Imputation: God credits our account
Reading: Romans chapter 4 verses 1-8:
Ill:
• Did you know that the average person spends one-fifth of his or her life talking?
• That’s what the statistics say.
• If all of our words were put into print,
• The result would be this:
• A single day’s words would fill a 50-page book,
• While in a year’s time the average person’s words would fill 132 books of 200 pages each!
Ill:
• Pianist Arthur Rubenstein, was conversational in eight languages,
• He once told this story on himself:
• Some years ago he was assailed by a stubborn case of hoarseness.
• The newspapers were full of reports about smoking and cancer;
• So he decided to consult a throat specialist.
• “I searched his face for a clue during the 30-minute examination,”
• Rubenstein said, “but it was expressionless.
• He told me to come back the next day.
• I went home full of fears, and I didn’t sleep that night.”
• The next day there was another long examination and again an ominous silence.
• “Tell me,” the pianist exclaimed.
• “I can stand the truth. I’ve lived a full, rich life. What’s wrong with me?”
• The physician said,
• “Mr Rubenstein you talk too much.”
Many a public speaker has had the same complaint as Rubenstein:
• Paul the apostle was a preacher and as a result of his words upsetting people;
• He found himself imprisoned.
• Unable to preach he wrote and we have many of his letters in the New Testament;
• In those letters he chose his words carefully.
As Christians it is very important for us to know the meaning of Bible/theological words:
• We need to understand these words and how they apply to our lives.
• Words such as justification, sanctification, propitiation, imputation and mediation;
• We need to understand what these words mean and how they apply to our lives.
• These words make up the technical vocabulary of the Christian life & are very important.
Ill:
• They are like jewels waiting to be discovered;
• If we take time to dig them up and polish & hone them;
• We can enjoy their immense beauty and theological value!
(1). Explanation of Imputation.
(1). A financial term.
In Romans chapter 4 verses 1-8:
• Paul is drawing on the picture of a banker,
• Because the idea of "imputation," is a financial term.
• Everyone in this room will have been involved in that process;
• Whenever you have gone to a bank or building society.
Ill:
• When you go to the bank or Building Society and deposit money,
• Imputation takes place.
• That deposit of cash or cheque that you have just made;
• Will be credited to your account, written on your record.
• That is what we mean this morning;
• When we use this word ‘Imputation’:
(2&3). Humanity (debt) Christ (credit)
• Think of it this way.
• Picture two bankbooks.
• One of them has Christ’s name on it,
• And the other has Adam’s name on it
• The record book for our Lord Jesus Christ is perfect-there is no indebtedness whatsoever.
• He is absolutely righteous, and His record is spotless.
• But alas, the record book for Adam is imperfect-he is bankrupt!
• He has sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Our record is Adam’s record because we are the children of Adam.
• Genesis chapter 5 verse 1 says,
• "This is the book of the generations of Adam."
• The entire Old Testament is "the book of the generations of Adam,"
• And everyone named in the book is a failure.
But:
• When we turn to Matthew chapter 1 verse 1 we read:
• "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ"
• God opens up a new book, and that book is perfect,
• Because His Son’s name is on it.
Question: What can you and I do about this imperfect record that is on our account?
• As far as God’s spiritual bank is concerned,
• We are bankrupt-we fall short.
• God has audited the books and discovered that;
• You and I do not have anything with which to pay for our indebtedness.
Question: What shall we do about it?
Various answers:
(a). We could ignore it.
• And most people do.
• Most people don’t think about their debt to God.
• They have broken His Law; and they try to ignore their disobedience.
• But a day of reckoning is coming, and that day may be soon.
Ill:
• A man can work for a bank and secretly be stealing money and falsifying the records,
• But eventually a day of reckoning comes, and he is caught.
• So we can ignore it,
• But the day of reckoning is going to come.
(b). We could try to change it ourselves.
• We could try to change it ourselves.
• But we are too bankrupt to do this.
