Friday 2 September 2011

The Truth about the Threat to the Doctrine of Imputation

"What  can wash away my sins?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus.  What can make me whole again?  Nothing but the blood of Jesus."  This old hymn is of course describing the beauty of the doctrine of Imputation.  The truth that while we were sinners God attributed our sins to Jesus and gave Him all the punishment that we deserved.  He then attributed Christ's righteousness to us and gave us every blessing Christ deserved.  This "Great Exchange" is the blessed hope of every believer. (2Cor. 5:21)

There are many threats to the doctrine of Imputation.  But one in particular may come as a surprise to many of us.  It comes from its most fervent supporters.  The threat comes from us.  You see we often give lip service to the doctrine of Imputation but rely on our works.  Our default position as sinners is works-righteousness.  That is why all the religions of the world rely on works for salvation except for Christianity.

The sin of works-righteousness is creeping into mainstream evangelicalism.  It may have even crept into your own life.  I know that I have seen it in mine.  Let's say that I have a really bad day.  I fight with my husband and I yell at my kids.  Then everything starts going wrong; my van breaks down and my basement floods.  I begin to think that I as a saved individual have become unacceptable to God.  I am threatening the doctrine of imputation with this thought pattern.  I am thinking in my heart that there is something that I can do to make myself acceptable to God.  As though God needs a little help in order to forgive me of my sin.

Out of this type of thinking is born legalism.  I may decide to do something to improve my standing with God.  I wake up one morning and determine in my heart to serve my husband and children that day with a good attitude.  That day everything goes right; my husband gets a raise and the children clean the whole house without being asked.  I figure that God has deemed me acceptable and is looking favourably upon me.  Somehow my works have helped me continue my right standing with God.

Of course this type of thinking is completely incorrect.  There is absolutely nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable to God.  There is no sliding scale of sin with God.  In Romans 4:5-8, Paul makes it clear the imputation of righteousness to us through Christ is completely apart from any human work.  Christ's blood has washed away all my sins whether they are in the past, present, or future.  As Christians we need to embrace this doctrine wholeheartedly.

We need to realize that we are pleasing to God based on Christ's righteousness alone being imputed to us.  We do not need to somehow work to continue to attain this righteousness.  If we do sin we can pray and ask God for His forgiveness.  1John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Unfortunately, self-righteousness and works-righteousness will continue to creep up in our Christian circles.  The important thing is to recognize it in our own lives and as Christians we shouldn't give it a foothold.  We need to lean fully on the doctrine of Imputation and remember - "What can wash away my sins?  Nothing (absolutely nothing) but the blood of Jesus."  Do I hear an Amen?

2 comments:

  1. There is a difference between God's discipline of His children and the question of whether we can earn our salvation, and even the matter of whether we are trying to earn our salvation. First John chapter three verse six assures us that if we are saved we are not going to continue in sin, but John in chapter two says, if we sin we have an advocate with the Father. This means sometimes the things that go wrong in our life are directly related to God disciplining us for our own good, they come because we disobey. Sometimes the troubles come because we live in a fallen world. If we are in Christ we can still commit the sin of trying to work for our salvation, but of course we won't be long deceived by that false idea. Nevertheless, the effect of grace realized is a hatred for sin, we will never justify sin because we know we were bought with a precious price.

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