The Miracle of Salvation (Part Five)

In the new birth our eyes are opened for Christ, in our conversion we turn to Him. But what happens in justification? Justification is a legal act of God, the Supreme Judge, in which He declares a sinner who believes in Christ to be righteous before Him.

The process of justification is described in our verse by a commonly called double imputation (transfer). First, my sin is imputed so completely to Jesus that HE becomes sin for me. Of course, even on the cross Jesus remains the one who knew no sin, the absolutely holy and sinless One. He does not become a sinner! He is made to be sin. My sin is so imputed and credited to Him that God treats Him as if He had done all my sins Himself. And since the cross is not only about my sin, but about the sins of thousands upon thousands from all time and nations, and because God treats His Son as if He had done them all by Himself, the cross is a bitter, bitter death! But when Jesus had fully carried the punishment for my sin, the wrath of God was completely quenched. I do not need to bear the punishment for my sin also myself. – On the basis of this alone, can God now declare me righteous?

The law of God does not only demand that transgressions be punished, but the law also demands that it be observed! That, too, I have not done and neither can I in the future. That is why our verse describes a second imputation, namely the transfer of the righteousness of Christ to me. The righteousness of Christ, that is the righteous life that HE has lived for me here on earth. HE loved God and man, just as I should love God and my neighbour. By crediting His perfect righteousness to me, I become the righteousness of God. And as a result, God treats me as if I had never committed a single sin!

Justification is a legal act of God. My sin is credited to Christ; His righteousness to me. On this basis God declares me to be righteous. Martin Luther described this process with the likewise legal and beautiful image of marriage: “Faith unites the soul with Christ like a bride with her bridegroom. In this marriage both hold everything in common, so that whatever Christ has, becomes the believing soul’s own, and whatever the soul has, becomes Christ’s own. As Christ has all goodness and blessedness, these are the soul’s own. As the soul has all vice and sin within himself, these become Christ’s own. Here now a happy exchange takes place. Through her wedding ring, which is faith, Christ takes on the sin of the believing soul and acts just as if he had done the sin Himself. And in Him the sins are swallowed up and drowned. For His righteousness is too strong for all sins. Now is this not a happy wedding celebration, when the rich, noble, and pious bridegroom, Christ, takes the poor, despised, and evil whore in marriage and frees her from all wickedness and adorns her with all goodness?”¹  (The important role of faith mentioned by Luther will be explained in the next part).

¹ Martin Luther, On the freedom of a Christian, free and slightly abridged translation of the German version of Luther’s book, with partial use of Tryntje Helferichs translation, 2013, Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.  p. 25f.