“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
In his book, The Death of Death, Puritan theologian John Owen wrote this, “The death of Christ for sinners is expressed as SATISFACTION–namely, that by his death he made satisfaction to the justice of God for their sins for whom he died, that so they might go free.”
He goes on to say that satisfaction is payment in full to the creditor from the debtor. Paul makes clear that Jesus paid the debt we owe to God but can never repay (Colossians 2:13-14). Jesus gladly bore the shame of the cross to bear our sin and punishment so we can be with God and enjoy him forever (2 Corinthians 5:21; Psalm 16:11; Philippians 4:4).
This is called substitution. Jesus took the place of sinners to break them free from the chains of sin by satisfying the justice of God.
God demands death for sin (Romans 6:23). The cross is payment for your sin. Jesus went to the cross and died as a substitution for you. And God is satisfied with his death as payment for your sin. As the famous hymn says, “Jesus paid it all.” There is no debt owed to God for those who are in Christ Jesus.
At the same time that Jesus paid our debt, he also gave us his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). To enjoy God we not only need our sins forgiven and paid for, we need to be righteous in order to be in God’s righteous presence for all eternity.
Righteousness is inherent to Jesus, not us. His righteousness is outside of us. God gives us his righteousness through faith in Jesus.
This is called imputation. Through faith in what his glorious death accomplishes we are credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Romans 4:3). We are united forever with him in his righteousness. This makes us not only freed sinners but a people who stand before God clothed in his righteousness.
There is more to the doctrines of substitution and imputation. For the sake of this short word, there is enough here to celebrate this Easter. Christ saves us from the penalty of our sin and he gives us his righteousness so we can be with him forever. What a glorious, loving Savior we have!