We have one more section to deal with, which will conclude this series. In an addendum, entitled “Substitutionary Atonement and Imputed Righteousness,” Troyer critiques imputed righteousness (i.e., justification by faith). Unfortunately, this section contains the same kinds of misunderstandings present in the rest of the booklet. He does raise genuine concerns, but on the main these are not an issue for a biblically robust understanding of imputed righteousness.
Imputed Righteousness
The author summarizes imputed righteousness as follows. “The idea of imputed righteousness…works like this. …[When we believe in Jesus], our sins are attributed to Jesus…and He deposits His righteousness into our account.” This is a fairly accurate definition (at least of the forensic aspect of imputed righteousness). The Bible teaches that those who put their faith in Christ are “accounted righteous” or “justified.” This means that the sins of believers are taken by Christ, and they receive His righteousness. This is crystal clear in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Jesus became sin for us (not becoming sinful, but suffering as a sinner), that we might become righteous in Him.
Let’s dig into both sides of this a little more. First, does the Bible teach that Christ took our sins? I’m convinced it does. Here are some Scriptures which teach that Christ died to atone for our sins.
- “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3)
- “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)
- “Our Lord Jesus Christ…gave Himself for our sins.” (Galatians 1:4)
- “In all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He…might make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17)
- “He does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”(Hebrews 7:27)
- “This Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.” (Hebrews 10:12)
- “[Christ] Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness.” (1 Peter 2:24)
- “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18)
- “He was manifested to take away our sins.” (1 John 3:5)
- “In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)
What should we conclude from these passages and many more like them? That Jesus died to atone for our sins. How did He do this? By taking our sins on Himself and suffering in our place. Now, I know that some who disagree with PSA will take these passages according to their own framework and think that Jesus took away our sins by His death without enduring the wrath of God. But that understanding does not explain how He did this! If He did not endure our punishment, how can God be just yet justify sinners? That seems to be the heart of Paul’s argument in Romans 3, where he says that God delivered Christ up as a propitiation for our sins so that He could be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. God maintains His justice, yet saves sinners from the penalty His justice would inflict on their sins.
Let’s look at this a different way. The Bible says that God is the judge of all the earth. That means that every single person will appear before Him and will be judged for what they do. All people by nature are lawbreakers. When they are judged by God’s righteous standard, they are shown to be sinners deserving judgment. God the judge can relate to these sinners in one of three ways. (1) He can condemn them for their sin. This upholds His justice but means no one will be saved. (2) He can compromise His justice and receive them as they are. This means sinners can be saved but it requires that God deny His own character. Or (3) He can change sinners into righteous people so they no longer deserve condemnation. This third option upholds His righteous standard, yet allows Him to save sinners. This third option is possible because Christ has taken our sin upon Himself and freed us from judgment. In addition (as we’ll explore next), He has given us His righteousness so that we are not only free from judgment but we actually deserve God’s blessing. We are in Christ, and therefore God relates to us with the same love as He has had eternally toward the divine Son.
Penal substitutionary atonement explains how the above paragraph can be true. The atonement theory proposed in Troyer’s booklet does not explain how this can be true, and is unsatisfactory for sinners who desire to be reconciled to God.
What about imputed righteousness? Does the Bible teach that Jesus’ righteousness is accounted to those who believe in Him? I am likewise convinced of this. Here are a few Scriptures which show that this is true.
- “…the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.” (Romans 3:22)
- God is the “justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:26)
- “Righteousness…shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.” (Romans 4:24)
- “By one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:19)
- “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
- “A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 2:16a)
- “We have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law.” (Galatians 2:16b)
- “Abraham ‘believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:6-7)
- “Those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.” (Galatians 3:9)
- “I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” (Philippians 3:8-9)
- “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)
The constant theme of Scripture is that those who believe in Christ are considered righteous before God. They have Christ’s righteousness on their account, so that they no longer deserve God’s wrath. It has been taken away in Christ. Righteousness is put on our account, accounted to us, imputed to us.
