To ‘impute’ something is to consider it as belonging to someone and therefore to treat them differently because it is theirs. The Bible teaches that Adam’s sin is imputed to all human beings. God considers it as belonging to us (Romans 5:12). We are guilty because of Adam’s sin as he represents us (Romans 5:18-19) and therefore must be punished for it by death. The good news is that when Christ died a transaction occurred to deal with sin. Christians know that all their sin and guilt was imputed to Christ, and He was dealt with as if it belonged to Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was punished in their place, paying the price for sin and removing from them the guilt of their sin. The other side of that transaction is that Christ’s righteousness is a gift imputed in return to those who have faith in Him. Therefore, God treats believers on the basis that Christ’s perfect righteousness belongs to them. Because of this double imputation, believers are justified in His sight and do not have to face punishment for their sin.
