The Scriptural doctrines of substitution and imputation function as the linchpin for the “great exchange.”
This great exchange is vital for grasping how believers in Christ receive through faith the benefits of cultural value systems (e.g., Christ’s honor for our shame, Christ’s peace for our fear, Christ’s freedom for our bondage, or Christ’s strength for our weakness).
Missiologists and missionaries have commonly viewed innocence as the antithesis of guilt-oriented cultural value systems, just as shame is the antithesis of an honor-oriented value system. So, as the reasoning goes, we are guilty, and through forgiveness of sins, we are innocent, or not guilty. But this model is fundamentally incomplete.
Guilt and innocence tend to be corollaries in a modern nation-state. This orientation of the modern nation-state is not the only example in human history, but in terms of contemporary categories, it seems to be a prevalent example. Varieties of other governments could also fit this description. The state mandates that we not break the law (negatively) but does not require its perfect positive alternative. The state mandates that we not murder, but it does not mandate loving our neighbor as ourselves. The state mandates that we not rape, but it does not require directing our sexual desires only toward our spouses. But God does. More than innocence, God requires righteousness. And above state surveillance, God knows every thought and intent of the heart.
This guilt/innocence paradigm might work in contemporary law courts, but biblically and theologically, the antithesis of guilt is not merely innocence. This is only half the good news. The simplistic evangelical axiom that defines justification as “just as if I’d never sinned” is unexpectedly inaccurate. More precisely, in equally simple terms, justification is “just as if I were always righteous.” The former highlights only what we did not do (never sin), while the latter highlights only what we did do (always obey). Forgiveness indeed relates to the expiation of our guilt. It leaves us amazingly innocent, and that is no small gift. Yet if we stop there, then we must conclude that in another cultural value system, like that of shame/honor, the equivalent would be to have our shame taken away, leaving us shameless. Again, this is no small gift. But for a shame/honor value system, similarly, that is only half the good news.
The point? In a biblically defined shame/honor system, the full good news is that previously shameful people are now imputed with honor and thus treated as truly honorable. Likewise, in the guilt/righteousness value system, previously guilty people are now imputed with righteousness and thus treated as truly righteous. Forgiveness brings us to a neutral, innocent standing before God. Justification and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness brings us to a righteous standing before God. Since we are innocent, God is against us no longer. Furthermore, he is truly, infinitely, immutably, for us (being righteous). In a shame/honor system, as understood biblically, God not only says to his child, “You are no longer shameful to me,” but also “You are truly honorable to me.” Likewise, in a guilt/righteousness system, God not only says to his child, “You are no longer guilty before me,” but “You are truly pleasing to me.” Jesus was the atoning guilt offering for our forgiveness and the pleasing thank offering for our righteousness (Psalm 40:6–8, Hebrews 10:5–16). God delights in our thankful obedience and love for him more than sacrifice (Hosea 6:6, Isaiah 55:11, Mark 12:33). And Jesus’ life of law-fulfilling, loving obedience to God merited for us an alien righteousness that brings God pleasure and opens the doors of paradise to forgiven, justified sinners. That is gloriously good news. That is why we must go beyond the guilt/innocence value system and contend for a guilt/righteousness system.
Scripture repeatedly describes Yahweh as righteous, or the “Righteous One”—the first time occurring during Pharaoh’s concession after the plague of hail in Egypt (Exodus 9:27 NASB95). The Messiah is called the “Righteous One” (Isaiah 24:16, 53:11 NASB95). And in three different monologues by Peter, Stephen, and Paul in the book of Acts, Jesus is called the “Righteous One” (Acts 3:14, 7:52, 22:14).
When evaluating the vast data of Scripture’s vocabulary and emphases, consider the overwhelming volume of synonymous varieties and related ideas to the guilt/righteousness value system. Also notice the unmistakable frequency of such thematic varieties of this paradigm. This motif saturates Scripture.
Consider the account of God’s first and most explicit revelation of himself in the Old Testament: after the Hebrews sinned by worshiping a golden calf and crediting it for delivering them out of Egypt (Exodus 32:1–6), God was ready to obliterate them. Yet, knowing that atonement was necessary (32:30–34), Moses interceded. God relented, and Moses found grace in God’s sight (33:12–17). Consequently, trembling beneath Yahweh’s otherworldly lovingkindness, Moses pleaded to see his glory (33:18). Scripture says, “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty’” (34:6–7). These verses comprise the most beloved and quoted verses in the Old Testament, essentially, the “John 3:16” of the Hebrew Scriptures.
[T]he emphasis of God’s covenant-keeping love for the guilty simply prioritizes as central the motifs of guilt/righteousness, atonement, substitution, and trust in him alone.
The high-water mark of God’s self-revelation in the Old Testament reveals his indomitable faithfulness and covenant-keeping love for those who transgress his law. And Yahweh’s grace toward his people starkly contrasts with his promise that he will punish the guilty. Take note that the greatest self-revelation of Yahweh is love for the guilty-yet-forgiven transgressors. There is no mention here of honor for the shameful based on a shameful person’s loyal faithfulness to God. God does not say, “If you’re loyal to me and honor me, I’ll take away your shame and honor you.” There is no insinuation of any other good, true, and beautiful value system. To be sure, this does not invalidate other cultural values. But the emphasis of God’s covenant-keeping love for the guilty simply prioritizes as central the motifs of guilt/righteousness, atonement, substitution, and trust in him alone.
This is Yahweh’s answer to Moses’ plea to see his glory (i.e., his honor). God’s honor chiefly depends on showing grace to the guilty and keeping covenantal faithfulness to those who are unfaithful, whom he forgives. Moses wants to see God’s honor, and God shows Moses that he will understand God’s glory inasmuch as he understands that each person’s problem is original guilt and that God will save the guilty. There will come a day when all the earth will honor the name of the Righteous One: “They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord. Therefore glorify the Lord in the east, the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the coastlands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear songs, ‘Glory to the Righteous One’” (Isaiah 24:14–16 NASB95). Unmistakably, this motif holds sway at the heart of God’s global glory.
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Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from Christ Our Righteousness (Cape Coral: Founders Press, 2025). Used with permission.
