Feb 7, 2022
The Righteousness of God
7th FEBRUARY 2022
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. [2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV]
Righteousness typically means having right standing with God. So a righteous person was one who could stand before God without condemnation. They were pure. However, after the fall, all men were impure, born guilty and full of sin. And even with the introduction of the law, there was no way one person could keep all without breaking one. Therefore, man was striving to be righteous by his own effort, and it was to no avail. It was a miserable cycle of trying to be righteous and falling short.
This is why we love what this profound verse says, God made Jesus become sin for our sake. Jesus, the perfect sinless man, became drunkenness, he became lust, he became envy, and everything sin represents, and he was crucified. Thus, through His sacrifice, we could have right standing with God. It’s not good deeds that make us righteous. It is accepting what Christ did on the Cross for us. When we do that, we put on Christ. His righteousness is imputed to us. God sees us as He sees Christ; He sees us as righteous.
It is important to echo this again; Good Deeds Do Not Make Anyone Righteous. Of course, there’s a place for good deeds in the kingdom, after you have been made righteous. But giving alms, being nice to people, helping the sick and the elderly will not take you to Heaven. Someone once said that, if you don’t know a person’s house, you will not go in. A lot of people aren’t friends with God, neither do they have any relationship with Him, but they feel like doing good can get them into His house (Heaven). It is a relationship with Him that will do that. From the fall, we were veiled by sin, and because He is a just God, He cannot interact with sin. What takes the blanket of sin away is Jesus’ sacrifice.
Let us embrace His sacrifice and the righteousness He has won for us, the righteousness that enables us to have a relationship with God.
Thank You, heavenly Father, that I am made righteous before You through the sacrifice of Jesus. As I hold on to this truth, let every shadow of sin around my life disappear even as I embrace your love, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Further Reading: Romans 10:2–4
Bible In One Year: Exodus [35–38]
