What does “not imputing their trespasses to them” mean (2 Corinthians 5:19)?

In 2 Corinthians 5:19, the apostle Paul proclaims the glorious truth “that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (NKJV). The Greek word for “imputing” (logizomai) means to reckon, count, or credit to another’s account. It is an accounting term for charging something to or withholding it from someone. In Jesus Christ, God does not hold our sins against us. We deserve eternal punishment for sin, but His grace removes our guilt.

The Greek word logizomai is also used in Romans 4:3, where Paul speaks about imputed righteousness: “What does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted (logizomai) to him for righteousness’” (NKJV). Righteousness is credited to believers, and our sins are not charged against us in Christ, who bore them in our place. This is the doctrine of substitutionary atonement.

Trespasses are rebellious offenses against God’s law. These offenses are infinite because they are committed against an infinitely holy God. Paul says that if sins were imputed to us as we deserve, condemnation would be inevitable: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23, NKJV).

However, in 2 Corinthians 5:19, Paul declares that God is “not imputing their trespasses to them” (NKJV). This does not mean God ignores sin or treats it lightly. Instead, sin is not reckoned to the believer’s account because God has imputed it, or transferred it, to Christ. Christ bore the penalty for sin, so believers are forgiven: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV). Our sins are imputed to Christ, and His righteousness is imputed to us.

Isaiah prophesied the reality of substitutionary atonement, stating, “The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6, NKJV). Although Christ was sinless (Hebrews 4:15), God counted Him as if He were a sinner so that we could be regarded as righteous. The Son was punished for our sins. As a result, God stops “imputing their trespasses to them” (ESV). The cross represents the intersection of divine justice and mercy: while sin is punished, sinners are pardoned.

If sin is not imputed to believers, what then is imputed to us? The answer is Christ’s righteousness. Adam’s sin was imputed to humanity (Romans 5:12), and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to believers: “To him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted (logizomai) for righteousness” (Romans 4:5, NKJV).

This righteousness is not inherent to believers but is credited to us. Because of this, we can stand before God as if we had perfectly obeyed Him. He reconciles us to Himself through Christ and establishes a right relationship with us by “not imputing their trespasses to them” (2 Corinthians 5:19, NKJV).

The gospel proclaims the non-imputation of sin for believers, which commits us to “the word of reconciliation” (NKJV). Sinners are guilty but are declared righteous because Christ has removed our sins: “As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12, ESV). Sins are forgiven not because they are trivial but because Christ suffered on the cross.

In Romans 10:9, Paul declares, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (NKJV). Salvation rests in the finished work of Christ on the cross, where God, in His perfect justice and mercy, does not impute sins against believers.