Troyer observes that “The idea of imputed righteousness is greatly treasured among those who embrace a full-blown substitutionary penalty theory of the atonement.” Troyer is right! This is the glory of the gospel, without which salvation is impossible. There is no way for a sinner to be reconciled to God apart from the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. But Troyer criticizes this understanding of imputed righteousness.
The author does have a legitimate gospel concern. He is concerned that teaching imputed righteousness makes people unconcerned about righteous living, feeling free to continue in sin rather than repenting of it and growing in godliness. “I have heard the excuses for continuing in sin—too close to home for comfort: ‘Our righteousness is as filthy rags.’ ‘We are merely sinners saved by grace.’” He says that imputed righteousness allows us to “maintain a state of holiness without the practice of holiness.”
Like Troyer, I am concerned when someone assumes that imputed righteousness frees them to live in sin. Many Christians have embraced a truncated view of the gospel which limits it to imputed righteousness and fails to connect all the pieces in the New Testament’s teaching on salvation.
Let’s use Romans as an example. In chapters 1-3 Paul describes the universal sin problem, and in chapters 3-5 he explains how Christ answers that problem, focusing especially on the doctrine of imputed righteousness. At the end of chapter 5, Paul celebrates the grace of God which pardons sinners and declares them righteous in Christ if they only believe. Faith is all that’s necessary for sinners to receive Christ’s righteousness on their account.
Paul opens chapter 6 by anticipating an incorrect conclusion. Some will conclude that, if we are saved by faith alone, and Christ’s righteousness is accounted to us apart from works, we are now free to live however we wish. That false conclusion dies a quick death in the first two verses of chapter 6. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” He says that it is incorrect to assume that, just because our standing before God has been transformed through Christ that we are now free to live the rest of our lives for sin. No, we have been united to Christ through His death, and we not only have His righteousness on our account, but we have His life in our hearts by His Spirit. It is incorrect to conclude that we are free to sin simply because the consequences of our sins have been removed in Christ’s atonement for sin.
Paul deals with a similar problem in Galatians 2. In verses 11-16 Paul describes his conflict with Peter over legalism, reminding Peter that all who are saved—even the apostles—are saved by faith in Christ. “We have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ.” Does that mean that Christ, by removing the consequences of sin, has set us free to live for sin? No! So Paul says in verse 17, “But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!” Is it right to think that Christ enables our sin (is a minister or servant of sin) by removing the consequences of our sins by His justifying grace? No! Christ by His grace does free us from the consequences of our sins, but that’s not the sum total of His work. More to the point, it is clear both from Romans and from Galatians that it is incorrect to conclude that justification by faith alone (imputed righteousness) frees us to live for sin.
Imputed righteousness does not exclude the possibility or the necessity of righteous living. In fact, the Bible teaches that imputed righteousness is the necessary groundwork for righteous living. We must be brought into God’s favor by His grace to us in Christ before we can experience any of the rest of His redemptive graces. The Spirit, who alone can enable righteous living, is given to those who believe in Christ and are justified. All of God’s graces come to us as we are united to Christ. When we are “in Christ,” we are justified and we are made partakers of all of the blessings God gives to those who love Him.
It is true that the doctrine of justification by faith alone is sometimes abused to excuse sinful lifestyles. But the fact that the doctrine is sometimes abused does not negate its truth! What people need is not, as this author proposes, a lower view of grace, but rather a higher view! Those who think God’s gracious pardoning of their sin frees them to live for themselves have not yet understood grace. They are thinking of grace merely as escape from the consequences of sin, not as total life transformation. And they are merely thinking of escaping hell, not of reconciliation to God.
Postscript: Readers are encouraged to engage thoughtfully with my articles and with Lester Troyer’s booklet. Copies of the booklet can be obtained by writing to Lester Troyer at lestroyer@norcell.us. Copies of the full manuscript of my paper can be obtained by writing editor@swordandtrumpet.org.