Most evangelicals have been taught that the righteousness of Christ is imputed or credited to those who put their faith in him. When God looks at Christians, he regards them as if they were Jesus himself. His perfect life becomes theirs. At the final judgment, they will be vindicated (or justified) based upon the righteousness of Christ rather than anything they have done.
This perspective mixes iron with clay; it contains some strength but has weaknesses as well. The strengths we shall address in a future blog. The weaknesses we shall presently address.
(1) The first weakness is that “the imputed righteousness of Christ” is inconsistent with the scriptures. Again and again, the Bible insists that God will ultimately judge all people based upon what they have done. This blog has often addressed this topic, so I will only elaborate by focusing on two passages.
In Jesus’ story of the sheep and the goats, the righteous are clearly vindicated based upon their own actions. They’ve fed the hungry, clothed the naked, looked after the sick, etc. The text gives absolutely no indication that the verdict is the result of anything other than their virtuous conduct. There is no suggestion that they’re given credit for the righteousness of Jesus.
Matthew 25 provides us with another excellent example. Just before the sheep & the goats, Jesus told a parable about three servants who had been entrusted by their master with bags of gold. While the master was away, two of the servants worked diligently to double the value of their gold. When the master returned, he praised these servants with the memorable refrain: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
Most Christians can recite the famous accolade, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” I’ve often heard evangelicals say that at the end of their days, they long to hear this divine commendation. But few seem to reflect on the fact that this story directly contradicts their understanding of the imputed righteousness of Christ.
I recently heard a pastor refer to this famous verse, but immediately proceeded to tell his congregation that it’s not the righteousness of the servant but the righteousness of Christ that counts. Apparently, it’s never occurred to him that this assertion completely violates the text. The master’s praise is explicitly grounded in the faithfulness of the servants themselves. The master never says, “You can’t possibly live up to my expectations. But thankfully, if you just trust in me, I’ll credit you with my righteousness.”
(2) The second weakness of the imputed righteousness of Christ is that this doctrine fails to recognize the full nature and scope of salvation.
The scriptures teach us that God created human beings to reflect his image and govern the creation wisely so that the world might flourish. As King David reflected in Psalm 8, “You made mankind a little lower than God and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands. You put everything under his feet.”
This Psalm beautifully summarizes the fundamental purpose of humanity. We were fashioned just “a little lower than God” himself. In other words, God delegated his sovereign authority to human beings. The Creator glorified humanity (“crowned him with glory & honor…”) by making us rulers over his creation.
This reality holds the key to understanding the language of glory/glorification found in the New Testament. Most Christians give these term little thought. They regard “glory” merely as a vague reference to the wonderful things that God has in store for us.
But for the writers of the New Testament, glorification has a very specific meaning. Glorification denotes the restoration of humans to the image of God so that they can fulfill their rightful vocation of exercising dominion over the world. This is precisely what the Apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
It must again be stressed that this is not a temporary assignment, but the key to comprehending God’s eternal plan & purpose. God grand intention is to restore humans to his own image, so that we might be fit for the noble task of overseeing the world.
In Revelation 3, we find these startling words to the church in Laodicea: “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.” This promise should take our breath away. Jesus’ victory involved his faithful obedience even unto death. We attain victory in the same way, through firm loyalty despite suffering. And the reward for our faithfulness is that we will share the throne of Jesus, the very same throne Jesus shares with God the Father. In other words, God will give us authority to reign over the redeemed creation.
This exact theme is found in the message to the church in Thyatira: “To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations – that person ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’ – just as I received authority from my Father.” Importantly, this victory requires obedience to Jesus the King: “To the one…who does my will to the end.” And just as the Messiah will be give authority over all nations (as prophesied by Psalm 2), so his people will share in his rule.
These promises reach their fulfillment in the vision of Revelation 21-22 – the future moment when God completely redeems his creation. The throne of God & the lamb (at first seen only in heaven in chapter 4) descends from heaven to earth. In other words, the rule & reign of God (his kingdom) will arrive in all its fullness. And amazingly, the servants of God will share in this glorious moment: “They will reign forever and ever.” The divine purpose set forth at creation will at last be accomplished.
So we conclude: the fullness of salvation requires that human beings become models of Jesus the Messiah himself. The imitation of Jesus can never be merely matter of passive trust or belief in Jesus. It cannot be accomplished by receiving “credit” for his righteousness. No: if we are to fulfill the purpose for which God made us, we must be conformed to Jesus in every way – in thought, word and deed.
True righteousness will be required of those who will participate in God’s wonderful future. The book of Revelation is emphatic and unequivocal. All those who continue to embrace wickedness will be totally excluded: “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur.”
This blog has noted that when many Christians think about salvation, they picture themselves standing before “the pearl gates” of heaven, hoping by some means to gain entry. And indeed, the Bible does teach us that there will be a crucial moment when all people stand before God in judgment. But very few Christians think beyond the final judgment and consider God’s future design. The two are closely related. For those who are vindicated at the final judgement will be those who are suited to govern God’s redeemed creation.
Therefore, the evangelical concept of “the imputed righteousness of Christ” is not so much wrong as it is incomplete. Salvation cannot simply be a matter of people being given credit for Jesus’ righteousness. True salvation requires people who are actually conformed to the image & likeness of the Messiah. God requires people who are righteous, not just in status but in substance.
Thankfully, the Bible gives us a clear picture of how this salvation is accomplished: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
