John Piper...From His book "Counted Righteous in Christ...Should we abandon the imputation of christs righteousness pg 41.42
"By imputation i am reffering to the act in which God counts sinners to be righteousness through their fath in Christ on the basis of Christs perfect "blood and righteousness", specifically the righteousness that Christ accumplished by His perfect obediance, life and Death.Its the provision for both pardon and imputed perfection.
In other words, Christ has become our substitute in two senses.In suffering and death he becomes our curse and condemnation. (Galatians 3:13 Romans 8:3). And in His suffering and life he becomes our perfection (2 Cor 5:21). On the one hand, his death is the climax of his atoning sufferings, which propitiate the wrath of God against us. (romans 3:24-25); on the other hand, his death is the climax of a perfect life of righteousness imputed to us (2 Cor 5:21 Romans 4:6, 11 with 3:21-22 5:18,19.)"
John Piper
page 125
"not only should He (jesus) be honoured as the one who died to pardon us, and not only should he be honoured as the one who soverignly works faith and obediance in us, but he should also be honoured as the one who provided perfect righteousness for us as the ground of all our accecptance and endorsement by God."
Piper argues that Gods dealing with us is as if we have always been perfectly obediant, as Jesus was. This is imputed righteousness.
Jesus got what we deserved...guilt, condemnation, wrath, seperation, curse suffering...though he did not deserve it.
We got what he deserved...accecptance, forgiveness, imputation of righteousness(viewed as always perfectly obediant).
John Piper argues that christ not only pardons us but perfects us. ie gives us His perfect righteousness.
We are now clothed in righteousness, and this is how the father sees us.
We cannot offer God any of our own righteouness, or progress in our rightesness...any effort to do so, would be efforts of self righteousness. How can you progress or improve Christs perfect life on your behalf?
Our righteouness in not imputed to us, coz we have none, we have never lived righteouss."there is no-one righteouss, not even one".
God relates to us based on the performance of Jesus on our behalf.
If you disagree...read Pipers argument...it's a great book.
1 comment:
Right on! It's His righteousness or it's no righteousness at all. Even the best of the best of our righteousness was dirty stinking rotten filthy, and there's no other righteousness He accepts but His own, so indeed He imputed His very own righteousness too us. That's good news, I'd say!
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