What Is the Meaning of Imputed Righteousness? (And How Does it Impact Our Walk with God?)
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I had a conversation with a ninth-grade young man a few years ago. In the Boy Scouts, he was trying to get a couple of faith badges, one for mercy and the other for grace. He wanted to clarify these with me, so I asked him what he thought they meant. He spat out a definition for mercy: “Not getting what you deserve.” Then, for grace, he gave the same one.
Perhaps many people confuse mercy and grace, since they are both gifts. As I explained to this young man, mercy means we don’t get the punishment we deserve and have earned. Grace is being given something good we don’t and can’t earn or deserve. God’s love and compassion infuse both.
With grace, the Father has given many things to us through faith in the Son. One of these is what theologians call imputed righteousness. The word might sound fancy, but it’s a foundational reality for the Christian life, worth further exploration.
What Is Imputed Righteousness?
Imputed righteousness means God credits the righteousness of Jesus Christ to believers through faith. The word imputed comes from a Latin word, imputare, meaning “to reckon” or “to attribute.” Biblically, it refers to how God counts something as belonging to a person, even if it’s not theirs. Imputed righteousness is the belief that God considers Christ’s perfect obedience and holiness as belonging to a believer, despite what the person has done.
This belief is part of justification by faith. People can’t earn salvation through their own works or actions because all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). But when a person places their faith in Christ, God declares them righteous because he gives them Jesus’ righteousness. Christ took the penalty for sin on the cross, and in exchange, believers receive his righteousness. This forgiveness and justification allow believers to have a reconciled relationship with God.
The concept of imputed righteousness developed mainly through the Reformation. Martin Luther and other Reformers pointed to the Scripture and highlighted this belief to contrast with the Catholic church. The Catholics taught infused righteousness, which meant God gradually imparted righteousness to a believer through sacraments and works of obedience. The Reformers argued that justification is a legal work of God at salvation, not a process. Upon repentance by faith, God imputes Christ’s righteousness to the Christian instantly through faith alone (sola fide), securing their eternal relationship and reconciliation with the Father through the Son and the Spirit.
This truth comforts Christians and affirms clear New Testament doctrine. Believers have an assurance of salvation since they can’t and couldn’t earn it, and their standing with God doesn’t depend upon performance or self-sustaining power. Believers can rejoice, because with our own righteousness, we’d be in trouble.
What Does the Bible Say about Our Own Righteousness?
The Bible teaches that our own righteousness isn’t enough to make us right with God. More good deeds can’t redeem our heart selfishness. The Scripture even describes human righteousness as flawed and deceptive without God’s grace. The famous verse in Isaiah 64:6 states, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Our best efforts are tainted by our selfishness and self-seeking, falling short of God’s holiness.
God acts holy because he is holy. Righteousness doesn’t exist apart from him. When we rebel to live for ourselves, despite trying to adhere to a moral standard, we have a sin nature, seeking self. We can’t attain the correct integrity. Our motives don’t match our actions, falling short of a godly standard.
Further, our righteousness can’t restore the relationship we broke through sin. “There is no one righteous, not even one.” (Romans 3:10) Paul writes this to make sure we understand no person can stand before God and be morally pure in both intent and action. With our sin nature, we seek approval, control, or personal gain rather than honoring God.
Relying upon our own righteousness becomes self-deceptive and spiritually dangerous. We become self-righteous and prideful, leading us to compare our actions to others rather than God’s holiness. Jesus dealt with this many times with the Pharisees and religious leaders, who often trusted in following the Law but neglected love, humility, compassion, mercy, and faith. Jesus used a parable comparing the heart of a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee boasted to God of his good deeds; the tax collector asked for mercy in humility. Jesus declared the humble man justified, despite being a tax collector. The self-righteous man wasn’t, despite being religiously educated.
The apostle Paul had been a Pharisee, as well, and he had to learn this humility. In Philippians 3:9, he wanted to be in Christ, “not having a righteousness of my own … but that which is through faith in Christ.” Paul had been a good, perfect Jew, according to the Law, but he counted it as nothing (dung and trash) compared to living in Christ and Christ in him.
