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)
This is a lynchpin text for the traditional Protestant understanding of double imputation. John Piper is just one example of the many who understand this verse as "the great exchange":
This is the great exchange. Here it is again in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
God lays our sins on Christ and punishes them in him. And in Christ’s obedient death, God fulfills and vindicates his righteousness and imputes (credits) it to us. Our sin on Christ; his righteousness on us.
If I buy an item of clothing from the mall for my daughter and find when I get home that she likes it but it's either too small or too big, I would take it back to the store to exchange it for the same item in a different size that better fits her. This exchange means that the original item goes back to the store and the new item comes home with us. The concept of exchange entails that two things are trading places and in this way is similar to substitution. When we exchange the one item of clothing for the other, we are substituting in my daughter's closet the item that does fit for the item that doesn't. When we conceive of the cross in this way, then the cross is about us trading places with Jesus (or exchanging consequences with Jesus): the death our sin deserves as a penalty goes to Jesus on the cross while the life and righteous status His obedience deserves as a reward goes to us rather than us being on the cross.
I would like to make the case that the "great exchange" interpretation of 2 Corinthians 5:21 seems to ignore the context of what Paul is aiming to communicate in 2 Corinthians 5 and 6. In this context, Paul talks about a death that Jesus (as one who shares/participates in our humanity) experiences in order that we might share/participate in it and a reconciliation mission that Jesus embarks on that we might share/participate in as well. Additionally, multiple early church teachers understood 2 Corinthians 5:21 in a different way than "the great exchange" view.
Paul's context
One of the main themes of 2 Corinthians is Paul seeking to set his authentic ministry as an apostle of Jesus Christ (along with other true apostles) in contrast to false apostles who seek to elevate themselves over him and other true apostles. One of the clearest statements in this regard comes toward the end of 2 Corinthians:
And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:12–13, ESV)
Throughout 2 Corinthians (and elsewhere in the New Testament), Paul is repeatedly describing the nature of his ministry (as well as the ministry of any true apostles or Christians) as cross-shaped. And it is this cross-shaped ministry that authenticates it as true gospel ministry. It's a ministry that dies to self rather than seeking to elevate self.
For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. (2 Corinthians 1:5, ESV)
[We are] always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Corinthians 4:10–12, ESV)
It is in this context that Paul continues to describe authentic Christian life and ministry when he begins the section in 2 Corinthians 5 leading up to our highlighted passage:
[11] Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. [12] We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. [13] For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. [14] For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; [15] and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. (2 Corinthians 5:11–15, ESV)
Pay close attention to what Paul is trying to say here:
- Verse 11: In our ministry, we aren't seeking to prove anything to anyone because God can see to the bottom of our hearts and you can see by our example the kind of people we are, whether we are acting from self-interest or not.
- Verse 12: We want you to boast about us (if we may put it that way) regarding our character—the kind of people we are deep down—and not about something superficial (like the false apostles).
- Verse 13: Our deepest heart is to honor God and serve you. So when we seem crazy, it's for God's sake. If we seem sensible, it's for your sake.
- Verses 14-15: The ultimate reason for all of this is that when Jesus died, that part of us that lived to serve ourselves died with Him. So the life that we now live which emerges from Christ's death (and resurrection!) is a life of service first and foremost to God and by virtue of that it's a life in service to you.
Note very carefully: Paul is not seeking here to communicate the idea of how people can legally be made right with God. That is simply not the context. He's talking about the nature and character of apostolic and—by extension—Christian life and ministry.
He continues in this regard:
[16] From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. [17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:16–17, ESV)
Because of this death to self that occurs through how a true Christian dies with Jesus in His crucifixion, Paul (as well as any true Christian) does not view people through the lens of the flesh, which is all about self-promotion. Apart from Christ, we tend to view people (and even Christ!) based on how they might benefit us, if at all (as exemplified by the false apostles, e.g. Galatians 4:17). But, through the death of Christ, that person who lives for self and views others through a selfish lens dies so that, through the resurrection of Christ, a new person who lives for Christ and views others through a servant-hearted lens is brought into being as a literal new creation. In this context, what the cross effects is not an imputed, external righteousness that has to do with a person's legal status. That's not the context. Rather in this context the cross effects an imparted, internal righteousness that has to do with a person's character and how they view and relate to other people.
