Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I'd like to bring a message this
morning on what the Bible means by the word imputation. What the Bible means by the word
imputation. The text for this morning is
found in Luke chapter 22. And it is what our Lord said
right before he went into the garden of Gethsemane. And that's
when his suffering actually began at that time, the scripture says
he sweat great drops of blood and being in agony. language like that, the suffering
of our Lord began before the actual crucifixion. It began
in Gethsemane. And he makes this statement directly
before he goes into Gethsemane. In Luke chapter 22, verse 37,
he's speaking to his disciples. And he says, For I say unto you
that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me. Now
he's quoting a passage of scripture from Isaiah chapter 53 verse
12. He says this is not yet been
accomplished in me or fulfilled in me, but it must be. And he
was reckoned among the transgressors. And that word reckoned is the
word that is quite often translated imputed. He was reckoned. He was imputed among the transgressors. Now what in the world does that
mean? What does the Bible mean by this
word imputation? Several weeks ago a friend of
mine called me up and said, I would love for you to preach a sermon
on what the Bible means by imputation. And I have been hesitant to for
a couple of reasons. First, because I know it means
a whole lot more than I can describe. This is a divine doctrine. It
goes way beyond human comprehension. It's just so big. And the more
I see it, the bigger it gets. And I felt hesitant of trying
to bring a whole message on that just because I feel unable to. And secondly, I hesitate to deal
with a topic and then go to the Bible to find out what it says.
I'm just not sure there's that much inspiration in that kind
of preaching. I would rather be inspired by
the Word of God where it speaks to me and I preach on that rather
than to select a topic and then go to the Bible and try to find
out what it means. That just seems a little bit
too academic to me. But I was inspired, I think,
by this passage of Scripture that I just read. I was reading
this passage of Scripture, and I think it made me, in some measure,
to see what the Bible actually means by imputation. Now, imputation is a biblical
word. It's found many times in the
Old Testament. And the Hebrew word in the Old
Testament is translated by 18 different words. Perhaps you'll
remember in Psalm 32, 1 and 2, where David said, Blessed is
he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, and in whose
spirit there is no guile. The word is found 35 times in
the New Testament. And in the New Testament, it's
translated by 12 different words. The same Greek word is translated
by 12 different English words in the King James Version of
the Bible, all of which give us a different shade as to what
the Bible means by this thing of imputation. my sin being imputed
to Christ, His righteousness being imputed to me. Now, before I go on, religion
uses this term. Free will and reformed alike
use this term of imputation. Arminian, Charismatic all use
the word in their doctrine. Now, here is what most mean by
the term imputation. Listen to me real carefully.
Most people believe that God views Christians as righteous
because of the imputation of Christ's righteousness to them. He views them as righteous even
though, in fact, they are not. I want to ask you a question.
Is that righteous? If God views Christians as righteous,
even though they are not, imputation or the imputation of righteousness
is viewed as a righteous legal standing before the law, even
though, in fact, you're a lawbreaker. I ask again, is that really righteous? Is it really right for God to
view a man as not breaking the law when the fact of the matter
is he is a lawbreaker? Is that right? That sounds pretty
much like a paste on righteousness, something you paste over, something
that's very bad, or like someone who has broken the law but hadn't
been caught. When men think of sin being imputed
to Christ, They think of God treating Christ as though He
were guilty, even though in fact He was not guilty. I ask again,
is that really right? Is that righteousness? By imputation,
we're treated just as if we've never sinned, although we've
had, although we have. You know, I've heard justification. defined just as if I never sinned. Well, did you sin? What comfort, what satisfaction
of conscience can you get just as if I never sinned, if you
sinned? And people look at our sin being
imputed to Christ. Christ is treated as if he did
sin, though he didn't. Now, where is there righteousness
in all that? You know, my conscience can't
find any satisfaction in that. If that's the case, if God treats
me as if I were righteousness, although I'm not, that's taking
away from the justice of God. In Proverbs 17, verse 15, we
read, He that justifieth the wicked and he that condemneth
the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord. Now, that's strong language,
isn't it? Now, please bear with me. I want
you to hear what I'm saying. What would we do with an earthly
judge who justified the wicked and condemned the just? If there
was an earthly judge who let the guilty go free and condemned
the innocent, they could no longer be judged. They would be disqualified
from being a judge. Imputation does not mean that
God treats me as if I'm not guilty, although I am, in fact, guilty. Now, you're going to may you
will you listen to all of this message? I hope you'll understand
by the time I'm finished. Now, let me give you 12 ways.