• We simply do not have the spiritual capital necessary;
• To wipe out the spiritual debt that we have to God.
(c). To destroy the book.
• But we do not have possession of it;
• E.g. I am the holder of Kathy & Arlo’s bank books.
• What goes in the account belongs to them,
• But I am the holder of the book.
• With our book of debt to God. We do not have possession of it;
• God does and no one can destroy that record.
Question:
• The question that faces every human being is;
• How can we solve the problem of our spiritual bankruptcy-the debt that we have to God?
Answer:
• The answer is imputation,
• And Jesus Christ is the One who comes with the solution.
TWO THINGS JESUS CHRIST DOES FOR EVERY BELIEVER:
(1). Christ Took Our Debt.
• He took our debt. That is a remarkable thing.
• When our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, He came to die.
• God made Christ to be sin for us - He who knew no sin.
• Why? "That we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2Cor 5:21).
• In Isaiah 53 verse 12 we are told that He was reckoned among the transgressors.
• This verse is quoted in Mark chapter 15 verse 28.
• That word "reckon" means ‘counted’.
• In other words, He was counted as a transgressor.
• Or as Paul wrote elsewhere He was made poor that we might become rich (2Cor 8:9).
• So He took our debt.
(2). He Gave Us His Righteousness.
• But that leaves me with a problem.
• If He takes my debt, then the next time I sin,
• I go back into debt again.
• So Jesus Christ did something else.
• He not only took our debt,
• But He credited to our account His own righteousness.
Quote: Romans chapter 4 verse 6 says:
N.I.V:
“David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works”:
K.J.B:
"Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without [apart from] works."
‘Imputation’ means ‘crediting’ or ‘putting it to our account’:
• Jesus not only took our debt,
• But He credited to our account His own righteousness.
• Now that the righteousness of Christ has been put on our record,
• We need not fear or be worried about our record sin.
• That does not mean we can just sin willingly and not worry about it;
• That situation and question is dealt with by Paul elsewhere in the book of Romans.
• Bur here in this chapter he shares two truths:
• One negative and the other positive.
• Negatively, He took our debt;
• Positively, He credits His righteousness to our account. He does not record our sin.
(2). An Example of Imputation.
• The most beautiful example of imputation;
• Is found in a little letter that Paul wrote to his friend Philemon.
• In fact the letter of Philemon is the only private letter that the apostle Paul wrote,
• That is included in the New Testament.
• This alone gives to it special significance,
• Marks it out as different, unique.
• It is 25 verses long, you can read it in 4 minutes.
• You can read quicker than some folks can find it!
Philemon is a much-ignored book in the New Testament:
• Probably because as you read it you notice:
• That there is no imposing thought, there is no great heresy that needs correcting.
• That there is not even any great doctrines mentioned.
• They are implied but never mentioned.
• Now you would not expect Paul the preacher & theologian to do that.
• So this alone makes this letter unique and special.
Background to Philemon:
• The Apostle Paul has taken 3 great missionary journeys,
• He travelled all over his continent,
• To the lands we call today Turkey and Greece,
• And regions of Europe.
• But now (Acts chapter 28 verse 16) Paul is in Rome,
• This was his dream, his ambition:
• To get to Rome,
• The capitol of the world and maybe to talk with the Roman Empower Nero.
His dream has turned into a bit of a nightmare:
• Soon after arriving in Rome he is arrested,
• He loses his freedom, (get to Nero, he can’t even get to the end of the street!)
• And he is placed under house arrest "With a soldier to guard him".
• For two whole years he is in this situation.
Even though he was confined to a house with a constant guard at his side:
• You cannot keep a preacher quiet! Paul preached and he always had a congregation,
• Even if it was just the guards who kept watch over him,
• Acts chapter 28 verse 30: "Paul welcomed all who came to see him".
• Paul had a stream of visitors who came to listen and be taught by him.
• As he preached folks were saved.
• Both Roman citizens and also their slaves.
