The Blessing of Covered Sin & Imputed Righteousness
If we have become one spirit with God (1 Corinthians 6:17), and it is no longer we who live but Christ that lives in us (Galatians 2:20), then we must recognized that the transgressions we commit and our identity in Christ are incompatible. Unfortunately, the way many of us identify ourselves with sin is simply unbiblical.
The truth of our new identity in Christ is veiled by the enemy to trap us in cycles of guilt and shame. This "hamster wheel" of negative emotions significantly holds back our development in Christ. Without a proper understanding of our justification (our righteous, legal standing in the sight of God), we remain hindered in our personal sanctification (the ongoing process of becoming more like Christ).
The revelation that our sin is forgiven has become so commonplace in our thinking that it has dramatically lost its transformative power. God does not struggle with forgiving sin as man does. Man may choose to forgive but often faces feelings of resentment and bitterness that attempt to overthrow that decision.
God, on the other hand, forgives and covers our sin completely. This truth is clearly seen in Psalm 32:1-2,
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!
The word translated “cover” in Psalm 32:1 is the Hebrew word kasah. This is the same word used to describe how the Red Sea “covered” or overwhelmed the Egyptian army pursuing the fleeing Israelites in Exodus 14:28: “The waters returned and covered [kasah] the chariots and the horsemen, Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained.”
Think of your sin as ancient Egypt's military. Evil desires pursue you, attacking your place as God's chosen one, but God in His omnipotent power overwhelms and covers your sin with the blood of Christ (Matthew 26:28). There was no resurrection of the dead or lucky survivors on the day God executed His judgment on the Egyptian army. Similarly, there is no lone survivor of iniquity for the one who has confessed and received the forgiveness of the Savior (1 John 1:9).
He Remembers Our Sins No More
God, in His divine mercy, has chosen to no longer remember our sins (Hebrews 8:12), for "as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12). I am no geography expert, but I am pretty sure that there is an infinite gap between east and west. The chance that east and west will one day connect equals the probability believers have of their sins being counted against them.
By identifying ourselves with sin, we become re-enslaved in our minds to a spiritual position that was conquered by the blood of Jesus. Iniquity is no longer attributed to us when we put our faith in Christ. The apostle Paul puts it this way in the book of Romans as he references Psalm 32:1-2,
But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account" (Romans 4:5-8).
Regarding the Law, Dicitionary.com defines the word “imputed” as "to ascribe to or charge (a person) with an act or quality because of the conduct of another over whom one has control or for whose acts or conduct one is responsible." In reference to Theology, “imputed” means: "to attribute (righteousness, guilt, etc.) to a person or persons vicariously; ascribe as derived from another."[1]
Imputed Sin vs. Imputed Righteousness
The entire human race was born into sin based upon the actions of our forefather Adam. Romans 5:12 declares that "just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned." King David supports this claim by acknowledging, "I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5).
In a message given on June 18, 2020, titled “Adam, Christ, and Justification (Part 1),” renowned Bible teacher John Piper shared,
So the problem with the human race is not most deeply that everybody does various kinds of sins - those sins are real, they are huge and they are enough to condemn us. Paul is very concerned about them. But the deepest problem is that behind all our depravity and all our guilt and all our sinning, there is a deep mysterious connection with Adam whose sin became our sin and whose judgment became our judgment.[2]
But this is not the end of the story, "for if by the transgression of the one [Adam] the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many … for as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:15, 19).
So you see, the law of imputation has been in effect ever since the fall of Adam. "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22). The wonderful news for believers today is that although Adam's sin was ascribed to us before we were born, Christ's righteousness is now imputed to us through faith in Him. "He [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This righteousness (i.e., our justification) is not earned or acquired through proper moral conduct (doing good deeds or abstaining from bad behavior). Instead, this righteousness "is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
The patriarch of the Jewish people experienced the law of imputation in Genesis 15:6: "Then he [Abram] believed in the Lord; and He [God] reckoned it to him as righteousness." The Hebrew word chashab used here for “reckoned” is the same word used in Psalm 32:2 for “imputed.”
So, in the same way that David praised God for not assigning sin in Psalm 32, Abram receives the blessing of imputed righteousness in Genesis 15:6. What a beautiful revelation of God's grace and mercy toward those who deserve His wrath and anger.
Liberty From a Spirit of Deceit
Let's now finish by examining the end of Psalm 32:2: “How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (emphasis mine). Taking this phrase in context with verses that follow (especially Psalm 32:3-6), we can conclude that David is referring to the manner in which we confess our sin to God.
Though we walk in imputed righteousness, that does not negate that we still sin each day. We are not deceived into believing that our sanctification is the same thing as our justification. Though we are justified in the sight of God, we are still growing in being sanctified or transformed into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).
The man "in whose spirit there is no deceit" will confess and repent of his sin with humility and a deep desire for change. He does not take for granted the grace of God but holds himself accountable to Christ's call of uncompromised holiness (1 Peter 1:15, 16). This man avoids the deception of cheap grace, which grossly encourages (or at the very least grants permission for) people to sin because of the future assurance of Christ's forgiveness.
The man "in whose spirit there is no deceit" makes no excuses for his sin but instead shines a light on his immorality in the presence of God. He is not silent about his iniquity but openly acknowledges the full measure of his faults. He does not need to conceal a matter that God is already well aware of (Hebrews 4:13). With boldness, he reveals the entirety of his error, and with confidence, he holds firm to the complete forgiveness bought for him on the cross of Calvary.
When we walk in this recognition of our imputed righteousness while maintaining accountability and humility regarding the ways we stray from the Lord, we are most assuredly blessed beyond measure. In this place we can embrace authentic spiritual mourning over our sin (Matthew 5:3-4) while remembering that we have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ in our born again spirit (2 Corinthians 5:21)!
This is the truth and standard we get the pleasure to walk in as we serve the King of the Universe. There is no other option for the man or woman committed to living a holy life in the midst of a corrupt world.
[1] Impute Definition & Meaning, Dictionary.com, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/impute
[2] John Piper, “Adam, Christ, and Justification (Part 1),” Desiring God, June 18, 2020, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/adam-christ-and-justification-part-1