Well, there's a steady stream of questions that arrive from listener's seeking clarity

on where Protestants differ from Roman Catholics.

And there's much to talk about, of course.

Today's question comes from a listener named Jordan.

Pastor John, hello, and thank you for this podcast.

I've recently discovered that a ministry I closely associated with in the past does

not believe that Jesus' righteousness is imputed to us, but is imparted to us.

Can you explain the difference between imputation and impartation?

And how does the Bible explain these concepts about us in relationship to Christ?

The Roman Catholic Church pronounced anathema's curses on the reformers, like Luther, Calvin,

Zwingli, and their Protestant heirs like me, because the reformers understood that the way

we are justified before God is through imputation of Christ's righteousness, his perfection,

to us through faith alone.

The language of imputation comes, especially if you're in Romans 4, where Paul says,

for example, in verses 4 and 5, now to the one who works, his wages are not counted

as a gift but as his do, and to the one who does not work but believes in the one who

justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted or imputed as righteousness.

Or verse 6, David speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts or imputes righteousness

apart from works.

So the picture is that the work of Christ is the foundation or ground for our acceptance,

our forgiveness, our justification before God.

And the way it is the foundation is that it provides a historical moment in time when

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