Ill:
• At that time an estimated sixty million slaves,
• Inhabited the Roman Empire.
• One of those sixty million slaves who inhabited the Roman Empire;
• Was a man called Onesimus:
• He was owned by a man called Philemon and they lived in Collosse,
• As well as being a slave-owner, Philemon was also a Christian.
One day Onesimus the slave robbed his master and ran away and fled for his life:
• And weather by plan or by accident,
• Onesimus wound up 1,200 miles away in Rome,
• When Onesimus ran away: he left not just a broken relationship,
• But it would appear he left an unresolved debt (verse 18).
“If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me”
We don’t know how but in time Onesimus encountered Paul:
• Probably taken to the house were Paul was,
• And Paul had the joy of leading Onesimus to the Lord,
• Verse 10: "My SON while I was in chains".
• C.E.V. “He is like a son to me because I led him to Christ here in jail”.
Now straight away there is a problem:
• Philemon is no longer simply a slave,
• He is a born-again slave, a Christian, a follower of Jesus!
• As a Christian, he knows he should be honest,
• Truthful, and put right that which is wrong.
But (here is the problem) he is also a runaway, who has robbed and wronged his master:
• And to return to Colosse,
• Means that possibly his life is at stake,
• And if it’s spared, who knows what else may await him:
• There was only one thing worse than being a slave, that was to be a runaway slave!!!
Ill:
Normally as a deterrent to others, a runaway was killed:
• i.e. Crucified, drowned, strangled,
• Or tormented to death by wild beasts,
• If he was allowed to live he would be branded with a big ’F’ on their forehead.
• ’F’ for ’Fugitivus’, Latin for ’Fugitive’ or runaway,
• Which meant for the rest of his life he was marked out:
• As a warning to others, that here was a fugitive, beware of him.
• As well as the branding: Often he would be crippled, a foot cut off,
• Or in some way maimed, so that he wouldn’t run again.
Now to say Onesimus needs help:
• Is an understatement!!!
• He wants to make it right with Philemon,
• And the only way to do it is through a mediator, a middleman,
• And that’s where the apostle Paul fits into this situation.
So a letter is written by Paul:
• To Philemon,
• Encouraging him to forgive a fugitive called Onesimus.
• And to take him back.
• And.... as with all scripture, there is more.
Verses 8-10: We see Paul’s request:
Paul does not pull rank on Philemon:
• He could have reminded him of his credentials,
• He was an apostle, his spiritual father.
• But he simply appeals to him on the basis of love.
• Verse 9: "I appeal to you on the basis of love".
• Or: "I appeal to you on that great characteristic of your life".
• Remember: verse 4: "Love for all the saints".
• Paul simply says, you know how you love all the saints;
• Well I have one more that needs your love!
In verse 10: Philemon must be wondering what’s going on:
• He hears a name that must have grated over his tongue
• A left a bitter aftertaste of disloyalty and desertion.
• That name ’Onesimus’:
• And as Paul mentions Onesimus by name, he sweetens it by the words,
• Verse 10b:
• "My son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains".
ill:
• Most of know what it’s like to be wronged by someone,
• And it’s even worse if they never put it right.
• If we are honest, most of us would just want to get even with that individual.
• We want to justice to be done.
• We are pained because they hurt us.
• Pained because they seemed to be getting away with it.
This is how Philemon must feel:
• He has been let down, his trust has been abused,
• And not only that, he has been robbed by Onesimus.
Now in verse 11 we are given an insight as to what Onesimus is like:
THE OLD ONISUMUS:
• "He was useless to you".
• Maybe he was rebellious and lazy, maybe he worked half-heartedly.
• Paul does not make any excuses for him,
• He freely admits what his character was like,
THE NEW ONISUMUS:
• But that may have been true in the past, but verse 11 goes on to say:
• "But now HE HAS BECOME (the difference Christ makes) useful both to you and to me".
• Philemon doesn’t know that or can’t appreciate that:
• All Onesimus did for him, was to waste his time and cause him problems.
