The doctrine of double imputation is central to the gospel. The term double imputation describes what Christ does for his people in his redemptive work on the cross. There are two ‘transactions’ that occur which are directly related to the believer’s justification, and 1 Corinthians 5:21 sums them up beautifully:
“For our sake, He [God] made him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him [Christ], we might become the righteousness of God.”
At the cross, Jesus takes our sin and gives us his righteousness. These are the two foundational ‘transactions’ of our justification, which is the basis for salvation. Many people misunderstand salvation in that they think that only forgiveness of sin is required. I have found that an easy way to understand why this is not totally correct is to look at the terms of the covenant of life that God gave to Adam in the garden. The covenant of life is also known as the covenant of works. There were two premises outlined in this covenant: 1. God told Adam that if he disobeyed he would die. 2. God told Adam that if he obeyed he would have eternal life. In others words, God’s promise is summed up as such: curse for disobedience and blessing for obedience. Now think about where we are as sinful men. Have we disobeyed? Yes, we have, so we deserve the curse of death. Have we obeyed? No, we have not, so we do not deserve the blessing of life. And yet, if we are saved, we escape the death that we are due and receive the blessing that we are not due! This is why it is important to understand double imputation. Jesus “becomes a curse for us” (Gal 3:13). He redeems us from the death that is due to us. And he also provides the perfect obedience (righteousness) that is required for us to receive the blessing of eternal life.
if we are saved, we escape the death that we are due and receive the blessing that we are not due!
In addition to being central to the gospel, there is another reason why it is important to understand double imputation. Because God is a perfectly holy, righteous and just God, he requires sin to be punished, and he requires His people to be perfectly righteous. He cannot simply lay aside either of these requirements. Jesus death on the cross was the punishment for our sins that were imputed to him. His shed blood is described in Romans 3:25 as a propitiation. What this means, is that God’s wrath was ‘satisfied’ by the shedding of Christ blood. God could not overlook our sin. This propitiation was necessary for God to forgive our sin while still maintaining His own perfect righteousness and justice.
Also of significance is the perfection of Christ himself. In order to impute righteousness to us, Jesus had to be perfectly righteous. This probably seems obvious. Most people, though, would point to Jesus’ life of perfect obedience as the ‘proof’, so to speak, of this perfection. However, less commonly do we think about another critical piece: Jesus was not born of Adam. This is very significant because everyone who is born of Adam inherits the sin nature of Adam. (The theological term for this inherited sin nature is ‘original sin’.) Therefore, Jesus having been conceived by the Holy Spirit is of immense importance to soteriology.
In double imputation, my sins are imputed to Christ, and his righteousness is imputed to me. The same God who requires justice also provides this justice. This is why Paul could say in Romans 3:26 that God is both just and the justifier. What an amazing truth this is! Praise be to our merciful and just God.
Soli deo gloria!