There was a
mother that wanted to show her child what Jesus had done in taking our
punishment. An opportunity came up one
night as they as they ate dinner. The
child was misbehaving, which often times led to the consequence of not getting
any dessert. The mother told the child,
“someone is not getting any dessert tonight.”
The child finished his dinner with much disappointment. Then the mom cleared the table and prepared a
single serving of ice cream. The boy
watched mourning the fact that mom was going to get dessert and he wasn’t. As she came back in she placed the ice cream
down in front of him which brought a huge smile, then a look of confusion. “Mommy, aren’t you having any dessert?” To which his mother explained, “I said that someone
was not getting dessert tonight for your bad behavior. I decided that I would suffer the
consequences for you.”
Today’s theme is
going to be “Imputation”. Our sermon
title can be, “Forgiveness through
Imputation”. Imputation is one of
the most important words you can know as a Christian. If we get our minds wrapped around this today
we will make huge strides forward in our faith.
What
is imputation? Imputation means “to charge
to someone’s account”. Imputation means
to credit to someone’s account, or to reckon to someone’s account, or, to
assign to someone’s account. When you’re
out to eat with someone and they tell the waiter, “Put it on my bill”, that’s imputation. The restaurant is charging your expenses to
the other person’s account.
And there is
probably no clearer example of imputation seen than the one Paul gives in
Philemon verses 17-18. Let’s read
Let us see two
ways imputation is at work here.
Imputing Righteousness (v17)
In
verse 17 we see imputing righteousness. “So if
you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.” In a
relational way, Onesimus was to be credited with Paul’s merit as a brother in
Christ. Paul wanted Philemon to welcome
Onesimus the same way he would welcome Paul.
The same gladness of heart, the same comradery, the same sense of
partnership that would be waiting for Paul if he arrived, was to be the
reception for Onesimus. Treat Onesimus the
same way you would treat Paul. To use
language we might use today, Paul wanted Philemon to say, “Any friend of Paul’s is a friend of mine!” “Any
partner of Paul’s is a partner of mine!”
This
wasn’t because of what Onesimus had earned in his relationship with
Philemon. It was because of what Paul
had. All the merit that was in Paul’s
account as a servant of Christ was to be credited to Onesimus’ account. In other words, Philemon was to treat
Onesimus, and feel towards Onesimus as though he was as accomplished as Paul in
the work of the Gospel, even though he wasn’t.
That’s how Paul wanted his personal equity to be used in this situation.
We
could not have a better runway into talking about Jesus Christ. This is exactly what happens to us in our
relationship with God when we believe in Jesus Christ. We have no merit on our own. There is nothing we can show to God about
ourselves that would earn us righteousness before Him. All our righteousness is as filthy rags
before Him (Isaiah 64:6).
So if we are
unable to produce righteousness all by ourselves in God’s sight, where could we
ever get it? If our account is empty,
and we are broke in terms of righteousness, how could we ever possibly be
righteous in God’s sight?
One word: imputation.
If we don’t have any righteousness in our own account then it must be
credited to our account from someone else’s.
It must be imputed. Here is the
amazing teaching of the Bible: all the
righteousness that Jesus Christ has in His account is credited to ours. All that is His is assigned to our
account. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God
made Him who had no sin to become sin for us so that we might become the
righteousness of God.” First
Corinthians 1:30 says that “Christ has become for us righteousness…” It is the righteousness of God that is
credited to our account through Jesus Christ.
Listen to Romans 1:17, “For in the Gospel a righteousness from God
is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last…” Romans 3:22, “This righteousness from God comes
through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Turn to Philippians 3:7-9
[Read].
Our account
before God is filled with the righteousness of God and it comes through Christ
when we put our faith in Him. This means
that God sees us as having righteousness.
And what Paul said to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus is what Christ says
to God on our behalf: “Welcome them as you would welcome me.”
Illustration:
If we look through a piece of red glass, everything is red; through blue
glass, everything is blue; through yellow glass, everything is yellow, and so
on. The glorious truth is that when we
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, God looks at us through the
Lord Jesus Christ. He sees us in all the white holiness of His Son. That is the
great New Testament doctrine of the imputation of our sin to the account of
Christ and His righteousness to our account.
So
this is what Paul was replicating in this situation. He is taking whatever merit he has with
Philemon, and he wants it to be credited to Onesimus’ account, so that Philemon
will forgive and accept Onesimus – so that he will “welcome him as he would
welcome Paul.”
Question: “If I’m
righteous before God, how come I struggle to be righteous in the way I act?” Answer:
Imputing is not the same as imparting.
Imputed righteousness means we are thought of as being righteous. Imparted righteousness would mean we actually
become righteous, or, to say it another way, we would have righteousness infused
in us. But this isn’t what happens: we don’t become righteous, instead we are
regarded as righteous. We are reckoned
as righteous. We are considered
righteous. But in our actual condition
we are not actually righteous.
