Jesus Christ Our Righteousness
The Bible is very clear. The status of sinful man is “far from God” (Eph 2:12–13). Man is dead to God, spiritually (Eph 2:1). The sins of men warrant the just wrath of God (Rom 1:18–32). God is a just Judge because He is righteous in His very being (Ps 51:4). He is good all the time (Mk 10:18), and the God of the universe always does right (Gen 18:25).
Man is not good, nor does he do right (Rom 3:10–12). This is a shocking truth to natural men because they think more highly of themselves than they ought to (Rom 12:3). Their minds are blinded from the truth, by the devil (2 Cor 4:4). Therefore, they imagine they are good and that their works are pleasing to God (Is 64:6). While in the state of deception, they press on, oblivious to God’s hatred of them (Ps 5:5; 7:11; 11:5).
When men have a sense of God’s holiness, even His anger all day long (Ps 7:11), their natural product, in response, is religion. Offering sacrifices and imagining God accepts them, these people are actually serving idols and the demons behind their icons (Rev 9:20). Whereas, men are deceived by demons, at least some of the demons have an awareness that they are waiting for the judgment of God against them. This was true of the devils Jesus sent into the herd of swine at Gerasene (Mk 5:1–13).
Unrighteous are the ungodly. In their unholiness, they store up wrath for themselves for the Day of Judgment (Rom 2:5). Terms such as “evil” and “wicked” are ascribed to the workers of iniquity, which includes everyone conceived in his or her mother’s womb. Because of the fall of Adam, all people possess this status of unrighteousness before God (Rom 5:12–21).
Moving from a state of unrighteousness before the Holy God, who has set a day for judging the whole earth (Acts 17:31), and into a state of righteousness, should be every single person’s utmost priority in this life. A simple, sample survey would find no one concerned about his own status because no one believes he is in such a treacherous position. The deception is great.
Only the Bible, God’s Holy Word, tells people about their terrifying plight. Who believes the Bible’s report? No one single soul, in his natural state of slavery to sin (Rom 6:6), has ever believed the Bible. Not one soul. This is the very reason God demands faith, for it is faith in God’s Word that was tested in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3). Adam and Eve occupied a far superior position than people do, today. Under the influence of the serpent, they chose unbelief. There is no choice left for humanity. All are blinded. All are deceived. All are in peril. All are oblivious.
But God, in his eternal good pleasure, chose to save a remnant group of humanity, both from Jews and Gentiles (Jer 31:7; Rom 9:27). From every nation, tribe, and tongue (Rev 5:9; 7:9) and from every generation a line of righteous people has been ordained by God, through His eternal election (Eph 1:4–5), whereby He chooses to redeem a people for His own possession (Rom 11:5; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 2:9), according to His eternal purpose and sovereign will.
God has given these righteous ones the privilege of calling Him, “Abba, Father (Rom 8:15).” We must inquire, however, what was the catalyst for their being repositioned from the state of unrighteousness to the state of righteousness, before the judgment seat of the great white throne of Almighty God?
It is God’s elect children who receive the grace of God unto salvation, despite the fact that every single one is guilty of sin against God (Rom 3:23; 5:12) and deserving of eternal hell in the lake of fire (Rev 20:14–15). The marvelous change in status for God’s chosen people is the direct result of their receiving an alien righteousness. In other words, they are afforded a righteousness that is not their own.
No sinner can ever gain right standing before the Judge of the whole earth, by his or her meritorious works. Salvation is not by works done in sinful flesh (Rom 4:5; Eph 2:8–9). Rather, God has ordained the way of righteousness before Him, to be an imputation, according to His own will.
God sent His only begotten Son into the world (Jn 3:16), to be the Savior of all who were chosen by God, to be delivered from His own just punishment for sinners. The perfect God/man, who was like us, yet without sin (Heb 4:15) — He did the meritorious work of fulfilling the Law of God (no one else could do it).
Next, Jesus Christ suffered death on the cross (Acts 2:23; 5:30; 10:39), at the hands of sinful men. Being the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29), however, the Son of God and the Son of man offered Himself once (Heb 7:27; 9:28), as the acceptable sacrifice of infinite worth, to God, for all the people He came to save (Mt 1:21), from all over the world (1 Jn 2:2).
God accepted the blood sacrifice of His Son, as a substitutionary death, on behalf of, in the place of, and for the benefit of those He foreknew and whom He predestined to be recipients of His sovereign mercy and grace (Rom 8:29; 9:15–16, 23 Eph 2:8–9). Jesus died for His sheep (Jn 10:11, 15), which He calls by name (Jn 10:3).
By raising Jesus Christ from the dead (Acts 13:30), God’s approval of Christ’s active and passive works, in life and death, is believed and promiscuously declared to all people through the Gospel (Mt 24:14). Some believe in Christ because they have received His Spirit (1 Jn 5:12), who gave the elect, redeemed new life that is eternal (Rom 6:4; 2 Cor 5:17; 1 Jn 5:13).
Receiving imputed righteousness, by the gracious choice and act of God, alone, the unjust soul has become justified by Jesus’ precious blood (Rom 5:9; 1 Pet 1:19), by order of grace (Rom 3:24), and as evidenced by faith (Rom 3:28). The church proclaims, “Jesus Christ is our righteousness,” and with grateful hearts, we bear bold witness that it was all God and nothing of man.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
December 7, 2022
