Let’s
deconstruct Martin Luther’s famous Latin quote: Simui is simultaneous, at the
same time. Justus is righteous. Et is and. Peccator is sinner. In our
justification we are, one and the same time, righteous and sinners. At the
heart of salvation is a double-imputation: My sin is imputed to Jesus. His
righteousness is imputed to me. In this twofold transaction God does not
negotiate sin nor does he compromise His own integrity to save me. He punishes
sin fully on the Cross of His Beloved Son and retains His own righteousness in
the process. Under the all seeing eye of God I still have sin – still do sin –
and always will. But by faith in Jesus Christ and the imputation of His
righteousness into my sin account, I am considered righteous by God.
“For He (God)
made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be
sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21,
NKJV) The Amplified Bible has it, “For our sake He made Christ
virtually to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become endued with -- viewed as being
in, and examples of -- the righteousness of God -- what we ought to be,
approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness.”
Verse 19 explains “that God was in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them.” God imputed
humanity’s trespasses on Christ who bore our sins on the cross suffering the
penalty we deserve, and imputed Christ’s righteousness on all who call upon His
name, that they might bear the righteousness He deserves. Through this “Double
Imputation” God is both Just -- holding us to His holy standards, and the
Justifier – accepting Christ’s righteousness as our own justification. In our
justification we are, at the same time, declared righteous while still sinners…
Amazing! This is the crux of salvation, the
only way a ‘Filthy Rag’ can stand in the presence of a holy God, and an
unbeatable deal... a holy swap of eternal destinies... death for life, for all
who are in need of God’s saving Grace...
A HOLY SWAP OF ETERNAL DESTINIES
(Lev. 16:21; Rom. 8:3; 1 Peter 2:24; Gal.
3:13; Eph. 2:1; Col. 2:13-14)
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