We Are The Righteousness Of God

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18). The knowledge about sin and righteousness is very important in the life of every believer. The word sin, "hamartia" in ancient Greek, means to "miss the mark." In other words, it is to do something wrong. It is a sin to disobey God's orders. We recognize sin through our conscience. However, the human standard of it varies according to one's social background, mental state, given circumstances and conscience. Thus, the definition of sin varies among different individuals. The same action may or may not be considered sinful depending on each person's own standards. That is why God has given us 613 articles of the Law to be used as the absolute standard of sin. Our physical appearances are of no importance to God because he looks into the core of our hearts.

The born again Christian is a very powerful being. He is superior to Satan and the new creation, man, was declared to be free completely from all substance; he's not been touched by sin. He was not set from it, he was born sin free and is superior to the devil from whom then has he been delivered. How could God produce a new creation that was subject to Satan? That wouldn't work; that's not possible! The new creation man is perfected in Christ Jesus. Satan's accusing finger does not work on him anymore. The problem of sin has been dealt with, which makes righteousness possible. "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17). The super abounding grace of Christ is still further shown.

As a result of Adam's one offense, death reigned over men. So, on the other hand, those who accept Christ's grace, and enjoy his righteousness, shall, through him, reign in life. As a matter of fact, you're never to be condemned because you're no more under the law. "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14). Christ Jesus was a perfect keeper of the law. Since Moses gave the Ten Commandments, no one could perfectly keep them. Bible says, "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). The truth here is reality. So therefore, grace and reality came by Jesus Christ. Moses didn't have the accurate picture of God; the prophets didn't have the accurate picture of God. But Jesus made it known.

The prophets of old always desired to live in the New Testament as we live today but didn't have the opportunity to. They understood the new way of life that Christ would bring. See, you were born of the Word; your life is the very life of the Word of God. Remember this, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (1 Peter 1:23). Do you see it? The only reason you do wrong today is because you are growing and the more you grow in Christ Jesus, the lesser the sins you commit. I love the way the Amplified Bible translates this verse: "You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God." This is it! It says you're no longer the one who was born by the seed or sperm of a man. You're no longer the same as the one that man on the street used to know! Period!

When I was describing myself on this blog, I made a statement that "Even though I have earthly parents, my Bible lets me know that my origin is in Christ and I come from Zion, the most Holy City of God." How did I know this? Bible says, "But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering" (Hebrews 12:22). And how did I know I'm born again, not of the seed or sperm of man? From what we just read! So I can confidently say that I'm born from above, just as Christ said, "...Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world" (John 8:23). My origin is in Christ! This ought to be your mentality. It's also interesting to find out that Jesus is the Word of God, meaning, I was born by Him. Who you think you really are will determine what goes on in your life.

Bible admonished us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). "And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified" (Acts 20:32). Here, the Apostle Paul says He recommends God and His Word of Grace to you, which is able to give you an inheritance among them which are sanctified. The Amplified Bible puts it this way: "And now brethren, I commit you to God I deposit you in His charge, entrusting you to His protection and care. And I commend you to the Word of His grace to the commands and counsels and promises of His unmerited favor. It is able to build you up and to give you your rightful inheritance among all God's set-apart ones (those consecrated, purified, and transformed of soul)."

The actual Greek word for the grace there is "charis," which means "good will, loving-kindness, favour of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues." I love where it says God exerts His holy influence upon souls. Wow! This makes souls righteous before God himself. Learn to give out your all and cling to the hope that God offers, for you cannot be righteous on your own. Paul says if you know more about the Word of His grace, you will be able to lay claim of your inheritance. How will you be able to do this if you always feel guilty and condemn yourself for what you did wrong? The Word has an inherent ability to make you.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:16). Notice Paul said the inheritance is for those that are sanctified. So then we ask, "Are you sanctified?" "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours" (1 Corinthians 1:2). Here, the Apostle Paul refers to the church at Corinth as the sanctified and saints. This is awesome! But Paul didn't just refer to only these people; he says in the latter part that this also refers to all who call upon the name of Jesus Christ. Where do we end from here? You're sanctified, you're a saint; hallelujah! All Christians are consecrated but many do not know this.

Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." He said at first you did certain unlawful things but you now stand justified before God. It pays to know the scriptures so that you're not condemned by your fellow man. Jesus came not to cancel or negate the law and the prophets, but to fulfil and accomplish them.

The word "fulfil" is used in a two-fold way: to indicate the fulfilment of prophecies, and to indicate the accomplishment of the law. Jesus fulfilled all the predictions of the Prophets concerning His incarnation, and kept perfectly all the requirements of the Law in His mission on earth. Christ fulfilled the Old Testament by obeying the Law perfectly, by fulfilling its types and prophecies, and by paying the full penalty of the Law as the Substitute for sinners. Righteousness is earned by obeying the Law perfectly in all its aspects: ceremonial, judicial, and moral (Deuteronomy 6:25). In order to impute us with righteousness, Jesus had to keep the Law perfectly in all points.

Jesus fulfilled all righteousness by fulfilling the following:

The ceremonial laws of circumcision (Luke 2:21), baptism (Matthew 3:15), Passover (Luke 2:42), and other Jewish feasts (Mark 14:12; Luke 22:1; John 7:10);
The judicial laws as seen in His cleansing of the temple (John 2:13-22), His correction of Pharisaical additions to and misapplications of the law (Matthew 23:23), and His judicious handling of sinners (e.g., the woman taken in adultery in John 7:53-8:11); and the
The moral Law as seen in His infallible exposition (Matthew 5:9-48; Mark 12:28-34) and perfect obedience of it (e.g., His temptation in Matthew 4:1-11, and sabbath observance in Mark 2:23-28).

