Note 17 at 2 Cor. 5:21: There has been a great controversy in the church recently over this passage of scripture. Some teach that Jesus literally became sin, thereby becoming alienated from God, and suffered in hell before His rebirth and resurrection. Others teach that this is a heresy that denies the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and those who believe this is heresy have been very vocal, calling names and damaging ministries.

This issue has been, and could continue to be, debated for a long time. However, Jesus said one way to discern who is being motivated by God is to look at the fruit they produce (Mt. 7:15-20; Lk. 6:43-45). Using this criteria, the heresy hunters do not compare well. They criticize ministers who are reaching hundreds of times more people than they do. Plus those who follow the heresy hunters become critical, divisive, and condemning. Those who swallow their poison lose the joy and victory that was theirs when they supposedly were under the "deception" they now call heresy.

All anyone is saying through this verse is that Jesus paid all the wages of our sin. Whatever that entailed, Jesus paid it. The scripture does not make a major issue of how this payment for sin was accomplished, so there's no need for us to do so. Suffice it to say that Jesus became what we were and suffered what we should have suffered so that we could become what He is and experience what He has.

Note 18 at 2 Cor. 5:21: In order for a person to pay the price for sin's redemption, he must first be sinless (Isa. 53:9; Jn. 8:46; Heb. 4:15; 7:26; 1 Pet. 1:19). If Jesus had not been sinless, a savior would have been required to die for him. But how could Jesus escape the sin that had been passed down from Adam?

Romans 5:12 states, "Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned." The answers to our questions lie within the truth of the virgin birth. It was the seed of the woman, not the man, that God said would crush the head of Satan. It was the virgin birth that guaranteed the sinless nature of Jesus and omitted the fallen adamic nature that would have been passed down through Adam if Jesus would have had a human father (see note 1 at Lk. 1:27, p. 40).

Note 19 at 2 Cor. 5:21: The typical Christian has accepted the first part of this verse, but rejected the second half. They believe Jesus bore our sin for us, but few believe He actually made us righteous. They relegate that to something that happens off in the future in eternity.

However, Paul makes the forgiveness of our sins and our becoming righteous a "package deal." That is to say, if one part is true, then the other part is true. It's like a coin. Coins have two sides. You can't have only "heads," or only "tails." All coins have both. Likewise, any person who accepts that Jesus paid for our sins also has to accept that He made us righteous (see notes 1-2 at Rom. 5:15, p. 774; see note 7 at Rom. 5:17, p. 774).

Note 20 at 2 Cor. 5:21: Imputed righteousness was predicted in the Old Testament (Gen. 15:6 cp. Rom. 4:23-25; Ps. 32:1-2) and revealed in the New Testament through the gospel of Christ (Rom. 1:17). This righteousness is described in scripture as the righteousness of faith (Rom. 4:13; 9:30; 10:6), the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5:21), the righteousness of God without the law (Rom. 3:21), Christ Jesus being made righteousness unto us (1 Cor. 1:30), Christ as righteousness to every one that believeth (Rom. 10:4), everlasting righteousness (Dan. 9:24), The LORD our righteousness (Jer. 23:6), the gift of righteousness (Rom. 5:17), the robe of righteousness (Isa. 61:10), and being found in Him (Phil. 3:9), etc.

To reject this gift of righteousness given us through Christ's atonement is referred to as being ignorant of God's righteousness (Rom. 10:3), going about to establish a righteousness of your own (Rom. 10:3; Phil. 3:9), submitting not to God's righteousness (Rom. 10:3), and stumbling at the stumblingstone, which is Christ Jesus (Rom. 9:32-33).