Imputed Righteousness - a gift!

 

The author of today’s devotional reading says that few Christians really understand the meaning of Christ being our righteousness. Is that true? Or are there many people who call themselves Christians and simply have not had any revelation from the Holy Spirit about this and are trying to live the Christian life without the rebirth and imputed righteousness that comes as a gift from God?

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17–21)

These verses describes what happens when a person is truly saved. Their life is changed because Jesus takes our sin and gives us His righteousness. As the Bible says,

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:28–31)

I have heard boasting. Proud voices say, “When I chose Jesus” yet Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16)

Salvation is a work of God. A genuine believer cannot repeat words like justified or made righteous as part of some religious vocabulary nor have a vague idea of what this means. These are truths God reveals. We can forget them at times (when flesh takes over), but because of the Holy Spirit, we know that His new life has even given to us.

The devotional writer rightly says “I cannot explain it theologically” yet speaks of righteousness as a supply we can draw from God when needed, as if behavior is the only meaning of righteousness. New life does change a person’s way of doing things, but it is first a statement of who we are in Christ. His righteousness is not a mere commodity to draw on in fresh supply as if it were a jug of milk or a head of lettuce. It is a declaration of how God now sees me because of this great trade made by Jesus Christ when He bore my sin and died for it.

The Bible essentially tells me who I am in Christ and how to live as who I am. It does not list the character traits of Jesus as something to draw on when I feel like it, but this is my new nature and He has given it to me. Because of Jesus, I am righteous, holy, set apart for Him. It was His choice to grant this, not anything I did or can boast about. Faith believes it, and faith glorifies the One who gives it.

PRAY: Jesus, if nothing else I am reviewing Your admonition to “defend the faith” as I read and try to understand ideas that put the onus on people for the work that You alone can and will do. To say I can draw a fresh supply of goodness when I need it is a sad understanding that makes some if not all of Your saving work my responsibility rather than Yours. Perhaps those who think this way have trouble with the “low and despised” part of salvation’s description and need something to boost their ego. I don’t know. All I know is that You saved me — for no other reason than it was Your choice to grant me forgiveness and new life. How can I express my gratitude other than glorifying You for what You have done?!

His choice, not mine . . .

The next word in my concordance is not popular among theologians and others who believe that God gave us a free will. I don’t have a problem with it because Scripture teaches that in our ability to choose, apart from being reborn and filled with the Holy Spirit, we will always choose sin:

Romans 3:10–12. “As it is written: ‘None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.’”

Because of sin’s power, we need help to turn to God and PREDESTINATION is part of what God does to make it happen. It is a biblical doctrine and from what I understand, the freedom to choose is one of the benefits of redemption. After Christ comes in, we can then choose whether to follow Him or live according to the flesh. Otherwise, sin is the boss.

Predestination comes from two Greek words meaning “before or ahead of,” and “to appoint, decide, determine.” The first use of the word is not about God choosing us but about His plan that Jesus should die for our sin at the hands of those who opposed Him . . .

Acts 4:27–28. “ . . . in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.”

Elsewhere, the word is associated with God’s purposes for believers determined ahead of time. Romans 8:28–30 outlines this plan and even the purpose of God in all of life’s events:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”

God not only knew that we who believe would believe, this was part of His plan. Ephesians 1:5-6 says that He “predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of His glorious grace.” The emphasis is on His grace and power to overcome that which holds us in darkness and bondage to sin. This is not about our ability to choose, but about our helplessness to overcome the taskmaster of sin. Without the grace of God, I have no ability to fight this enemy.

While the mystery remains why God chooses some and not others, our sin is so great the real question is why does God bother to choose anyone? From these verses, I’d say it is because He wants His goodness and love for people made known. He also wants us to share in all that He has. The OT history shows that this is appealing to people, yet despite His goodness, sin rules. We need more than that — we need our lives changed and God does it by revealing truth to us, truth that sin keeps us from seeing . . .

1 Corinthians 2:7–10. “We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’— these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.”

Jonathan Edwards called this the “inviolable chain of redemption” because it began before the world began in the mind of our eternal God. He knew and planned salvation so that, as Ephesians 1:11 says, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. It is the glory of God that He can do this. The hard part is realizing and admitting that I don’t have as much power as I think I do. My struggle with sin proves it. Even now, this day, this week, it is clear to me that without Christ, I’d be hopelessly enslaved to it. Without His promises, without the promise of His divine attributes and the power of the Holy Spirit, I would go through life not even realizing that I was outside of God’s will. I don’t know why God planned beforehand that I should be His child and a recipient of His grace, but I do know the humiliation of being picked — because I realize the humiliation of what I would be like had He not put His saving hand on me. Because of God’s predestinating power, my faith runs deeper than it ever could had this salvation been my choice and not His.