Some have attempted to assert that the concept of forensic imputation is a result of the speculations of 16th Century theologians. That this is not true, however, is demonstrated by the holy Scriptures themselves. The central Scriptural image for the forensic imputation of sin is actually found in the Pentateuch, specifically in the Levitical sin offering of the scapegoat. Chapter 16 of Leviticus is where this is found, and the verses of particular interest clearly show a forensic transfer of guilt:
Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities (עָוֺן ʻâvôn) of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting (נָתַן, nâthan) them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear (נָשָׂא, nâsâʼ) on itself all their iniquities (עָוֺן ʻâvôn) to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:21-22)
The key Hebrew term is נָשָׂא, nâsâʼ, which means “to lift, bear up, carry, take.” And so, according to the divine and legal logic of the sacrifice, the goat is made to take up, bear, and carry away the iniquities of the people. This method of transfer is called imputation, which means to lay the responsibility for something on someone. In the nature of the case the goat is without blemish, and must be for the sacrifice to be effective, and as such the sin is laid on or imputed to him. It is legal or forensic because it happens according to the statutory Law commanded by God for His people to obey (Leviticus 16:1-2, 29, 31, 34). In reference to Christ, then, this is the sacrificial principle by which the responsibility for iniquities (עָוֺן ʻâvôn) was put (נָתַן, nâthan) on Him in a legal transfer or imputation of guilt, which He willingly bore (נָשָׂא, nâsâʼ).
The logic of the Levitical scapegoat is not restricted to the Pentateuch. It also plays a decisive role in the prophecy of the Suffering Servant. The key verses from Isaiah 53 are:
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities (עָוֺן ʻâvôn); the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid (פָּגַע, pâgaʻ) on Him the iniquity (עָוֺן ʻâvôn) of us all. ... He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear (סָבַל, çâbal) their iniquities (עָוֺן ʻâvôn). Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered (מָנָה, mânâh) with the transgressors, and He bore (נָשָׂא, nâsâʼ) the sin (חֵטְא, chêṭᵉʼ) of many, and made intercession (פָּגַע, pâgaʻ) for the transgressors. (Isa 53:5-6, 11-12)
The logic of the Levitical scapegoat sacrifice is clearly at work insofar as Christ is made to bear (נָשָׂא, nâsâʼ) the sin (Isaiah 53:12). The language of Isaiah is even more emphatic as regards imputation, for the iniquity (עָוֺן ʻâvôn) is laid (פָּגַע, pâgaʻ) upon Him such that He bears (סָבַל, çâbal) it. And it is precisely its being laid (פָּגַע, pâgaʻ) on Him and accounted (מָנָה, mânâh) to Him that accomplishes the intercession (פָּגַע, pâgaʻ). Imputation is thus at the heart of the Suffering Servant’s sacrifice, and since this sacrifice functions within the context of God’s Law and so according to the principle of imputation, it is thus a forensic imputation.
St. Peter makes the implicit connection clear in his first epistle when he refers the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 to Christ: “who Himself bore (ἀναφέρω, anaphérō) our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24; cf. Isaiah 53:5). Christ bore (ἀναφέρω, anaphérō) our sins. The term that St. Peter uses here, ἀναφέρω, is the same term used in the Septuagint of Isaiah 53:12: “And He bore (LXX: ἀνήνεγκεν, from the root ἀναφέρω) the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa 53:12). It is thus that the Hebrew concept, נָשָׂא, nâsâʼ, being translated into the LXX of Isaiah 53:12 as ἀναφέρω, is being utilized by St. Peter to connect and even define what Christ accomplished on the Cross in imputational terms. Although Christ's Atonement is not restricted to forensic imputation, the imputational nature of Christ’s atoning work is thus unambiguously established on Scriptural grounds, and cannot be said to be the product of 16th Century theorization.
-Fr. Joshua Schooping
