2 Corinthians 5:21 — Jesus became sin through imputation, not by sinning; understood through a Protestant doctrine of justification.

Winger examines 2 Cor 5:21 across NASB, ESV, and NIV translations, noting that the words "to be" are italicized additions in NASB (not in Greek). The key is the parallelism in the verse: in whatever sense we become the righteousness of God, Jesus became sin. Protestant doctrine: justification is imputed righteousness — God credits Christ's righteousness to believers and credits believers' sin to Christ. Jesus was "clothed" with human sin (though he never personally sinned) so he could bear its punishment; we are clothed with his righteousness so we are counted holy. The Catholic view — that righteousness is infused into the believer's character — breaks the parallelism by implying Jesus's character literally became sinful.