Jesus underscored the importance of teaching the Law accurately and obeying it correctly. A true observance of the Law involves not just teaching it but also keeping it. Hypocritical righteousness as displayed by the scribes and Pharisees disqualifies one from heaven. To enter heaven, one's righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. One must put on the righteousness of Christ which He has earned for His people by His perfect obedience. Jesus made you the righteousness of God. Righteousness is what God deposits in you and not what you do. Asking God to make you more righteous even though you've received Jesus into your life is a slap on His face. What has He not done? Bible says all His Works were completed from the foundations of the world (Hebrews 4:3).

Hebrews 9:22 declares, "Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself." Christ has dealt with sin and I can assure you there's no problem with sin anymore. The one who's going to be condemned is he that refuses to accept Christ. The only thing to do now is to accept you're a sinner; you cannot be righteous on your own and make Jesus the Lord over your life. That's all! We can never approach God by our own righteousness. They are as filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). A lot of Christians are struggling to do something; just enter into His rest! Even for righteousness He didn't say ask for it, he said obtain (take) mercy and grace in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). He says take grace for your job, business, finances, health etc. You know, we're tempted all the time.

Somebody is offending us over here; somebody is pulling on us on the other side and so we say something we don't like, we think some thoughts we don't want, so many things around us and so we're pressured on every side. Think about Lot in the Old Testament. As terrible as we have preached Lot to be, the Bible declares him as a righteous man. He made the wrong choices but he was a righteous man. Abraham said, "Look this way and that way whatever you want to choose and I will go the other way." Lot chose the better part; he was always of the flesh. Yet the Bible says He was a righteous man. Lot lived in Sodom, the most terrible city on earth. The Bible says the people of Sodom pressurized him with their evil works, they vexed his spirit, he was provoked to compromise, and he became palsy; yet the Bible says Lot in spite of all that was a righteous man. Where did he get his righteousness from? By faith!

It is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we become righteous. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). John Wesley said "By grace ye are saved through faith - Grace, without any respect to human worthiness, confers the glorious gift. Faith, with an empty hand, and without any pretence to personal desert, receives the heavenly blessing. And this is not of yourselves - This refers to the whole preceding clause, That ye are saved through faith, is the gift of God." You know, there are people who think they are righteous than their fellow men; they think they are better than others. They are those who seem to condemn people. They behave like the Scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus constantly rebuked for their hypocrisy. "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 4:3-5). Abraham demonstrated the same faith principle. The Bible says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. That's all he did! He believed God, held unto him. Against hope he believed in hope, "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God" (Romans 4:20). Paul himself states here that the result of those who work are not reckoned as the grace that Christ made available but of debt. To us who don't rely on our works to be justified but believe on him who justifies the ungodly, the faith we have is counted unto us for righteousness. The devil may sometimes come to you and try to confuse you: "Are you sure you're truly forgiven?"

He may say this to confuse you and as you heed to what he tells you, you forget your identity in Christ. This has led people in committing suicide because they were frustrated in their lives. In fact David was aware that God doesn't count sins against His people. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile" (Psalm 32:1-2). The devil can make someone ask if you think you're truly righteous. Don't give in to such people! We have to put the devil where he belongs, under our feet. I'm not afraid of the devil; he's a loser and I'm a victor! Jesus is the first born of the second Adam. He was the first to be born again and those who come after Him are born again. Remember we read above that the new creation wasn't born by the sperm of man but the Word of God which lives and abides forever. Let no one condemn you.

"THEREFORE, there is now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit" (Romans 8:1, AMP). "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21). Jesus didn't commit any sin; He was a perfect man and He kept the laws in every state. The reason why He was crucified is because He took upon Himself our sins. He made us go scot free as He paid the price. This shows how He loves us. "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures" (James 1:18). We're a special breed to God, He loves us so much.

There was a relationship He wanted to have with us which wasn't there. For Him to be able to get us into that relationship, He made His Son die for our sins and through Hid death, we are put right with God. This is what God told the people of the Old Testament: "Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel" (Exodus 19:5-6). In the Old Testament, the children of Israel had to obey God before they could become a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priest and a holy nation unto Him. Let's find out what God tells those living in the New Testament era. He said, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light

Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9). Apostle Peter, through the power of the Ghost reveals to us the mind of God concerning the new creation. He says we are NOW a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and a holy nation unto God. God made it that way so that we can show forth the praises of Him. We're a chosen breed and a special specie, a decent of the monarch of the universe. Glory to God! Talk and live like a King. If you're not holy now, you can never be holy! The Amplified Bible puts it this way: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, God's own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

You are not calling yourself to be somebody but God himself calls you so! Why do you allow someone to rob you of your rights in Christ Jesus? The Amplified Bible says we're God's own chosen and purchased race; we are special people, beings that never existed! What then did He purchase us with? With the precious blood of His Son! I love this! We are an elect race, God's chosen race, like ancient Israel. Christians are now the chosen people (Isaiah 43:21). The Hebrew passage which Peter refers to as "a royal priesthood" means "a kingdom of priests." Either this is its meaning, or that all in it, "anointed ones" like Christ, we are in some sense like him, priest-kings.

When he said we're a holy nation he meant we are set apart for God. Then he said a peculiar people, which mean a people for God's own possession, differing from the world in life. "That ye should shew forth" means we differ from the world, that our holy lives may shine as a light and honor God. We also come across "Out of darkness." In this verse and 1 Peter 2:10, Peter surely has in mind Gentile Christians.