Imputation is
the act of God by which
He credits or reckons something
to a person’s account.
In the doctrine of salvation,
it refers especially to the
crediting of the believer’s sin to Christ
and the crediting of Christ’s perfect righteousness
to the believer.
It is a legal (forensic) transfer
that lies at the heart of
justification by faith.
The concept of imputation is rooted in several key passages:
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
“David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’” (Romans 4:6-8, quoting Psalm 32)
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:3; see also Genesis 15:6)
The Greek word often translated “counted,” “credited,” or “reckoned” is logizomai, a term used in financial and legal contexts for placing something on someone’s account.
Historic Protestant theology speaks of a double imputation in the gospel:
- The imputation of the believer’s sin to Christ On the cross, God treated Christ as if He had committed the sins of His people, though He Himself was sinless. Christ bore the penalty that those sins deserved.
- The imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believer Through faith, God treats the believer as if he or she had lived the perfect life of Christ. The righteousness of Christ is credited to the believer’s account.
This double exchange is the foundation of the believer’s full acceptance with God.
¶ Imputation and Justification
Imputation is essential to justification. Justification is God’s legal declaration that a person is righteous. That declaration is not based on any righteousness inherent in the sinner, but on the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed to him or her. Faith is the instrument that receives this imputed righteousness; it is not itself the ground of justification.
- 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.” The heart of the great exchange: Christ, who had no sin, was treated as sin for us, so that we who had no righteousness might be counted righteous in Him.
- Romans 4:3-8, 22-25 – “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness… That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness.’ But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” Justification is by faith, not works. God counts righteousness to the ungodly who believe. Abraham is the pattern, and the same counting of righteousness is for all who trust in the risen Christ.
- Romans 5:17-19 – “For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Adam’s disobedience brought condemnation; Christ’s obedience brings justification and the free gift of righteousness to all who receive it.
- Galatians 3:6 – “Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’” Paul returns to Genesis 15:6 to prove that justification has always been by faith, not by works of the law.
- Philippians 3:9 – “…and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” Paul renounces every claim to his own law-based righteousness and rests only in the righteousness that God gives through faith in Christ.
- Genesis 15:6 – “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” The foundational Old Testament text. Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness — the pattern for all who are justified by faith.
- Isaiah 53:6, 11 – “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all… Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.” The Servant bears the iniquity of the many and, by His knowledge/obedience, causes many to be accounted righteous. Clear Old Testament roots of substitution and imputation.
- 1 Peter 2:24 – “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” Christ bore our sins in His own body so that we might live to righteousness. The exchange is both substitutionary (He bears our sins) and transformative in its result (we live to righteousness).
Imputation protects the freeness and certainty of the gospel. Because the believer’s standing before God rests on what has been credited to him from Christ, it is secure and complete from the moment of faith. The Christian does not work to achieve a righteousness of his own but receives by faith the perfect righteousness of Jesus. This truth produces deep humility, strong assurance, and lasting gratitude.
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