Covenant Theology and the Imputation of Sin and Righteousness.

Paul gives us this description of the Gospel and man's need of it: "Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the One who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one Man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one Man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one Man’s obedience the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:12-19). 

This is covenant theology in one paragraph. Paul tells us that, in the sin of Adam, all of his posterity became sinners. That means every man, woman, and child, except Jesus, from conception to the end of his or her life, is a sinner. Theologians call this the Covenant of Works, because life and death, both physical and spiritual, were based on the perfect obedience of Adam. If he had remained faithful, his faithfulness would have been imputed to his posterity. However, since he fell, his sin was imputed to his posterity instead. 

Americans hate this biblical teaching, because it violates our cultural belief in the sovereignty of the individual. And I don't mean just atheists. Even professing Christians will hold to some form of individualistic religion, in which every person is responsible only for his own sin and for his own salvation. 

But let us continue with Paul in Romans. 

Paul also tells us that Jesus has a posterity, a posterity which, in Him, receives salvation because of His perfect sinlessness and substitutionary atoning act on the cross. Theologians call this the Covenant of Grace, exactly because it is graciously applied by imputation to all those who receive it by faith alone, which faith itself is a gracious gift of God. 

Strangely, this part of Paul's message is quite popular. Somehow, those individualists who object to sin by imputation don't see their personal sovereignty as violated by the imputation of righteousness! 

We can see the cultural role of this covenant headship in the history of Israel. In Second Samuel 24, the Bible gives us the story of David's census of the people of Israel, without God's command. In verse 1, we are told that it was because God planned judgment against Israel. However, in I Chronicles 21:1, we are told that Satan stirred up the idea in David's heart. Obviously, it was the purpose of God, which He worked through the means of Satan. 

The key verse, though, is II Samuel 24:16: "So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from the morning until the appointed time. And there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men." It was David who sinned, as he himself admits in verse 10, yet it was those 70,000 men who suffered the consequences. How can that be just? Well, if it is the individual who is primary, then it wasn't just. But that isn't the case. As king, David was the covenant head of the people of Israel, just as Adam and Jesus of their respective peoples. Therefore, when David sinned as king, the sin and its judgment fell on all who were in covenant with God through David. 

This covenant mentality is very different from our modern American culture. We cannot judge it according to our cultural values. Rather, we must understand and accept it on the basis of God's values. To reject the imputation of sin logically requires the equal rejection of the imputation of righteousness.

The Continuing Stand for Justification by Faith Alone

"Justification is a legal act of God. It is strictly a legal act of God. By the act of justification, God changes the sinner's standing, or legal position, before Himself as judge. Whereas the sinner is guilty, the act of justification renders him not guilty. Whereas the sinner stands before the divine bar of justice as one who has transgressed all the commandments of God, justification constitutes him innocent. Whereas the sinner appears in the divine courtroom as one who has not kept the law of God and is, therefore, worthy of damnation, justification gives him the state or status, that is, the legal standing, of one who has perfectly satisfied all the demands of the law, including its demand of the punishment of everlasting damnation, and is, therefore, deserving of eternal life." 

- Rev. David Engelsma, "Gospel Truth of Justification," p. 93 

The importance of the statement above can be seen in its historical significance. it was the grounds for Martin Luther's revolt against the corruptions of the Roman Catholic Church. He had discovered the truth of justification by faith alone in his personal study of the Bible: "The righteous shall live by his faith" (Habakkuk 2:4, and quoted by Paul in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11). However, he saw that this simple but profound expression of the only way of salvation had been buried under the manmade doctrines and ceremonies of the Catholic Church. 

Rome responded by declaring a curse against biblical justification: "Canon 9.  If anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his own will, let him be anathema" (The Canons of the Council of Trent, still the official doctrine of the Roman Church). This assertion has never been repudiated by Rome, which is why any reunification between her and orthodox Protestants is still impossible. 

Rome has also caricatured the Reformers' doctrine is nothing more than a legal fiction. That accusation is false. It might have been true if God had merely cancelled our sin debt unpaid. Yet that is not what He has done. Rather, He has transferred that debt to a voluntary Surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. For those whom He undertook to redeem (John 6:37-39), Jesus the Sinless One stepped forward to pay a debt that He did not owe, that we may be freed from a debt that we could not pay. And a debt paid is a debt owed no more, in truth, not as a fiction.