2 Corinthians 5:21
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 (NKJV)
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT)
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
He made Christ who knew no sin to [judicially] be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we would become the righteousness of God [that is, we would be made acceptable to Him and placed in right relationship with Him by His gracious lovingkindness].
2 Corinthians 5:21 (AMP)Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness].
2 Corinthians 5:21 (AMPC)Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
How? you say. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (MSG)Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
New Covenant Meaning
The Great Exchange: Sin Transferred, Righteousness Received
2 Corinthians 5:21 is the most compact statement of substitutionary atonement in the New Testament. The logic is a double transfer. First: Christ, who knew no sin, was made to be sin. His personal sinlessness is the qualification that makes this transfer possible. An already-condemned person cannot bear the condemnation of another. The innocent one takes the place of the guilty. Second: in Him, the guilty become the righteousness of God. Not merely forgiven (though that is included), not merely improved, but become the righteousness of God. The transfer is not partial. The full weight of sin goes to Christ, and the full status of God's own righteousness comes to the believer who is found in Him.
"The Righteousness of God": More Than Moral Improvement
The phrase "righteousness of God" (dikaiosyne theou) is not a description of a moral standard the believer achieves. It is the righteousness that belongs to God, the right standing before God that is God's own character, now transferred to the believer through union with Christ. This is not righteousness that the believer manufactures through sanctification over time. It is righteousness received at the point of faith, fully and finally. Romans 3:21-22 uses the same phrase: "the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law... through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe." The believer does not become slightly more righteous over time. They are, in Christ, the righteousness of God.
Paul places this verse in the context of the ministry of reconciliation (vv. 17-21). The new creation (v. 17), the reconciliation of the world to God (v. 19), and the not counting of trespasses against people (v. 19) all lead to verse 21 as the foundational explanation for how all of this is possible. The exchange described in verse 21 is the mechanism of everything that preceded it. Christ's identification with sin and the believer's reception of righteousness is the engine that drives the entire new covenant economy of grace.
Application for Your Life
You Are the Righteousness of God in Christ
This is a statement of identity, not aspiration. You are not becoming the righteousness of God. You are, in Christ, the righteousness of God. This does not mean you always act righteously. It means your standing before God is determined by what Christ became on your behalf, not by your behavioral track record. When God looks at you in Christ, He sees the righteousness that belongs to His own Son. This is the foundation from which genuine righteous living flows: not as an attempt to earn the righteousness you do not have, but as the expression of the righteousness you have already been made.
Your Sin and His Righteousness Are Equal and Opposite Exchanges
The exchange is symmetrical. As fully as Christ was made to be sin (bearing the complete reality of sin's weight and condemnation), that is how fully you have been made the righteousness of God. There is no partial sin-bearing on one side and full righteousness-receiving on the other. The transfer is complete in both directions. This means that whatever your history of sin, however deep the failures, however consistent the patterns, the sin was fully transferred to Christ. And however unworthy you feel of righteousness, however many times you have failed to live up to it, you are fully the righteousness of God in Christ. Both sides of the exchange are complete.
Prayer Based on This Verse
Father, I receive this exchange. Christ became sin so that I could become the righteousness of God. I am the righteousness of God in Him. Not because I have earned it, not because I deserve it, not because I have been consistently righteous in my conduct, but because of what He became and what that exchange accomplished. I accept my identity as the righteousness of God in Christ. I will not relate to You as though I am still primarily defined by my sin. I am defined by the exchange. In Jesus name. Amen.