“For 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).
There are several potential theological pitfalls to avoid if we wish to continue on a sound Biblical course through the final verse of this chapter. We can begin with one theologian’s overall assessment of this passage…
“(This) verse explains how God imputed our sin to Christ. God as judge assigned the responsibility of our sin to Christ, making it possible for Him to justly receive the punishment that we deserve for that sin (Is. 53:6; 1 Pet. 2:24). The verse shows that Christ was our substitute, accepting the penalty of sin in our place…
Not only did God impute our sin to Christ, He also imputed Christ’s perfect righteousness to us (that is, He counted it as belonging to us; Phil. 3:9)… Every Christian possesses, legally, the perfect righteousness of Christ imputed by God, and received through faith alone.” (1)
While Jesus became sin for us, this does not mean that Jesus became a sinful person while on the cross. Another source tells us…
“Paul probably intended that we understand what he wrote about Jesus Christ becoming sin in three ways: First, God treated Jesus as if He were a sinner, when He poured out His wrath on Him, and He bore the guilt and penalty for all people’s sins. Jesus’ sinlessness is a clear revelation of Scripture (Isa. 53:9; Heb. 4:15; 7:26; 1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5). Second, Jesus Christ became a sin-offering (Lev. 4:24; 5:12), the perfect and final one…. Third, Christ became the locus (central location; focus) of sin under the judgment of God, the place in time and space where God judged sin.” (2)
Finally, one Biblical scholar provides us with an important clarification…
“Paul asserts here that Jesus was ‘made to be sin.’ However, many other Scriptures insist that Jesus was ‘without sin’ (Heb. 4:15; cf. 1 Peter 3:18). But how could Jesus be without sin if He was made sin for us?
Solution: Jesus was always without sin actually, but He was made to be sin for us judicially. That is, by His death on the Cross, He paid the penalty for our sins and thereby cancelled the debt of sin against us. So, while Jesus never committed a sin personally, He was made to be sin for us substitutionally. The issue can be summarized as follows:
|
CHRIST WAS NOT |
CHRIST WAS MADE |
|
SINFUL |
TO BE SIN |
|
In Himself |
For us |
|
Personally |
Substitutionally |
|
Actually |
Judicially (3) |
(1) Sproul, R. C. (Ed.). (2015). The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) (p. 2057). Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust.
(2) Notes on 2 Corinthians 2017 Edition [5:17] Copyright 2017 Thomas L. Constable. http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes/htm/NT/2%20Corinthians/2Corinthians.htm
(3) Geisler, N. L., & Howe, T. A. (1992). When critics ask : a popular handbook on Bible difficulties (pp. 470–472). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.