JUSTIFICATION BY
IMPUTATION - THE THEOLOGY OF REPRESENTATION & SUBSTITUTION
Why is biblical history important?
Biblical history gives us a frame
of reference to understand the purpose and spiritual nature of
reality. The whole Bible presents
itself as the unfolding process of God's dealings with man and of His
self-disclosure to man. Figures and
types serve to condition our thinking
and instill certain concepts so we will recognize the truth when it is
revealed. Thus the Old Testament builds
a conceptual framework that provides the
categories for understanding the ways of
God and comprehending the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Why are theological terms important? Theological terms carry the
concepts. They encapsulate the doctrines
in a vocabulary so we may contemplate and communicate them. [see TAXONOMY, bottom Key to
the Bible, Student 1 http://pop.eradman.com/]
What is Federal Headship and how is it depicted in the following
passages? Federal Headship or covenantal
representation is the teaching that the father or forefather represents
his family, his descendants.
"Levi…paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was
still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him." (Heb.7:9-10)
Levi was a distant descendant of Abraham, yet it is said that Levi
paid tithes to Melchizedek even though he wasn't born when Abraham did
this. Certainly Levi did not physically
carry out the act of paying tithes, but Abraham did as the representative
head of his descendants.
The first man, Adam, represented the human race in
disobedience to God. As the representative
of all humans, Adam’s sin was considered by God to be the act of all
people and his penalty of death was judicially made everyone's penalty. When he fell, we all fell.
"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world,
and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned -
"For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed
when there is no law. Nevertheless death
reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the
likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to
come." (Rom.5:12-14)
Both Adam and Jesus are representative heads of
groups. The phrases "in Adam"
and "in Christ" refer to one’s position in relationship to
each of them.
"For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be
made alive" (1 Cor.15:22).
“The first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam [Jesus] became a
life-giving spirit" (1 Cor.15:45).
Why should we be held responsible for Adam's sin? To answer this, we
need to keep in mind that our ways and thoughts do not correspond to God's, Rom.11:33-34;
Isa.55:8. His ways and thoughts are
superior (v.9). Implication: He has
to educate us to the way He thinks and teach us His ways. Read again the opening paragraph.1
What 3 distinct acts of imputation are involved in
Christian theology? INHERITED
SIN: Adam's sin is imputed to all of us, his descendants. It was judicially set to our account so that
we are held responsible for it and suffer the consequences of it. FORGIVENESS: [Neg.] the transfer [imputation] of one’s moral guilt to
Christ and the penalty exacted upon Him so He suffered the consequences of
it. This judicially concludes and
forever settles the matter of that one’s accusation before God. RIGHTEOUSNESS: [Pos.] The
unconditional acceptance of justified believers made right with God and
perfected through Christ's sacrifice establishes our permanent standing before
God.2
How does the Adam's sin affect us? We inherited true moral guilt from Adam as well as a sin
nature - an alienation and contrariness toward God.
"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
(Rom.5:8). "We were by nature
children of wrath like the rest of mankind" (Eph.2:3).
What does our being sinners mean? We are unable to please God by any action, attitude, or
motive.
"I know that nothing good dwells within me"
(Rom.7:18) "the heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately corrupt" (Jer.17:9) "those who are in the flesh cannot
please God" (Rom.8:8) "you
were dead in your trespasses and sins" (Eph.2:1-2) [see
Approaching the Bible with Prejudice http://pop.eradman.com/]
Why is "just-as-if-I'd-never-sinned" an incomplete
definition of justification? Justification is
a legal declaration of one's right standing with God. There is a difference between being guilty
and then pardoned, and being found not guilty [innocent]. Lack of guilt alone without
justification or righteousness is an insufficient basis for approaching
the holy God.
What makes justification possible? The generosity (Rom.11:32, 35) of God's grace
(Rom.4:16) through imputation - accounting or reckoning something
to someone so that it may then be regarded as theirs - what is put to your
account is treated as yours; attributing to you what you did not earn or
considering what is yours as belonging to someone else.3
How is it that Christ could give his life in exchange
for ours? How can Jesus Christ act
as our substitute? This is
the thread in Rom.5:6-11, which Rom.5:12-21 picks up and answers,
and "therefore" (v.12) makes the connection: Christ died on
our behalf, therefore, we must see that the workings of this exchange
is of the same type – “just as in Adam...so also in Christ.” In biblical theology, this substitution
is the act of a federal representative, the "mediator" or
"guarantor of the new covenant" (Heb.7:22; 8:6; 9:15; 12:24; cf. 1
Tim.2:5-6) whereby we, the redeemed, receive an eternal inheritance.
What then is the precise basis for this great exchange of
Christ for us? Paul answers by
introducing Christ as the Last Adam (Rom.5:12-21; summarized in 2
Cor.5:14-15:
"One died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live
should no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and
was raised").
How can one die for all? "Since
death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will
be made alive" (1 Cor.15:21-22). Christ functions as group representative
in a way analogous with Adam (Rom.5:15-17).4 The whole atoning work of Christ was
a legal action where Jesus substituted himself for sinners and paid the
legal requirement of the punishment of sin - death.