or 12 words, this word impute is translated in the New Testament,
which will give us an idea of what it means. It's translated
account. 1 Corinthians 4, 1, let a man
so account of us as stewards of the mysteries of God. Now,
the reason we are to be accounted stewards of the mysteries of
God is because that's what we are. Not we're not, but account
us that way. No, that's what we are, Paul
says. It's translated conclude in Romans 3 28. We conclude that
a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. We conclude
that because it's the fact. Count Philippians 3 13. I count
not myself to have apprehended. Charge 2 Timothy 4 16. I pray
that it might not be charged to their account. It's translated
esteemed in Romans 14, 14. If any man esteems it to be unclean
to him, it is unclean. And then the word is translated
imputed in Romans chapter 4. Let me read verses 6 through
8 of Romans chapter 4. I want to camp here for just
a moment because, remember, we're trying to see what the Bible
means by the word imputation. In Romans chapter 4 verse 6 we
read, Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are
covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Now there we have the word impute. In the Bible, there are three
imputations that take place. First, there is the imputation
of Adam's sin to the entire human race. By the sin of one judgment
came upon all men unto condemnation, Romans chapter 5 verse 18. Adam's
sin, Adam's fall, Adam's transgression is charged to everybody in the
human race. That's me and you. Now, by imputation,
that doesn't mean I'm innocent, but what I didn't do was laid
to my charge because Romans 5, 12 says, for by as one man's
disobedience, many were made sinners in that all have sinned. I'm not quoting that right. Wherefore,
Romans 5, 12, wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for
that all sinned. Now what that says is because
of the imputation, when Adam sinned, it's not just that it
was legally transferred to me, I sinned. Whatever Adam did,
I did. I'm united to Adam so that whatever
he did, I did. So there's the imputation of
Adam's sin to our entire human race, and there is the non-imputation
of sin spoken of in our text, Blessed is he whom the Lord does
not impute sin. He doesn't charge me with my
sin. And there's only one reason why God cannot charge me with
my sin. It's because my sin was imputed
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what does that mean by my
sin being imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, Mark 15,
28 says he was numbered. That's the word. He was numbered
with the transgressors. He was seen in that group called
the transgressors. He was numbered with the transgressors. Now, how can that be? The Lord
Jesus Christ never sinned in His person. How could He be numbered
with the transgressors? Well, in that same chapter in
Isaiah 53, 12, where it says He was numbered with the transgressors,
it says in the previous verse that He shall bear He shall bear
our iniquities. He bore our sins in His own body
on the tree. Now I looked that word bear up
in the Hebrew dictionary in Strong's Concordance and it gave as the
meaning to be gravid. And I didn't know what that word
was. I've never heard of that word. I looked it up in Webster's
Dictionary and the word means to be pregnant. To be pregnant. Now, there is no relationship
that we know of on earth, well, there is no relationship as close
as the relationship between the mother carrying that child inside
of her. We can't even conceive of a closer
relationship. Now, when Christ bore my sins
in His own body on the tree, it means infinitely more than
Him simply being punished for my sins. He, according to the
Scripture, was made sin. Now, he never sinned in his person,
but he experienced all that sin is, not in the commission of
it, but in the effects of it, in the shame of it, in the disgrace
of it, in the guilt of it, in the humiliation of it, in the
darkness of it. He was made to cry out, my God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was all alone. God forsook
him. Why? He was made sin. God didn't
look at his son and say, now I know you're not guilty, but
I'm going to treat you like you are. No, he was guilty. My sin
actually became his. And because of this, there is
the imputation of Christ's righteousness to those he died for. Their sin
literally became His so that His righteousness literally becomes
theirs. My sin became His to where He
became guilty of it. That's why He died. And His righteousness
becomes mine till I'm guilty of performing His righteousness.
If that's the right word, I actually did it. If He did it, I did it. If His righteousness is imputed
to me. Now, all the bad things I know
about myself, and it's actually a whole lot worse than I realize,
have not been imputed to me. They were imputed to the Lord
Jesus Christ. He bore my sin in His own body
on the tree, and His perfect righteousness is imputed to me
so that I did it. Revelation 19.8 calls the imputed
righteousness of Christ the righteousness of the saints. Not His righteousness
imputed to them, although it is. But it's called the very
righteousness of the saints. Now this word is translated numbered
in Mark 15, 28. It's translated reasoned. In
Mark chapter 11, verse 51, they reasoned among themselves. If
this takes place, that'll take place. They used some divine
logic. If then, if he views me as righteous,
it's because I am righteous. It is translated reckoned. Romans 6.11 says, Paul says,
Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive unto
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. God would not tell me to reckon
myself to be dead indeed to sin unless I were not actually dead
indeed to sin. This is how real this imputation
took place. My sin became His. And He put
it away by virtue of the greatness of His person. He put it away.
And His righteousness really becomes mine. It's not a paste
on righteousness. I'm righteous through and through.
It's translated, suppose, in 2 Corinthians 11, 5, where Paul
said, I suppose I'm not a wit behind the chiefest of apostles,
though I be nothing. It's translated, think, 2 Corinthians
3, 5, not that we're sufficient of ourselves to think anything
as of ourselves. But our sufficiency is of God.
It's translated despised in Acts 19, 27, where the silversmiths
were worried that the greatness of the temple of the great god
Diana would be despised. That's the word, looked upon
as nothing. Now, imputation. God does not view me as righteous,
although I'm not. If God has imputed righteousness
to me, then I am righteous, perfectly, wholly, and completely,
because He is righteous. There's nothing to be laid to
my charge. Isaiah 54, 17 says that righteousness
is of me. Well, what about your sin? You
can't deny the reality of your sin. I know I can't. But it was imputed to Christ.
