# When Was Sin Imputed Onto Christ?



## N. Eshelman (Feb 27, 2011)

Today I preached from Matthew 26 and talked about Christ's suffering before the Counsel of 70. I connected Christ's guilty verdict from the hands of the High Priest to the Scapegoat from Leviticus 16. I said that the High Priest was doing what the High Priest was supposed to do- pronounce sin upon the scapegoat. 

After worship, one of my elders asked me at what point in the sufferings of Christ was the sin of the elect imputed onto Christ? Good question, eh? 

What say you?


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## Andres (Feb 27, 2011)

i say on the Cross.


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## Grillsy (Feb 27, 2011)

Andres said:


> i say on the Cross.



Which brings up more questions: What about the scourging before he is nailed to the cross? Or is sin imputed at his moment of death on the cross?

Questions like this send me down all kinds of rabbit holes.


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## Ask Mr. Religion (Feb 28, 2011)

nleshelman said:


> After worship, one of my elders asked me at what point in the sufferings of Christ was the sin of the elect imputed onto Christ? Good question, eh?


At what point is the wrath of God propitiated?

Q. 49. How did Christ humble himself in his death?
A. Christ humbled himself in his death, in that having been betrayed by Judas, forsaken by his disciples, scorned and rejected by the world, condemned by Pilate, and tormented by his persecutors; having also conflicted with the terrors of death, and the powers of darkness, felt and borne the weight of God's wrath, he laid down his life an offering for sin, enduring the painful, shameful, and cursed death of the cross.

Q. 70. What is justification?
A. Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed to them, and received by faith alone.

I say the offering necessitated the blood sacrifice...death on the Cross.

AMR


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## sdesocio (Feb 28, 2011)

Ok my first response would be to see his entire trial and betrayal as the period where our sin was put on him. After all it's the trial of Christ the guiltless in our places that leads to the sentence we deserve being acted out upon him. But then again it might be one of those tread lightly topics, that the Lord decided not to answer in great detail.

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I guess the question lies in the difference between being declared guilty and the punishment for that guilt being fulfilled.


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## Skyler (Feb 28, 2011)

All of Christ's sufferings throughout His life were part of His passive obedience, suffering for His people, were they not?


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## lynnie (Feb 28, 2011)

That is an extraordinarily interesting question......


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## SolaScriptura (Feb 28, 2011)

When Judas kissed him and he was handed over. From that point, every ridicule, every taunt, every slap, punch, kick or pull... and ultimately every burdened breath on the cross was what we deserved. Praise Jesus that he took the punishment I deserved.


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## SolaScriptura (Feb 28, 2011)

Skyler said:


> All of Christ's sufferings throughout His life were part of His passive obedience, suffering for His people, were they not?


 
Yes, Jesus acted on our behalf his whole life. But that doesn't address the question of at what point were our sins imputed to Christ. Unless, of course, you think that our sins were imputed to Christ at his birth.


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## Skyler (Feb 28, 2011)

SolaScriptura said:


> Skyler said:
> 
> 
> > All of Christ's sufferings throughout His life were part of His passive obedience, suffering for His people, were they not?
> ...


 
What was the purpose of His suffering prior to the imputation? Or was the imputation retroactive, that is, His suffering applied forward to the point at which our sins would be imputed to Him?


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## Andres (Feb 28, 2011)

When we are justified we are declared righteous because Christ's righteousness is imputed to us. It seems instantaneous. Am I right or am I completely missing it here? If that imputation is instantaneous, then wouldn't the imputation of sin to Christ be instantaneous too? I was under the impression that it occurred at that moment on the cross when Christ actually died. It was at this time that the scriptures say the veil was rent in two also (Mark 15:33-38). I mean didn't he die because he took upon our sins? (The wages of sin being death).


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## Prufrock (Feb 28, 2011)

I am at work, and so my response must be brief. I would consult the common expression of our Reformed faith, found in question 37 of the Heidelberg Catechism:

*Question:* _What dost thou understand by the words, "He suffered"?
_
*Answer:* That he, all the time that he lived on earth, but especially at the end of his life, sustained in body and soul, the wrath of God against the sins of all mankind: that so by his passion, as the only propitiatory sacrifice, he might redeem our body and soul from everlasting damnation, and obtain for us the favour of God, righteousness and eternal life.​
Note that the satisfactory sufferings of Christ, though occurring _especially_ at the end of his life, were through the whole of his life: whatsoever Christ suffered in the flesh from the moment of his birth and circumcision, he suffered for his people; and when we say "suffered for" we do not simply mean "suffered for the good of," but rather "suffered for them as their surety, bearing their sins."


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## Peairtach (Feb 28, 2011)

And if He was aware from an early age that He was to suffer what He did on the Cross for us, that would also be part of the suffering that He had to bear for us.


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## christiana (Feb 28, 2011)

He felt the full weight of our sin being imputed to Him in that moment the world turned dark and the thunders rolled when He was separated from His Father! It was of His own volition as well when He said 'It is finished' and gave up the ghost. He had anticipated all of this as 'it was for this cause that I came to this world'.


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