DID JESUS DIE SPIRITUALLY ?
Exposing the JDS Heresy
POINT 3
RIGHTEOUS, OR UNRIGHTEOUS ON THE CROSS?
The JDS position is, of course, that since Jesus became sin on the cross He was unrighteous until born again in the Pit of Hell.
However, Isaiah 53 depicts Jesus Christ on the cross as God's righteous Servant Who was sent to be our substitute and to suffer the punishment due us for our guilt.
He is declared to be innocent Himself and dying for our transgressions in verses 5-6 and 9.
He is declared in verse 10 as an "offering for sin," not sinful as the JDS Doctrine asserts (the literal Hebrew is "a trespass-offering").
He is called by God while on the cross "my righteous servant" in verse 11.
Finally, in verse 12 God states that while on the cross Jesus, "made intercession for the transgressors,: which he could not have done had He been counted as a transgressor or sinful Himself at this time. He suffered as an offering for sin; He suffered the punishment for the guilt of our transgressions.
His righteous state on the cross is also seen in the fact that one of the thieves crucified at this time was saved while Jesus was dying on the cross! Jesus promised him salvation, saying, "Today, shalt thou be with me in paradise," It should be evident that if, like the thief, Jesus were also at this time unrighteous (as JDS Doctrine teaches), then he could not have granted salvation to another sinful, lost individual. According to JDS teaching, redemption was purchased in Hell, not on the cross. Following their view, then Jesus made the thief an empty promise by telling him he would go to paradise with Him that same day, when actually, in order for the thief to be with Jesus, he too would have had to go to Hell for three days where the JDS teachers send their Jesus!
It is important to note also that Jesus did not manifest an unregenerate or unrighteous nature on the cross. In contrast to the other thief who railed at Him, Jesus prayed for His enemies, saying, "Father forgive them." Since the JDS teachers insist that Jesus took on Satan's evil nature, then this is hardly what we would expect from someone who had become unregenerate as "sin" and who had the Devil's evil nature. Satan's nature, it hardly needs to be pointed out, is the antithesis of love and forgiveness.
It should be evident, therefore, if Jesus became sin with our sinfulness, then He would have had no righteousness to impute to us. But Jesus was righteous on the cross according to Scripture: "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous..." (I Peter 3:18). This means He was righteous while He suffered on the cross, contrary to the JDS Doctrine which teaches that Jesus became sin and was unrighteous at Calvary. However, God called Him "My righteous servant" while He hung on the cross (Isaiah 53:11).
THE DOCTRINE OF IMPUTATION OF SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
In the study of biblical theology, the Scriptural doctrine of Imputation shows that sin or righteousness can be imputed or credited to another's account in a legal sense. In the case of Jesus and His sacrifice as a sin-offering, it indicates that He did not actually become "sin" but remained sinless so that He could bear the punishment for our guilt, which was imputed to Him.
Only a brief summary of the subject will be given here in order to indicate the unscriptural nature of the JDS Doctrine which erroneously teaches a literal transfer of "sins" to Jesus whereby He became sinful with our sinfulness, whereas it was the punishment for the guilt of our sins which was imputed to Him that He bore on our behalf on the cross. For a detailed study of Imputation, Justification, and the Atonement, my Biblical Theology tapes are available.
The JDS teachers state that Jesus actually became sin with our sinfulness and had to be made righteous again. But the term in Hebrew and Greek for righteousness or justification does not mean to make righteous or just, whether used with reference to God or man. Inasmuch as God is righteous, then He could not be made righteous. And with regard to the believer, God's righteousness is imputed or credited to us through our faith in Jesus Christ. To impute means to credit something to one's account legally. Our faith, the Scriptures declare, is accounted unto us for righteousness (Romans 4:22-24).
