Brian Onstead

We don’t like it when someone takes credit for our work. An artist wants credit for their artwork, a musician wants credit for his or her song, a writer wants credit for his literature. This is why we have credits, copyrights, and special rewards and recognitions.

Even if the work is not something deserving of an award, we would take offense at someone taking credit for it. If a wife worked hard in making a meal for company and the husband takes credit for it, the wife would rightly become offended. Conversely, no one likes to get blamed for the faults of another. If a coworker makes a major mistake, it is one thing for them to not own up to it. It is quite another, however, for them to blame you. Even children understand this. When the little brother scribbles crayon on the wall and dad or mom asks who did it, the bigger sister immediately gets upset when the little brother says she did. It is important to give credit where credit is due.

When it comes to the gospel, however, the opposite occurs. Our sins are imputed to Christ — that is, they get counted against him. He gets credit for them. He takes the blame for our sins. This is why he died on the cross. He was not dying for any sin of his own — he had no sin! Rather, he was standing condemned in the place of sinners with all their sin placed on him. He got exactly what we deserved: open, public shame, complete torture, and eternal torment in his soul as he bore the full weight of God’s eternal wrath.

Conversely, we get credit for his righteousness. Jesus didn’t just come and die (in fact God protected him from dying at the hands of King Herod at a tender age). Rather, Jesus came to also live a whole life of obedience to the law, even getting baptized. He did this in order to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). Jesus was not fulfilling all righteousness because of any lack in himself; he is God and therefore perfectly righteous in himself. Instead, he was fulfilling all righteousness for us who lacked all righteousness. Jesus came and lived in perfect conformity to the law, including being tested in his obedience (as we see in Matthew 4 where Jesus was tempted by the devil), so that we would have a righteousness not of our own. The good news of the gospel is that our sin gets credited to Jesus — he gets credit for our sin and takes the blame for it, and we get credit for his righteousness — his perfect obedience to the law. God treats Jesus as if he had lived our life and treats us as if we had lived his life. 

This is for those who believe — that is, for those who trust that Jesus died to pay for all their sins and lived to fulfill all the righteousness needed to stand perfectly righteous before God. It is freely given apart from any of one’s own works, merits or good intentions. It is the blessing of which the Apostle Paul speaks in Romans 4:6-8: “just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts [credits] righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count [credit] his sin.’” The good news of the gospel is that credit is not given where credit is due.

(Brian Onstead is the pastor at Trinity Bible Church.)