In what ways did God inculcate this concept to
Is it biblical to say that Christ took our place and suffered our
punishment? Yes, vicarious
means substitute. Christ's atonement was both vicarious
and legal.5 There
is no punishment without law and there is no law without punishment. The sentence upon the one who breaks the law
of God is death.
"We had the sentence of death within ourselves in order
that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead." (2
Cor.1:9) "Then Abraham raised his
eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his
horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt
offering in the place of his son." (Gen.22:13)
The Old
Testament points like a massive arrow to the consummation of all sacrifices, an
event of immeasurable importance and worth.
"Surely our griefs He Himself
bore, and our sorrows He carried; He was pierced through for our
transgressions. He was crushed for our
iniquities. The chastening for our
well-being fell upon Him and by His scourging we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of
us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all" (Isa.53:4-5). "For the
transgression of my people he was stricken...he will bear their iniquities...he
bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (53:8,
11-12). Rom.4:5, "He who was
delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of
our justification." 1 Pet.2:24,
Jesus "bore our sins in His body on the cross."
Why did Christ die? The Old Testament and its sacrificial offerings show that
the blood of animals was never efficacious to cleanse from sin (Heb.10:4). Rather, the blood symbolized the element of
life offered for the life of the sinner.
God always intended that the entire system of sacrificial offerings be
of expiatory significance [removal of guilt] (Job 1:5; 42:3, 9; Lev.17:2-11). The alienation of man from God through human
sin made reconciliation necessary, and the form of that reconciliation was
ordained to be a cross on which the ultimate sacrifice would be made. In the New Testament, John the Baptist
declares, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"
(Jn.1:29). And our Savior
Himself declares His flesh and blood to be the sin offering for the whole world
(Jn.6:51). The
What does "atonement" mean? The Hebrew word for
atonement means "covering."
The Jewish sacrificial system with its "covering" offerings
made possible man's approach to the presence of a holy God. The sprinkling of blood upon the mercy seat
in the tabernacle (Lev.16:15-16) and the sprinkling of the blood of the
Passover lamb (Ex.12:7) underscored the importance of substitutionary sacrifice under the Old
Covenant between Jehovah and
"Propitiation"
signifies the removal of
wrath by the offering of a gift.
The sinner is someone who has broken the law of God; hence, the legality
of punishment. Jesus is our propitiation
because turned away the lawful wrath of God against the guilty.
Rom.3:25, "whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was
to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed
over the sins previously committed."
1 Jn.2:2, "He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and
not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." 1 Jn.4:10, "In this is love…that He…sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
When
Jesus was on the cross he said "It is finished," [not I am finished]
(Jn.19:30, Greek, "tetelistai," a
term used in statements in ancient
1 Cor.15:56, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of
sin is the law." Rom.6:23,
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord."
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1.
If
it was not for the biblical principle that one acts as representative
for others (Federal Headship), then Jesus could not have represented us
on the cross and it could not be said of us that "...you [we] have died and your [our] life is hidden with
Christ in God," (Col.3:3); "since we have died with Christ, we believe
that we shall also live with Him," (Rom.6:8). As Adam's offense resulted in condemnation to
all people, so also, Jesus' sacrifice results in justification for those who
believe in Him (Rom.5:18). It is because
of this legal representation taught in the framework of biblical history
that we are able to be saved at all.
2.
Of
course we are no more personally guilty of Adam's sin than Christ is personally
guilty of ours, or than we are personally meritorious because of His
righteousness. It is a judicial
transaction. We receive salvation from
Christ in precisely the same way that we receive condemnation and ruin from
Adam. In each case the result follows
because of the close and official union which exists between the persons
involved. The “with
Christ” of Col.3:3 and Rom.6:8 is possible
because we are “in Christ” by mystical union through
faith – hence, when He died, we died; when He rose, we rose. It is by virtue of our union with Him
that His death as our representative does not pervert justice.
The imputation of our guilt to Christ does not violate justice because
He willingly and knowingly consents to a real spiritual identification with His
people.
The
"covenant of peace" extended to Phinehas
whereby his descendants benefited with a perpetual priesthood (Num.25:12-13),
is later interpreted as being tantamount to receiving imputed
righteousness: "This was credited to him
as righteousness for endless generations to come" (Ps.106:31). The same terms are used of Abraham whose faith
was counted as righteousness (Gen.15:6; Rom.4:3) and shows the organic
connection of thought between imputation and covenant that Paul is
developing in Rom.5:12-21. Under the new
covenant we receive "the free gift of righteousness" (Rom.5:17b)
because God reckons faith in Christ as righteousness: [see Examining the Imputation of
the Active Obedience of Christ http://pop.eradman.com/]
"to the one who does not work but trusts Him who justifies
the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks
of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from
works…The purpose was to make him [Abraham] the father of
all who believe [headship]…That is why
it [the promise to Abraham and his offspring] may rest on
grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring…It will be counted to us…"
(Rom.4:6, 11b, 16a, 24)
"and be found in Him [Christ] not having a
righteous of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith
in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Phil.3:9)
3.
