“Imputed righteousness.” You may have heard that term before, or maybe not, but if you are in Christ, that is what you have. While that is fine and good, that means nothing if you don’t understand what imputed righteousness is. For this reason, I want to help you understand this concept. I believe when you do, you will be rejoicing for the rest of today. Let’s get started.
What Is Imputed Righteousness?
Before we can understand imputed righteousness, let’s understand what “imputed” means. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, impute means to credit or ascribe something to a person. Righteousness means to be in the right standing, or right position, before God. When put together, imputed righteousness means right standing or right positioning has been credited to you. You can also think of it as an exchange or transfer. Let me attempt an example. Let’s say you have a man with no money to his name who wants to buy a car. He walks into the dealer but can’t buy the car because he has no money or credit. However, the man has a best friend he grew up with who is now a billionaire. The billionaire calls the car dealer. He says, “allow this man to buy any car he wants and credit it to my account.” The billionaire was essentially giving the broke man access to his account, and the money he had was available for him to get the car. The broke man walks out a car owner, and the expense has been credited to someone else’s account.
This is what happened to us. We were broken—sinful with no right standing before God because of our sin. However, Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life, and when you put your trust in him, he takes his righteousness and credits it to your account. You gain access to righteousness not because of anything you have done but because Christ applied it to your account. This imputed righteousness puts you in right standing before the Father as if you had done the right thing all along.
Four Verses that Highlight Imputed Righteousness
Let me share with you four verses that highlight imputed righteousness.
1. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
2. “God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:28-30)
3. “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-24)
4. “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:17-19)
Within these verses lies a constant theme of imputed righteousness, which is a great exchange. Christ took on our sin, which was imputed to him, and we took on his righteousness, which was imputed to us. Remember: at one point, you were a lowly and despised sinner (not just you, but so was I). Now you stand justified because of the righteousness of Jesus applied to your account. When you grasp this, it just doesn’t get any better.
Why Do We Need Imputed Righteousness?
The logical question is, “why do we need Jesus’ righteousness?” We need his imputed righteousness because we don’t have the ability or capacity to obtain it on our own. The best effort we can give to obtain righteousness on our own falls woefully short of the high standard God has established. Isaiah 64:6 compares our righteousness to filthy rags, and Romans 3:10 reminds us that no one is righteous. The bottom line is that without Christ’s righteousness being imputed to us, we would have no hope of salvation, no hope of justification, and no hope of redemption. If you attempt to stand in your own righteousness, you will discover that you have nothing to stand on. Without imputed righteousness, there is no righteousness. Either you have Christ’s righteousness credited to your account, or you will have no righteousness at all. There are no other options.
How Can We Receive Imputed Righteousness?
The best part about imputed righteousness is that God desires to credit it to anyone willing to believe and receive it. We mentioned earlier in Romans 3:22 that this righteousness is available by faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. What it comes down to is you have two choices in life. You can struggle and strain to attempt to gain righteousness on your own, which you can’t do. Alternatively, you can receive the free gift of righteousness God offers through faith in Jesus Christ. Because these are the only two options, if you desire righteousness, your choice becomes clear.
The Responsibility of Imputed Righteousness
What should you do once Christ’s righteousness is imputed to your account? Here is the simple answer… live like it.
You have been saved. Live like it.
You have been set free from sin. Live like it.
You have been justified. Live like it.
You have been declared righteous. Live like it.
The imputed righteousness of Christ that has been applied to your life creates a responsibility and an obligation—not to the old way of living, but to the new life you have been given in Christ. At some point, the inward reality of your righteousness in Christ must shape your daily life. Here is how the Apostle Paul wrote it:
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:12-14)
When Christ’s righteousness was applied to your account, not only did he set the record clean, he empowered you to live a different life because he placed the Holy Spirit inside you. Think about it you have been cleaned up, set free, declared righteous, and empowered to live the life he desires you to live. As I said before, it just doesn’t get any better than this. All that is left to do is live the life he has empowered you to live. Here is possibly the best part of it. The same way he gives you his righteousness is the same way he gives you his strength. The same rules apply. You can try to live in your strength and fail miserably, or you can live in the power of the Holy Spirit and live powerfully. Again, I believe the choice is clear.
A Final thought on Imputed Righteousness
When I started, I said when you understand imputed righteousness, you would be rejoicing. I hope after reading this article that is what you are doing. If you are in Christ today, rejoice because your sins are forgiven, and you have been made clean. Rejoice because when God looks at you, he sees Christ’s righteousness all over you. Rejoice because you can live the life he desires—not in your own ability, but in his. You can live in the righteousness of Christ that God has imputed to you, and there is no better place to live.
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