The doctrine of double imputation
If God’s grand plan of salvation could be summarized in only one of the 31,102 verses of Scripture, that verse I would pick is 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake He made Him to be
sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
“For our sake” is actually two words in the Greek which appear together 17 times in the New Testament, always and exclusively speaking of a group called the elect, the chosen children of God, the men and women and boys and girls for whom the gospel of Jesus Christ is the exclusive gift of eternal grace and peace.
Christianity is for believers only. Only, you must know what you believe in, namely Jesus Christ, and what He has accomplished to unite believers with God. What Christ had done, aptly summarized in this one verse of Scripture, is known as the doctrine of double imputation.
The first part of the plan contains a plethora of pronouns. The “He” would be God the Father, the “Him” would be God the Son. God the Spirit is not expressly mentioned in this song of salvation, but God the Father ordained it, God the Son accomplished it, and God the Spirit applies it to your life.
“Sin” and “knew” are the words which require further analysis. We live in a world that no longer knows sin, one that seeks to erase sin from our vocabulary, a culture that says nothing is a sin except saying that something is a sin. God, however, takes sin a little more seriously.
Sin may be defined as anything done which is not faithful to the word of God and/or anything done not to the express glory of God, in deed or thought, in commission or omission. And we are all guilty.
The seriousness of sin is owed to the grandeur of God, who is holy and just beyond measure. He by His nature must hate sin and by His office He must punish sin to the limit. At the same time, God is love and full of grace and mercy. Therefore, He made a plan to punish sin so that He can be a just judge and still provide His people with forgiveness and freedom to spend now and eternity with Him.
If you cannot see yourself as a sinner, then you cannot count Christ as your Savior. If sin is not a big deal to you, then the cross is something you can play with once or twice a year, or maybe even wear around your neck. But if you know that it is your sins that nailed Jesus to the cross, the cross has meaning, which means Jesus will take all of your sins from you and bear the punishment Himself.
Sovereign grace that produces saving faith puts you “in Him” on the cross. Christ takes your sin and bears it before God. All of the punishment you deserve is taken by Jesus instead. You are forgiven and free and will never by punished by God for your sins. That’s one side.
On the other side, you also share in the righteousness and resurrection of Christ. Look at your picture in 2 Corinthians 5:17, a photo taken just before the plan is explained in verse 21: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
What’s new is you! You are not only saved by the death of Jesus Christ, you are saved by the life of Jesus Christ. The righteousness He earned by living a perfect life, the righteousness He showed by defeating death through resurrection, this perfect life of righteousness is yours by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Sins are gone and life is rightly aligned with God forever. This is the doctrine of double imputation. There had to be a Savior, there had to be a perfect life, there had to be a sacrificial death and there had to be a righteous resurrection. When by faith the doctrine of double imputation truly touches your soul, then your motto is the same as the Apostle Paul who said, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Give your life to the Lord today, for the first time or afresh and anew, and delight in the double imputation of Christ.
Chuck DeVane is the pastor of Lake Hamilton Baptist Church. He is a graduate of Valdosta State University, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He has served churches in Arkansas and Georgia, and preached the gospel across the USA and other countries. He can be emailed at pastorchuck@lakehamiltonbaptistchurch.org.