[18] All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; [19] that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. [20] Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:18–20, ESV)
Paul goes on to tell the Corinthians that this whole process of causing humans to die to living for self so that humans can rise to life as a new creation in the resurrection of Jesus for the sake of living for God in serving others to help them experience and draw near to God (ministry of reconciliation)—this whole thing is how God reconciles people to Himself. He liberates us from selfish living so that we can live for Him in ministering to others with Him as He ministers to others out of His selfless and generous nature. This is the reconciliation humans need! Instead of keeping a scorecard of our sins as though there are cosmic books that need to be balanced in fulfillment of true justice (what traditional atonement theology teaches), God doesn't count the sins of rebellious humans against them! Instead, He has sent ambassadors on His behalf to appeal to such rebellious humans that reconciliation is available if they are willing to embrace His Son and die with Him to their selfish way of living so that together with Him as new creations they might be resurrected to a new way of living for God and in partnership with God. And His ambassadors implore the world to in this way be reconciled to God.
And then the lynchpin text to end the chapter:
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)
Is this about a legal exchange? Jesus becomes sin by taking our guilt so that we can become the righteousness of God by taking His perfect record of law-keeping righteousness? Personally speaking, the only way I could understand this text in this way is if I forget about the context of the verses that we just talked about right before this one. Which is probably why almost every time this text is used to substantiate the doctrine of double imputation (Christ's righteousness imputed to me and my guilt imputed to Him, like the one I mentioned at the beginning above), it stands alone apart from the textual context before and after the verse.
How then would the context leading up to this verse inform our reading of it? I would submit that Paul is saying something to the effect of: "For our sake God made Jesus to become a man subjected to the consequences of sin (even though He himself never sinned), most notably death, so that in His death we might die with Him to living for ourselves and in His resurrection we might rise with Him as new creations to living for God and in partnership with God to minister others and help them draw near to God."
And I think the verses that follow show that this is precisely what Paul has in mind.
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. (2 Corinthians 6:1–10, ESV)
Note carefully the first four words that follow our highlighted verse (2 Corinthians 5:21): "Working together with him..." In other words, participation flows out of 2 Corinthians 5:21 because participation is the dynamic at work in 2 Corinthians 5:21, not substitution or exchange.
- "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin" — Christ participates with humans in our human condition subject to the consequences of sin (even though He himself didn't sin), most notably death.
- "so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." — humans participate with Christ in His death and subsequent resurrection so that we might become selfless servants who minster to others.
- As a tangible demonstration of this, Paul states that he and his fellow apostles are working together with God to call people to draw near to God and be reconciled to Him in living for Him and in partnership with Him.
The day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2) that Paul speaks of is the day when the life of living for self comes to an end so that the life of living for God in ministering to serve others can begin. And the rest of Paul's testimony in the following verses is that such an authentic Christian ministry and life is cross-shaped, willing to endure anything because it no longer pays any regard to self as it once did but instead is consumed with love for God and love for others, whatever the cost to self.
The context of this passage seems to point in the direction that 2 Corinthians 5 and 6 are not about a legal exchange of any kind but rather about participation: Christ's participation in the futility of our humanity to liberate us so that we might participate in His ministry to the world.
And in what follows I want to suggest that multiple early church teachers understood this verse in a similar way.
Early church perspective
Here are some quotes from some early church teachers regarding the meaning of 2 Corinthians 5:21:
Augustine: "on account of the likeness of sinful flesh in which He came, He was called sin" (Enchiridion, Ch 41)
Augustine: "For God made Christ Himself to be sin for us, on account of the likeness of sinful flesh, that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him." (Commentary on Psalm 119, Ain, Section 122)
Gregory of Nyssa: "He made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin,” giving once more the name of “sin” to the flesh." (Against Eunomius, Book 6, Section 1)
Gregory of Nazianzen: "And so the passage, The Word was made Flesh, seems to me to be equivalent to that in which it is said that He was made sin." (Letter To Cledonius [Epistle CI])
Hilary: “To condemn sin through sin in the flesh, He Who knew no sin was Himself made sin; that is, by means of the flesh to condemn sin in the flesh, He became flesh on our behalf but knew not flesh” (On the Trinity, Book 10, Section 47)
Leo the Great: "When the evangelist says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt in us,” and the Apostle, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,” it was shown that the Only-begotten of the Most High Father entered on such a union with human humility, that, when He took the substance of our flesh and soul, He remained one and the same Son of God." (Sermon LXIII.1)
In just this small sampling, we see a general agreement among 5 different men of antiquity on the meaning of what it means that God made Christ "to be sin". They see a connection to Romans 8:3 (and John 1:14) where Paul writes that God sent Christ "in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin". The main point is that God sent Jesus to take on the flesh of sinful man without He Himself ever sinning, not that God laid our sins upon Jesus so that He might punish Him for them.
Why then did Jesus need to become man if not to be punished for human sin? Jesus became man not because a sinful humanity needs to be punished in order to satisfy a legal requirement that God demands (the great exchange), but rather because a sinful humanity needs its selfish flesh to die in order for humans to be set free from their bondage to that which alienates them from God and each other. When this liberation happens (which God longs for), this is the day of salvation.
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