Just How Righteous Are You…..Anyway?

So, how righteous are you today?  Now before you answer that take a good hard look at the question again.  I’m not asking you how righteous you feel today.  I want to know if you know just how righteous you are right now if you are in Christ Jesus.

In Christ, and by that phrase I mean that you have placed saving faith in Christ Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins and thus are in union with Christ, you are completely righteous, whether you feel righteous or not.  In fact, the Bible teaches that if you are in Christ you have been given and possess, right now and forevermore, a righteousness, not your own and certainly not of your making but rather a righteousness imputed to you from God Himself in the person of Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:8-9). 

This righteousness obtained from God is very interesting in that it is the very righteousness of God Himself for the simple reason that it is Christ's righteousness that is credited to you .  This is exactly what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21.  Paul writes:  “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  Therefore, if you are in Christ, you possess the very righteousness of God Himself.  In other words, in Christ, through Christ, and because of Christ, you are as righteous as God is right now.  Now I know that this sounds radical and some of you are probably wondering if I haven’t gone a bit too far in making the claim that the true child of God, the person who is “in Christ” is as righteous as God is.  But, isn’t this what Jesus said was required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stated rather emphatically to his audience that unless their righteousness surpassed that of the scribes and Pharisees they would not enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:20)  Then in verses 21- 47 of Matthew 5, Jesus gave several examples of the Pharisee’s righteousness and showed the huge difference between theirs’ and God’s righteousness.  And then in verse 48, He made His point by saying:  “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” 

 If you missed His point—keep reading Jesus’ words until they sink in.  Jesus, in no uncertain terms, told His audience and us by extension that the righteousness needed to enter Heaven is a much greater righteousness than man can produce as evidenced by the ultra-religious Pharisees.  The righteousness required to get into Heaven is perfect righteousness—God’s righteousness.  To be perfectly blunt and clear—you and I need to be as perfect (righteous) as God is if we plan on taking up residence in that celestial city some day.  And praise God that the perfect righteousness He demands of us, He provided for us in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.


Furthermore, this imputed righteousness, credited to the lives and records of all who believe in Christ, is so real that God treats the believer as if he or she really is as righteous as Christ.  In this sense, the believer is as acceptable to God the Father as Christ Himself.  In fact, it is perfectly correct to say that all that is true of Christ in His humanity is true of the believer by virtue of the fact that the believer is in perfect union with Christ.  Wow......what a Gospel! 

To be given the perfect righteousness of another because mine is ruined, to be able to use the wonderful name of another because mine is worthless, to be given the perfectly clean, spotless, and unwrinkled raiment of another because mine are torn, soiled, and filthy, to be able to appear before the Father in the Person of Christ Jesus my substitute......that indeed is GOOD NEWS!  But, wait there's more.......all that makes Christ precious, dear, beautiful, accepted, and acceptable to the Father has been transferred to you, the believer, so that the Father treats you as though you were Christ.  So entirely are you, the believer, one with your "sin bearer" and thus the possessor of His righteousness that God the Father treats you not merely as though you had never committed any of the evil you have done, but as if you had done all the good which Jesus did.  GOOD NEWS indeed!
 
The GOOD NEWS of the gospel is not only that your sins are forgiven but that in Christ you possess His very own perfect righteousness.  Thus, you are, in Christ, as righteous as God Himself.  And that’s why you’ll be able to go to Heaven when you die. 

So, again, let me ask you, just how righteous are you today?