Imputed Righteousness

In Bible times, a Roman soldier engaging enemies in in hand-to-hand combat with a short sword needed protection for his own vital organs. He wore a molded metal breastplate that extended from the base of his neck to the top of his thighs to deflect attacks aimed at his heart and abdomen. Paul used this to describe spiritual armor to protect God’s people against the attacks of evil:

Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness . . .  (Ephesians 6:14)

The heart represents my mind. The intestinal area represents my emotions. Both can be sources of sin and both are targets for Satan’s lies.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:21–23)

Before Christ, my mind and emotions, even my will, depended on externals for how I thought, felt, and made decisions. Now that Christ lives in me, I’m to rely on the Holy Spirit for my thoughts, emotions, and choices. Satan tries to fill my mind with lies, immorality, false doctrine, and half-truths to take me back to the old way so that I will stop depending on the Lord through faith. He surrounds me with events and all sorts of things that are designed to corrupt and deaden my spiritual senses and appeal to fleshy emotions and desires.

This is where the breastplate of righteousness comes in. Righteousness is the new way of life in Christ. It is not my righteousness but His, obtained through faith that includes repentance, humility and full recognition that without Him, I am nothing.

Repentance: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7)

Humility: “The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you; this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:11–14)

Faith: “For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”  . . . . And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” (Romans 4:3–5)

Glory to God: “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)

Again, this righteousness is not mine, but His and makes the Christian life possible because I am able to:

Be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:9–11)

This last line refers to being able to live the resurrected life, the life of righteousness that defeats the lies of Satan and gives me the protection I need to safeguard my mind and emotions from Satanic deceptions and instead are influenced by the power of God.

PRAY: Jesus, I rely on You to keep me alert to the enemy’s schemes. One big indication that he is hitting me is lack of love, peace, joy and other spiritual blessings. I still have a few sore spots from that fall, but You are still using it to give me opportunities to glorify You rather than being lured into self-pity. Thank You for the protection You give. Without You, I’d have no righteousness at all, just pride and a focus on all the wrong things.

PONDER: Proverbs 10 contrasts that old nature with righteousness. Read it and listen for the Holy Spirit telling me where I need to stop anything or give something to Jesus.

 

 

From glory to glory

Today’s devotional reading compares the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ with His ascension. Chambers says we can relate to Jesus in His humanity up until the Transfiguration, but have no literal experiences to compare with the events of His life after that glory on the Mount of Transfiguration.

In thinking about that, maybe we have spiritual experiences that have some similar characteristics. We do not get transfigured on a mountain, but we do have high, mountaintop experiences Christians that change our lives. Up in that spiritual high place, we see God and life from an eternal perspective, or see Christ in a new way that leaves us in greater awe of Him.

This is what happened to the disciples while they were up there with Jesus. For them, it was a special time that they did not want to end. For me, those high and special times are filled with blessing. I experience His presence in a special way, and see His glory as never before. This is an ultimate moment and produces a deep yearning to be in heaven with the Lord and stay there. Yet like He and those disciples did, I’ve had to come down from that wondrous experience and back to a world filled with fallen sinners.

Jesus could have gone to heaven that day, but He had more to do. Without His death and resurrection, He would have ascended alone, leaving us without a way to join Him or have access to the throne of God.

The ascension was different. He went up but did not come back down . . .

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. (Luke 24:50–53)

As for the in-between, Jesus died and was buried and rose to new life. When He brings me back to the same old, same old after a time of awe in His presence, I recognize some of my old nature that must die, be put behind me. It is not a literal death, but a death to self, and new resolve to say “Not my will, but thine be done.”

Jesus talked how a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die before it can yield fruit. That is true in my life. Unless I can say no to the old ways and die to them, He cannot use me to produce much of anything. While new life for old describes the salvation experience, it also describes a daily experience, a spiritual discipline of walking away from all else but what is fruitful for God.

Paul wrote about this kind of life in which he did not live by his own righteousness but the righteousness from God that depends on faith . . .  “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:9–11) He was identifying with Jesus after the transfiguration and before the ascension.

Chambers writes these wonderful words: “The Ascension is the consummation of the Transfiguration. Our Lord does now go back into His primal glory; but He does not go back simply as Son of God: He goes back to God as Son of Man as well as Son of God. There is now freedom of access for anyone straight to the very throne of God by the Ascension of the Son of Man. As Son of Man Jesus Christ deliberately limited omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience in Himself. Now they are His in absolute full power. As Son of Man Jesus Christ has all power at the throne of God. He is King of kings and Lord of lords from the day of His Ascension until now.”

Any spiritual high points in my life give me a vision of Christ’s glory, yet every time I come down from that height, I find people in need, just as He did. However, a day will come when I can go be with Jesus in a final mountaintop experience that will last for eternity. In the meantime, there is more to be done, including that daily dying to self that makes a fruitful life possible.