This explains why
we still commit sin and it explains why the NT commands us to keep growing in
righteousness. It is not saying get more
righteous so you can be saved. It means
that from the moment you are saved you are considered by God to be fully
righteous, and you are credited with righteousness in your account
(righteousness you did not merit, but, was given to you). But from that point on in your day-to-day
living you increasingly conform your ways to be righteous.
Another way to
say it is that we are trying to live up to our righteous standing. It’s like being put into a position that is
far greater than you can fill. But once
in the position you start doing everything you can to live up to that
position. Paul said, “Live up to your
calling” and “live worthy of your calling”, which means, start being righteous
in your life as much as you are righteous in God’s standing.
Application: Forgiving through Imputing. I suggest that one way to help us forgive
another brother or sister is to impute righteousness to their account. In other words, credit them with
righteousness in your relationship with them.
Acknowledge that God has credited their account with righteousness. They didn’t earn it. They’ve been given it. Out of grace.
As a gift. And that is how we should
regard them too.
Imputing Sin (18)
Then
in verse 18, we see the Imputation of Sin.
Read verse 18 with me, “…”
Paul wants any
wrong that Onesimus has committed to be taken out of his account and credited
to Paul’s account. It is generally
understood by commentators that when Onesimus ran away he apparently stole some
money or some property. This is inferred
from the words, “If he owes you anything…”
This makes sense because if Onesimus, as a runaway slave who had nothing,
was going to make it all the way to Rome over 600 miles away, he would need
money. So whatever it is that Onesimus
took, Paul wants Philemon to no longer hold Onesimus responsible for paying it
back, but, instead charge Paul with the debt.
Oh how wonderful
a picture of what happens to our account when we trust in Christ. No wonder verse 18 of this letter is referred
to so often when it comes to this topic.
But here is an important point:
Before righteousness can be imputed into our account, our sin must be
taken out of our account. This is where
the second way imputation is at work in the Bible: the imputation of our sin into someone else’s
account. We learn that our sin was
imputed to Christ’s account. Our guilt
was assigned to His account. Listen to
Isaiah 53:5-6 and 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Galatians 3:13 and 1 Peter 2:24 and 1
Peter 3:18 and 1 John 2:2.
Again, this is
imputed sin, not imparted sin. Jesus did
not actually become a sinner – He was regarded as a sinner. He was not actually guilty, He was considered
guilty when He died on the cross.
(MacArthur pg 27, 29)
Illustration:
In the OT, under the Mosaic Covenant, the nation of Israel celebrated
the Day of Atonement once a year. On
that day the High Priest would lay his hands on a goat and confess the sins of
the nation. In doing so the sins of the
nation were being “credited” to the goat.
The sins that Israel had committed were being imputed to the goat. After this the goat would be led to the
outside of the camp and released. From
there the goat would walk away from the nation into the horizon never to be
seen again. “I have separated you from
sins as far as the east is from the west.”
Rather than the people being charged with their sins and driven away
from God, their sins were imputed to the goat and the goat was driven
away.
Illustration:
I remember a speaker one time sharing an illustration from his personal
life relating to this topic. He was a
father and had 2 kids – a boy and a girl.
One time when they were little his son did something that he was very
angry about. He didn’t want to punish
him while he was angry so he sent the kid to his room while he went out on the
porch to sit down and think about the situation – and cool off.
After a while of
sitting out there his little daughter came out and sat down next to him on the
porch steps. After a few moments of
silence she asked, “Daddy, are you upset with Tommy?” He said, “Yes, honey, I am upset with
him.” “Do you have to spank my
brother?” “Yes, honey, I’m going to have
to spank him. What he did was very wrong
and he needs to have a spanking.” A few
more moments of silence. “Dad?” “Yes, honey?”
“Can you spank me instead of Tommy?”
She
wanted the charges against her brother to be assigned to her account, and she
would pay the debt.
Application: I want to suggest a way of extending
forgiveness based on this idea of imputation.
Unforgiveness, by its very nature, means that we are continuing to
charge the person’s sin to their account.
That means that we are still seeking justice for what they’ve done, we
are still seeking that they pay what they owe for their wrongdoing. Here is where imputation comes in: their sin was charged to Jesus Christ’s
account already and paid for by Jesus Christ at the cross. God punished Jesus for their sin.
And if I can take
this wonderful doctrine and apply it in my personal relationships, then I
should consider imputation as the basis for my forgiveness. In other words, I should consider forgiving
someone because I impute their sins to Christ on the cross. In other words, I remove their charges from
their account and charge their sins to the cross of Jesus Christ.
“They must pay!”
someone says. But, no, Christ paid it
for them. And if that is so, and their
penalty has been paid for them, who am I to still charge to their account? I suggest that one way to help us forgive is
to put their offense on Christ’s tab.
When you sin as a
Christian and seek God’s forgiveness for your sin that is what God does every
time: He reckons the sin you committed
to His Son’s account, and it is another sin that was paid for at the
cross. That’s the basis for God’s
forgiveness of us in our relationship with Him, and it is to be ours.
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