When I was a teenager, we sometimes had a cynical way of responding to certain things. So, for example, one of my friends might say, “I think the teacher is going to give us a free period so we can go outside and play baseball.” But knowing what our teacher was like, I’d respond, “As if!” It was short for, “As if that would ever happen!”
In our Heidelberg Catechism we find those two words used in a couple of places and it each time it’s positive. There’s good news in “as if.” We find it used in QA 60 in connection with justification. Being declared right with God involves the imputation (or the crediting) of the “perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ.” These are transferred over to us. As a result it is “as if I had never had nor committed any sin, and as if I myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me.” The “as if” there captures the reality that even though in ourselves we’re still sinners as we live in this world, in God’s eyes Christians are righteous. Read more»
Wes Bredenhof | “As If” | May 11, 2026
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Wonderful little devotion on the good news that God looks on us as if we are truly righteous because of the sacrifice and perfect life of obedience of our Savior and Representative Jesus Christ. I can clearly remember the astonished wonder of discovering the imputed righteousness we have in Christ, while reading Luther’s Lectures on the Galatians many decades ago. Such amazing grace!
“As if” is a great phrase that is under-used, especially by younger folks in casual conversation. It’s a useful conjunction. But people often erroneously use the preposition “like” when they should use “as if”.
For example:
He drove the rental car like [as if] it belonged to him.
She screamed like [as if] her hair was [were] on fire.
God treats us like [as if] we lived Jesus’ perfect life.