RIGHTEOUSNESS IS A GIFT 💝

Righteousness is a gift. This is a point that must be emphasised. The Scriptures say that Abraham (the Father of faith) believed God and it was counted (credited) to him for righteousness (Gen 15:6; Rom 4:3; Gal 3:6). The Word “credited” is an accounting term that can be described as God withdrawing sin from his ‘bank account’ and depositing righteousness into it. Abraham believed (that was the only requirement) and God did it all.

What did Abraham believe? He believed that he would have children as many as the stars in the sky when as yet had no child of his own. In fact his wife Sarah was barren (and past menopause) and he himself was growing impotent everyday (Romans 4:18-22). At the height of his inability to produce a son, he believed God’s promise to him. That is the height of faith. To believe God’s Word where your senses (sight, feeling) and experience contradict the oath and the promise (Heb 6:15-18).

The Amplified Bible (AMP) defines faith in this way: Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. – Hebrews 11:1

The moment one becomes a Christian through the new birth experience (John 3:3, 5-6; Rom 10:9-10), they are described as being a new creature in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). At that moment there is a divine exchange that happens. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that God made Jesus who knew no sin to become sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him. The moment you became saved, in God’s eyes you became His righteousness in Christ.

There was an exchange. He took your sin, you put on his righteousness (Isaiah 61:10). And so the Christian life is not a changed one really (or self improvement) but rather it’s an exchanged life. The Christian has been crucified with Christ, dead to sin, dead to the Law and raise with Him. Alive/awake to righteousness (Rom 6:11; 7:4; Gal 2:20-21; Col 3:1-4). Now, the problem is that most Believers don’t know this.

What is righteousness? It is basically right standing with God. A synonym for the Word righteous would be “just.” And so the righteous man is a just man (Hab 2:4b; Rom 1:17; Heb 10:38). Before God all my sins (past, present, future) were put away by the Blood of the Lamb and now I stand before God guiltless. That is God’s system of justice/justification through the perfect offering of Christ. Hebrews 10:23b says that God is the judge of all but because of Jesus Christ He has declared us to be the spirits of just (rightoeus) men made perfect (complete). Wow!

And the best part is that we have received everlasting righteousness (Daniel 9:24). To be established in righteousness (Isaiah 54:14) is to know that what you have in Christ cannot be lost because you did not work to earn it in the first place. Alas, you received it as  a free gift.

A salary/wage is earned, a prize won but a gift is freely given. The former is merited by one’s effort but the latter though relationship. You cannot work for a gift. If somebody who loves you gave you a  gift and you took out your billfold to pay them they would be insulted. So it is with God. He loves you and what you have with Him is a relationship not a contract. He is “Abba,” Father, not “boss.”

Notice that the New Testament consistently calls righteousness a gift. Romans 5:17 tells us that through Adam’s disobedience we were all made sinners (“unfair!” somebody would exclaim) BUT through Christ’s obedience we have recieved MUCH MORE abundance of grace and of the GIFT of righteousness and so we reign in life by One; Christ Jesus.

In Adam all die but in Christ all live. Accepting Jesus as your Saviour and Lord is literally a matter of life and death because without His shed Blood no one can be made right before God. To reject Jesus is to forfeit eternal life. Sorrow upon sorrow.

When we were sinners (through Adam’s disobedience) could we be made righteous by our good deeds? No. No matter how much good we did, there was no amount of works that could make us right before God. Why? Because of Adam’s sin. And so whether we did good or bad were were doomed because we were sinners nonetheless.

Now that you are in Christ, His obedience has made you rightoeus. And it is imputed (credited) on you becauseof your simple, child-like faith in Christ. By the same concept there is nothing that you can do that will make you lose your rightoeus. When a born again Christian sins, they do not lose their righteousness because they did not work to earn it in the first place.

Now am I saying that we should go around and sin? No! A thousand times no. Grace is not a license for sin, rather it is the power to overcome sin (Rom 6:1-2; Titus 2:11-14). The strength of sin is the Law and the power behind that Law is condemnation. When you sin, run to Christ and look to the Cross. Don’t condemn yourself because He doesn’t condemn you. That is the power of being in Christ.

Why is it that when we were in Adam no matter how much good we did we were still sinners but now when we are in Christ when a Christian sins once they are condemned or they condemn themselves as a sinner? Remember that what we have gained in Christ has no comparison to what we lost in Adam. The Gospel i.e. the Good News is always MUCH MORE.

Christ has been made to us righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). I’m an in Him (rightoeus), He is in me (still rightoeus). We have been justified by the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God (1 Cor 6:11). Stop calling yourself a sinner dear Christian, even when you sin. Rather put on the identity that you have in Christ. This is the secret to holiness. Just like Abraham, say what God’s Word says about you based on the Finished Work of the Cross ✝️. It is not humility to call yourself a sinner ehme Christ’s Blood has redeemed you. It is ignorance and that’s what we want to remove.

Righteousness and holiness are not the same thing. Many Christians think that these two things are the same concept. Righteousness is right standing with God, holiness is being set apart by God. One can grow and should grow in holiness/sanctification i.e. Christ-likeness (and it is Christ who does it all – Acts 26:18; Rom 8:29-30;1 Cor 6:11; Heb 2:11; 10:10, 14, 29) but one does not grow in righteousness. It is the state of being just/right before God.

Have you put faith in Jesus Christ’s perfect work for you? Do you rest in His obedience? That is what happened when you became born again and therefore you are rightoeus before God. It is an everlasting righteousness. Eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12, 14).

Say with me, “I AM THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS”

#righteousness #righteous #theexchangedlife #just