Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Parallel translations
- WEB Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with 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 unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
- 1 Pet 2:24Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
- 2 Cor 5:19–20To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
- 1 Pet 3:18For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
- Isa 53:10–12Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
- Phlm 1:18–19If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;
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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.