Rom.5:12-21 is an exposition of forensic justification going
back to the beginnings of God's revelation. The passage opens referring to what precedes
it: "Therefore [for this reason] just as sin entered the
world" identifies the preceding thoughts as forming the rationale for
something that follows. Paul is
connecting Rom.5:12-21 to a fundamental point of the Gospel that he had
been stressing: that Christ died on our behalf while we were weak and helpless
(5:6), guilty sinners (5:8), rebellious and enemies of God (5:10).
4.
Paul's main topic in Rom.5:12-21 is the Adam-Christ comparison. He introduces the comparison in verse 12, "just
as through one man," but then breaks off in mid-comparison to make
some important qualifying statements about the workings of law and imputation
in redemptive history (v.13-14). Paul
does not say "just as Adam...so also everyone..." which would
indicate the second half of a comparison.
Instead, the words rendered "and in this way" introduce the
result of Adam's sin for "all men" [not
part of a comparison]. Paul is
not comparing the "one man" with "all men," but asserting
that Adam's sin was itself the sin of all people.
Paul repeatedly shows in verses 15-21
that he is not comparing us with Adam, but Christ with Adam and that the
cause of our death was not our trespass, but Adam's.
"Sin entered the world through one man...in this way death
came to all men...the many died by the trespass of the one man...judgment
followed one sin and brought condemnation...by the trespass of the one man,
death reigned through that one man...the result of one trespass was
condemnation for all men...through the disobedience of the one man the many
were made sinners." (v.12, 15-19)
Paul
explicitly denies the comparison of Adam's sin with our sin: "death reigned...even over those who did not sin
in the same way that Adam did, by breaking a negative [prohibitory] commandment"
(v.14). All sin is law-breaking (1
Jn.3:4), but our sin is not
comparable with Adam's because he was the federal representative of the whole
race in whom all fell and we are not.
Paul distinguishes between "sin" and
"transgression" in Rom.5:14. Those
who died from Adam until Moses did sin, but it was not like the transgression
of Adam, because Adam was under a behavioral mandate sanctioned by a curse for
disobedience: "In the day you eat of that tree you will die." Adam was already the natural head of the race
by the creation order. By issuing the
commandment sanctioned by a curse for disobedience, God was displaying him as
the federal representative of the whole race.
Paul
profoundly shows the interrelationship of Christ with Adam saying that Adam
"was a pattern [typos] of the one to
come" (Rom.5:14). Christ, who was
destined to serve as the head over all things in the future, was already in
view when Adam was set up as federal representative of his race. This is the link that validates Paul's comparing
Adam's transgression with Christ's act of obedience and their respective
outcomes.
Paul's overriding purpose here is the overwhelming glory of grace [the
point of 5:15-17]. The comparison
between Adam and Christ underscores the fact that if Adam's disobedience (v.19) had real
consequences leading to condemnation (v.18) because all were judicially
constituted sinners by the transgression of Adam (v.19). Then in an analogous fashion, Christ's obedience (v.19) also had real
consequences. In Christ, the newly
created people (Eph.2:14-18) are judicially constituted righteous (v.19)
even though they are not righteous in themselves (1 Pet.3:18) and, therefore,
they are justified by the obedience of their Surety and Mediator. All who reject Christ must themselves bear
the full obligation to keep the whole law personally (Gal.5:2-3), yet in Adam
they are already condemned.
5. "Anti" is a Greek word pertinent
to understanding the concept of substitutionary
atonement - the idea that Christ died in our place. In speaking of His substitutionary
sacrifice, Christ declared, "The Son of
Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for [anti] many" (Mt.20:28).
At the Last Supper, during which Christ emphasized the vicarious
nature of
"Huper" is another Greek word
meaning in place of in contexts
dealing with the substitutionary atonement. "Be
reconciled to God. God made him who had
no sin to be sin for [huperemon] us, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor.5:21). "For Christ died for sins once for all,
the righteous for [huper] the unrighteous, to
bring us to God" (1 Pt.3:18).
The concepts of representation, substitution, and ransom
are illustrated in the Passover event (Ex.11f) which finally
released the Israelites from slavery/captivity in
"You shall be My treasured
possession among all peoples … and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation" (Ex.19:5-6).
6.
Imputed righteousness is often described as a legal fiction implying a false
construction. However, fictions of law
are properly used to deal with realities that cannot be dealt with
otherwise. Retribution
is a penal requirement of justice governed by what the offender deserves as
determined by guilt, proportionality, and equity. Penal substitution
is forgiveness of
sin because it is God himself in the person of the Son who pays the debt. The Bible illustrates that sin creates a
legal obligation by using forgiveness of "debt"
as a metaphor to refer to remission of sin ("Forgive us our debts," Mt.6:12)
as an act of mercy (see parable of the unforgiving servant,
Mt.18:21-35). As fallen creatures, a
debtor's righteousness is the only kind available to us.