Paul also warned against trusting in personal righteousness. In Philippians 3:9, he said he wanted to “be found in [Christ], not having a righteousness of my own… but that which is through faith in Christ.” Paul had followed the law zealously, but he counted it all as loss compared to gaining Christ.
Our own righteousness becomes meaningless, easily burned away, and temporary. Through faith, God offers his own righteousness, and what a gift it is.
What Does the Bible Say about God’s Righteousness?
Only God is righteousness. His perfect actions emanate from his complete character and knowledge. God is all knowing, which means he understands the impact of every action anyone could take. God is all-loving, as well, so he alone has the answer for the exact right choice that leads to the greatest good. Since he is also all-powerful, he alone can make the right choices. Psalm 145:17 says, “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.” Righteousness defines God’s being, thoughts, and actions.
God’s righteousness sets the standard for judgment, salvation, and true justice. “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4) God never fails, cheats, or acts without being completely right. As the Rock, he becomes the foundation of all good things, making him the perfect Father and King.
God’s righteousness exposes our sin. When we compare ourselves to others, we might appear good, but with God revealing himself, we realize how far we fall short. Only God has righteousness by nature. We don’t. But thank God he doesn’t keep it to himself! Through the gospel of Christ, he imparts it to us as a gift. “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known … This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” (Romans 3:21-22) Our faith in Jesus affirms how Christ took the penalty of sin upon himself, taking it from us and satisfying God’s redemptive justice through his death and resurrection. Dying to ourselves in repentance and living in Christ, the Lord imputes divine righteousness upon us.
What Verses Support Imputed Righteousness?
Paul and the writers of the New Testament didn’t develop the idea of imputed righteousness and justification by faith as completely new. In Genesis 15:6, the Old Testament declares, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Paul quotes this verse in his defense of the gospel in Romans 4:3, teaching how faith had always been the key. Abraham was justified by faith, not works. The father of faith didn’t earn righteousness, but it was credited to him because of faith.
Romans 4:5-6 goes further: “To the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” In the next chapter, Paul compares Adam and Christ. Just as Adam’s sin brought condemnation, Christ’s work brought righteousness. “Through the obedience of the one man, the many will be made righteous.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 provides a great summary. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Our righteousness comes from God as the source, not our own ability or work.
What Does Imputed Righteousness Mean for Us?
Imputed righteousness changes everything in how we view ourselves and rely upon God's grace. First, we can’t trust our own goodness or moral efforts to make us right with God. Our morality will always fall short. We can’t stand before a holy God based on our own actions, no matter how they look to us or others. Imputed righteousness removes any pride. We come to the Father humble and in truth, knowing our lack of ability. Then we receive the righteousness of Christ as a gift by grace through faith.
Second, God doesn’t leave us powerless. He gives us his divine Spirit to live in us, empowering us to live according to the imputed righteousness. The Spirit doesn’t only help us do good things; he changes our hearts, our very nature, renews our minds, and guides us through a loving relationship. We don’t follow a distant moral code but walk with God in daily dependence.
Third, imputed righteousness doesn’t mean, “God doesn’t see me, only Jesus.” He still sees us as we are, but our identity has changed. He knows us intimately, now one with Christ, as redeemed, adopted, and transformed. The Father views us through the lens of Christ’s finished work, and he loves and values us as individuals. Imputed righteousness and grace mean we become more the people he created us to be, not hidden behind a Jesus mask.
Fourth, God still cares what we do but also why and how we do it. He wants our actions to flow from purity, faith, humility, and love. We don’t live from self-effort, fear, or pride. Only when we walk with the Spirit can we live with real integrity. The work of Jesus doesn’t only change our legal standing, we die to ourselves and live again with the divine nature to walk in God’s purposes and live out heaven on earth.
We must also remember, if we sin, acting apart from the Spirit, God still forgives, and his imputed righteousness continues to allow us to approach and stand before God. Let’s not allow our momentary failings to lie to us and think God’s rejected us. He hasn’t and will always desire to have a relationship with us.
All of this points to God’s love. He didn’t leave us in a hopeless state. The Lord loved us so abundantly that he gave us eternal life, with no condemnation, free in faith to be credited with his righteousness and power to live it out.
Peace.
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