It's not on me. I don't have it. It was imputed
to Christ. He was made to be sin. Therefore,
it's not imputed to me. His perfect obedience is mine. He does not impute sin to me,
even though I'm truly sinful. There's no sin to impute. Christ
put it away. Now behind this great doctrine
of imputation is the great doctrine of eternal union with the Lord
Jesus Christ. It can't be understood, but we
can get a glimpse of it by seeing that the believer has always
been united to Christ. Hebrews 2.11 says both he that
sanctified and they who are sanctified are all of one. Not simply real close, but they
are all of one. There's never been a time when
the believer was not eternally united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Being one with Him, I am what
He is. If He's altogether righteous,
I am too, because I'm one with Him. He also became one with
me. That's what happened on the cross.
All that I am, sin, He was made to be. He became one with me. And as He became one with me,
my sin was made His. I can't understand that. It's
too profound. It's too incomprehensible. But
it's so. On the cross, the Lord Jesus
Christ was viewed by God as sin. because he was made sin, and
he was guilty, and God killed him. But because of the greatness
of his person, he was able to put away that sin. Now let me
go back to the scripture that I read initially. This was the
scripture that made me feel like I had some glimpse as to what
imputation really means. Now back in Luke chapter 22,
these are the words of our Lord right before he goes into Gethsemane's
garden, verse 37. He says, for I say unto you,
speaking to his disciples, that this that is written must yet
be accomplished in me. It hadn't been accomplished yet.
Isaiah 53, 12, he was reckoned or he was imputed or he was numbered
among the transgressors, the breakers of God's law. That's the group he was imputed
in or numbered in. for the things concerning me
have an end. And so he says in verse 39, and
he came out and he went as is wont to the Mount of Olives,
and his disciples also followed him. Now the Mount of Olives
is Gethsemane. The word means the winepress. That's when his suffering began
in the winepress of Gethsemane. Now let's go on reading. And
when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye
enter not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them
about a stone's cast, and he kneeled down and prayed, saying,
Father, if thou be willing, remove this
cup from me. Now, what is the cup he's speaking
of? The cup of the wine of the dregs of the wrath of God. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
holy. He's the only one who really
knows what sin is. You see, sin doesn't really bother
you and I because we're used to it. We're desensitized toward
it. It's our nature. We have sinful
natures. We were born that way. We can't understand. The Lord
is holy. He's the only one who knew what
sin was. He was the only one who knew
what the wrath of God against sin is. He's the only one who
knows how evil sin is. And He was getting ready to be
made sin. He knew at this time He would
be all alone, forsaken by His Father. And His Human soul was
overcome with the thought of what he was getting ready to
endure. And he prayed, Father, if it
be possible, if you be willing. Thank God it wasn't possible.
Because if he could have been removed, I would have never been
saved. Nobody would have ever been saved. Thank God God wasn't
willing to remove the cup. But Christ, knowing what he was
getting ready to go through, He says, If thou be willing,
remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.
And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening
him, and being in agony. Matthew's account, he said, I'm
exceeding sorrowful even unto death. Mark's account says he
was sore amazed, terrified at the thought of being made sin
and being forsaken by his God and being in agony. He prayed
more earnestly and his sweat was as it were great drops of
blood falling to the ground. He was bearing the heavy load
of sin. Now, at this time, his father
did not look at him and say, son, I know you're not guilty,
but I'm going to treat you as if you were. That wouldn't be
right. That would be unjust. He couldn't
say to himself, I know I'm not really guilty, but I'm being
treated as though I am. He knew he was guilty. And the stress and the pressure
of being made sin made him literally sweat great drops of blood. He bore all the full equivalent
of hell at this time. Sin was imputed to Him, so He
became sin itself. That's what 2 Corinthians 5.21
says. It says, for He hath made Him
to be sin for us. Somebody says, does Christ start
committing sins on the cross? Oh, no. But worse, He was made
sin. And listen to the rest of that
verse. For He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin,
that we might be made the very righteousness of God in Him."
Now, this is the righteousness that every believer possesses,
the very righteousness of God. Now, do I understand this? Do you understand this? No. What was going on on the cross
was between the Father and the Son. And darkness covered the
earth at this time to let us know that we're in the dark.
But He put away sin by this great sacrifice. His last words were,
It is finished. Sin is put away and righteousness
is established, all the elect. were saved. Now, somebody might
be asking, how can I know if I have some part in this glorious
imputation? Well, let me read a scripture
that will tell you to where you can know whether you have some
part if your sin was imputed to him and his righteousness
imputed to you. In Romans chapter 4, beginning
in verse 23, speaking of Abraham, It was not written for his sake
alone that it was imputed to him, speaking of righteousness.
It was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to
him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe,
if we rely upon, if we trust Him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead. who was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again for our justification. If you trust the
Lord Jesus Christ as your only righteousness before God, as
His shed blood as your only sin payment, your sins were imputed
to Him and His righteousness was imputed to you. Now we have
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