputation

It is not simply innocence that gets us into the kingdom of God but positive goodness. Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). As a result of Jesus’ death, considered by itself, we are not considered guilty of anything, but we have not merited anything either.

So the point is that there was a double transfer. Not only was the sin of man imputed to Christ, but the righteousness of Christ was transferred to us, to our account. As a result, in God’s sight, we are seen as just and fully righteous. Christ is my Savior not only because He died, but also because He first of all lived a perfect life. Apart from His perfect life, transferred to my account, His death on the cross would merely be a tragedy.

CORAM DEO

Adam was innocent, but he fell into sin. If all the Cross accomplished was to pay for our sins, we would be restored to Adamic innocence. At the Cross, however, God did more than just take away our sins. He also gave to us the perfect work of Jesus, who as the Second Adam completed the work the first Adam had failed to do. Here is another example of theology enlarging the heart’s capacity for gratitude. Profound truth leads to stimulating worship and praise. Pray today that God would increase your desire to make Christian education a lifelong pursuit.

For further study: Isaiah 53; Romans 5:12–21; Titus 3:5–7; 1 Peter 2:21–25

thursday

june