Righteousness was imputed to Abraham because of his faith, according to Genesis 15:6,
And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
The entire chapter of Romans 4 deals with the subject of imputation, as it applies to Abraham and the Christian believer. In speaking of Abraham's faith the Apostle states:
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe... (Romans 4:22-24).
Thus, through faith in Jesus Christ and His blood atonement God counts us as righteous by imputing His righteousness to us -- that is, He credits Christ's righteousness to our account. He then treats us as if we had fulfilled His Law (Romans 8:4). Our faith is counted unto us for righteousness which we do not inherently possess in ourselves. He has become our righteousness (I Corinthians 1:30; cf. Philippians 3:9; Romans 3:10, 21-22).
In the Old Testament, when offering a sin-offering, the sinner first laid hands upon the animal to symbolize the transference of the liability for punishment for the guilt of his sin upon his innocent substitute. Obviously, this was not a moral transfer of the actual sin or guilt, but a legal transaction in which the substitute became liable for the punishment of the guilty party.
In much the same way, a person who is innocent may assume legal guilt and liability for punishment for a friend who has violated some traffic law and is unable to pay his penalty or fine. In this case, the person, who is innocent himself, becomes his substitute and suffers the penalty in his place. The substitute does not become actually guilty; he merely assumes the legal liability for the punishment of the guilty party.
In this sense, the punishment for our guilt was laid upon Christ, our sin-offering and substitute. The Prophet Isaiah confirms this, saying, "All we like sheep have gone astray...and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). In verse 11 God speaks of Him, as noted previously, as "My righteous servant," Who would bear the punishment for our iniquities.
The biblical doctrine of imputation means that the punishment for our guilt was imputed to Christ on the cross; and, conversely, His righteousness is imputed to us upon the exercise of faith in Him and His substitutionary death. Imputation signifies something which is reckoned, credited, or placed to someone's account.
As shown previously, just as the biblical term for "righteousness" does not mean to make righteous, neither was Jesus actually made sin. This is the basic flaw in the entire JDS system, indicating once more a failure to comprehend the nature of the Doctrine of Atonement from the overall viewpoint of the Scriptures.
The term "righteous" means, with respect to God, that He IS righteous. It is always a declarative statement of the fact that He is righteous in nature; God cannot be made righteous. And in reference to the believer it means that he is counted as righteous by virtue of having Christ's righteousness imputed or credited to him; that is, credited to his account.
In precisely the same sense as His righteousness is imputed to us legally, so the liability for the punishment of our guilt was legally and vicariously imputed to Him. He bore the liability for the punishment for our guilt or sin; it is in the sense that "...the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all..." (Isaiah 53:6). As an innocent substitute, He became our sin-offering which remained most holy unto God even in death (Leviticus 6:25f.), unlike the "Jesus" of JDS teaching, which became actual "sin" with the world's sinfulness.
The imputation of the punishment for the guilt of our sins has reference only to the legal liabilities which Christ assumed on our behalf. Imputation does not imply a transference to Him of our actual sins whereby He became sinful and had to be born again. Our sins, as regards their moral character, were our own; they could not, by imputation, become someone else's. However, the legal liability of our sins could be imputed to Christ with regard to their punishment. This is sometimes figuratively spoken of as the transference of the sins themselves (Isaiah 53:6), which presents no problem to any Christian who views the Doctrine of the substitutionary atonement from the entire context of Scripture, and not merely from a verse here and there based upon some English translation.
The imputation of our sins to Jesus Christ was, therefore, not a transference of the actual transgressions themselves, which, as has been shown, is morally impossible. Just as seen in the death of the Old Testament sin-offering, Christ made Himself liable to endure the penalty for our sins. On the cross and in His death, He was a holy, spotless sin-offering, not sinful with our sins; this would have violated the Old Testament type (Leviticus 6), and would have disqualified His as an acceptable substitute to God.
The Doctrine of the substitutionary blood atonement, as set forth in Scripture, is clearly out of agreement with the Doctrine of atonement taught by the JDS fraternity.