Bullinger and the Imputation of Faith

In the Second Helvetic Confession Bullinger writes the following about justification:

“We do not share in the benefit of justification partly because of the grace of God or Christ, and partly because of ourselves, our love, our works, or merit, but we attribute it wholly to the grace of God in Christ through faith. For our love and our works could not please God if performed by unrighteousness men. Therefore, it is necessary for us to be righteous before we may love and do good works. We are made truly righteous, as we have said, by faith in Christ purely by the grace of God, who does not impute to us our sins, but the righteousness of Christ, or rather, he imputes faith in Christ to us for righteousness.”

The Latin is:

Itaque iustificationis beneficium non partimur, partim gratiae Dei, vel Christo, partim nobis, aut dilectioni operibusve, vel merito nostro, sed insolidum gratiæ Dei in Christo per fidem tribuimus. Sed et non possent Deo placere dilectio et opera nostra, si fierent ab iniustis; proinde oportet nos prius iustos esse, quam diligamus aut faciamus opera iusta. Iusti vere efficimur, quemadmodum diximus, per fidem in Christum, mera gratia Dei, qui peccata nobis non imputat, sed justitiam Christi, adeoque fidem in Christum ad justitiam nobis imputat

We note that although Bullinger refers to the imputation of Christ’s righteousness he does qualify it by pointing out that what is imputed is faith in Christ. Bullinger refers more directly to the imputation of righteousness is a previous clause:

“For Christ took upon himself and bore the sins of the world, and satisfied divine justice. Therefore, solely on account of Christ's sufferings and resurrection God is propitious with respect to our sins and does not impute them to us, but imputes Christ's righteousness to us as our own (II Cor. 5;19 ff.; Rom. 4;25), so that now we are not only cleansed and purged from sins or are holy, but also, granted the righteousness of Christ, and so absolved from sin, death and condemnation, are at last righteous and heirs of eternal life. Properly speaking, therefore, God alone justifies us, and justifies only on account of Christ, not imputing sins to us but imputing his righteousness to us.”

The Latin is:

Etenim Christus peccata mundi in se recepit et sustulit, divinæque iustitiæ satisfecit. Deus ergo propter solum Christum passum et resuscitatum, propitius est peccatis nostris, nec illa nobis imputat, imputat autem justitiam Christi pro nostra: ita, ut iam simus non solum mundati a peccatis et purgati, vel sancti, sed etiam donati iustitia Christi, adeoque absoluti a peccatis, morte vel condemnatione, iusti denique ac hæredes vitæ æternæ. Proprie ergo loquendo, Deus solus nos justificat, et duntaxat propter Christum iustificat, non imputans nobis peccata, sed imputans ejus nobis justitiam (2 Cor. v. 21; Rom. iv. 24, 25).