Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin.”
Parallel translations
- KJV Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
- BSB Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
- NKJV Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
- NASB “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”
- NLT Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against him. Justification means God no longer reckons our sin to our account.
Overview
Continuing Psalm 32:2, Paul highlights the negative side of justification: God will 'by no means charge' the believer with sin. The same crediting language used for righteousness is here applied to the non-crediting of sin. This double blessing, righteousness reckoned and sin not reckoned, is the believer's secure standing in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 32:2Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity, in whose spirit there is no deceit.
- 1 Pet 2:24who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.
- 2 Cor 5:19–20namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
- 1 Pet 3:18Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
- Isa 53:10–12Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days, and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand.
- Phlm 1:18–19But if he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, put that to my account.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 4:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.