But don’t run!

This word really, really, really, really matters. I am convinced if a person understands and embraces this concept it WILL change their eternity. Some words are like treasure chests hidden deep in the bowels of the ocean. If you are willing to swim the dangerous depths and do all you can to unlock the thick rusty chains that have been keeping the box shut, you will discover that inside are magnificent wonders beyond your wildest imagination (I stole that from Indian Jones). 

Imputation contains the treasure of heaven itself.

This word by itself means a transfer of guilt or goodness. When it comes to Christian theology, imputation is the transfer of Christ’s righteousness, his life (Zoe in the Greek), to the poor lost sinner.

This transfer is not merely speculative or theoretical, it is the actual giving of Christ’s pulsating life; the supreme treasure of all that is or will ever be (see 2 Corinthians 4:7). I have experienced it, and I bear witness to the life change I have personally tasted and touched. In all honesty, my joy has been made complete – – and I want the same for you!.

Well, in this discussion I am going to use a visual model and a human story to illustrate imputation. I want you to get it, so I will do my best to make it easy.

The Model: 

It is rather simple: On one side you have Jesus and on the other side you have a poor blind beggar, you and me. Blindness in biblical jargon means “lostness, alienation from God, a person under condemnation.” John 3:19 is very clear about this, And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” 

How does the life of Christ transfer to the poor blind man? Which comes first, seeing or believing?

For thousands of years, Christianity has always presented 2 choices to this question. In fact, how this question has been answered has split people and created massive denominational divides. On one side, (A), teaches that imputation is the result of exercising faith in Christ alone. In other words, I receive God’s life simply because I believe. It is “instantaneous” –  the moment I believe is the moment I experience new life. I don’t have to wait until I die to see if it is really mine. Jesus is really mine, now! “My beloved is mine and I am his!” (Song of Solomon 2:16)

The other side, (B), teaches that imputation is the result of doing works of righteousness along with believing. In other words, I received God’s life because I helped earn it. One theologian who is for “progressive imputation”, meaning that achieving true righteousness is a lifetime collaboration, writes: “The merit of man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact that God collaborates with man. The fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative, and then follows man’s free acting through his meritorious work.” In other words, I experience his life only as long as I choose to co-operate with God in procuring it. My beloved is mine as long as I keep pursuing and willfully loving him.

So which side is right?

The Human Story:
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​To help make it easier to understand, let’s use the example of the blind man to bring light to this subject of imputation. 

Along comes Jesus and the man cries out for mercy, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

God responds to the cries of the desperate. And in this case, he pulled the man aside and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” The man makes one simple plea, ” Lord, let me recover my sight.” And here is the most powerful statement in the whole story, 

“Your faith has made you well.”

There it is. Made “well” in this passage means, “fully, utterly, complete.” The blind man in the same instant Jesus uttered the word well, can fully see. It isn’t a partial healing. So let us apply this story to our salvation. I will use two phrases that express the two sides to the imputation debate, and ask yourself which one fits with the story of the blind man?

The “instantaneous” side seems to be expressing exactly what happened to the blind man when he met Jesus: He instantly received sight the moment he admitted he couldn’t see. The “progressive” side, on the other hand, takes some convoluted logic when held up to the story of the blind man. Salvation, or sight, is given to those who are already doing works or are already seeing. Why would Jesus give sight to those who are able to see already? When a person attempts to earn merit through collaborative works of love, it is like saying a man is trying to cure blindness by seeing. How can a lost or condemned man collaborate with God in love before he has love to give? It is like saying a blind man is given sight because he is seeing.

Once you see, you won’t lose your sight; but when you are blind you can never hope to see by seeing. Do you see? Imputation must be instantaneous for two obvious reasons:

      (1) The Bible, time and time and time again, confirms the truth of faith alone. “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” (Romans 4:4-5)

     (2) The teaching that a blind man needs to start seeing in order to receive his sight is a logical impossibility. Sight from God is a miracle, not a work man can produce on his own. He is unable, hopeless, blind. Like a blind beggar sitting on the roadside.

The reason this is so important is because many people and Christian denominations actually think they can see by trying to see, so in their blind pride they will never cry out to God in mercy. Our false trust in our self keeps us stuck in our blindness. This is why I believe so many Christians are really not Christians at all. I want to end with one more verse to seal the deal,

“It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”  (Romans 9:16)

 “It” refers to salvation or spiritual sight. Religious people keep trying and trying and trying to see on their own, but they are blind. Are you?