Philemon remembers him as:
• A runaway (verse 15).
• A thief (verse 18).
• (The "IF" (verse 18) seems to imply that Paul is aware that Onesimus has stolen:
• Or why put it in? Why mention it?)
Paul reminds Philemon:
• That, that was the old Onesimus,
• But something has happened - Onesimus has been saved.
• Now he has a new life in Christ:
• New outlook. New values. New motives. New priorities.
And this new Onesimus mentioned in verse 15:
• Is now useful, even in the ministry (verse 13).
• He is also a brother (verse 16).
• It is on the basis of this picture that Paul pleads with Philemon:
• To forgive Onesimus, and to accept him back into his home.
Ill:
Now there was, in Roman law, a clause known as ’Advocacy’.
• If a slave had escaped,
• It was possible for him to return to his master,
• And to be protected,
• If he used an advocate or mediator.
• That advocate would be either the close friend of the offended slave owner.
• Or the business partner of the slave owner.
• Not a relative.
• Either; close friend or partner.
• And if the offended slave owner
• (In this case Philemon):
• Looked with favour on the word of the friend or partner,
• That slave was allowed to return.
Ill:
• In fact there are some cases on record, says one historian:
• Where not only was the slave welcomed back,
• But because of his love for the advocate,
• The slave was adopted by his master into his family.
Apparently this seems to be the clause Paul is referring to in verses 15-17:
• Paul hopes that Philemon will accept Onesimus back,
• With the open arms of a brother:
• Not only in the spiritual sense; "Brother in the Lord" verse 16.
• But in a physical sense: "As a man or in the flesh" verse 16.
To finish with their are 5 analogies between Philemon and ourselves:
• The ancient postcard of Philemon has a present day postmark,
• With our names on the forwarding address:
(1). Every Christian was once a fugitive.
• Every Christian was once enslaved to sin,
• From birth, we were all runaways.
• We didn’t want Christ, we lived for self:
• To quote Isaiah: "Like sheep, we had all gone our own way".
(2). Our guilt was great and our penalty was severe.
• The penalty, wages of sin is death.
• Eternal separation from a holy God.
(3). Grace allowed the right of appeal.
• On our own we deserved to be condemned.
• But through the clause of advocacy.
• He (the advocate, the mediator)
• Appeals to the owner on behalf of the guilty one.
(4). Christ paid the debt of our sin.
• Here is where imputation comes in as seen in verse 18:
• "If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me".
• We were in debt but Christ was in credit.
• Not only was he able to meet our debt, our needs, he was also willing.
(5). We are accepted and adopted into God’s family.
• We are accepted by the Father.
• And adopted into his family as sons (Galatians chapter 4 verse 5.)
“But when the time was right, God sent his Son, and a woman gave birth to him. His Son obeyed the Law, 5so he could set us free from the Law, and we could become God’s children”.
We know that’s what God did:
• But what about Philemon?
• Did he accept Onesimus back?
• Scripture doesn’t give us an answer,
• But history possibly does!!!
Ill:
• Fifty years after this letter was written;
• There was a church father called Ignatius.
• He was a man who was martyred for his faith,
• And on the way to the stake, he was taken from one place to another:
• His guards stopped at Smerma,
• And he was allowed to write some letters,
• One of those letters was addressed to the Ephesians,
• In his letter Ignatius addressed an individual in his letter who he called:
• "Their wonderful minister, their bishop"
• Guess what his name was? Answer: Onesimus.
Now if you are like me you are probably thinking, there were probably hundreds of Onesimus’:
• Yet in the letter that Ignatius wrote to the Ephesians,
• He refers to Onesimus as the one,
• "Who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me".
• He uses the very same Greek words that appear in verse 11 of Philemon!
We don’t know for sure:
• But from the character of Philemon in verses 4-7.
• And the analogy of the fact,
• We are accepted and adopted into God’s family,
• I would conclude that Onesimus was welcomed back by Philemon.
