Hi
So in continuing with the series on made righteous, I intend today to share with you the scriptural foundation upon which this is built upon and if I would choose a cornerstone scripture for this; I would choose 2 Corinthians 5:21 which in the New King James Version reads “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” And it is for its simplicity to remember and at the same time carry the entire truth of why you can be confident before God. The message is simple, and if I must use the simple allegory a lot of you will have heard when you came to believe when you got born again, the cross is not the clean slate so you can earn righteousness with which you can stand before God, but when God took away your slate which was filled with your sin, He gave you one written with a perfect righteousness, His very own and the fact that this writing you cannot take away for it is permanent.
You see, by our own works there is none righteous, no not one; but because of a man Jesus who at the same time was God lived a perfect righteous life, we have it as a gift. Yes, God is Holy and no sin can stand before Him but because the penalty of every man’s sin, past present and future has been paid for, “There is now therefore no condemnation for them that believe in God”[Rom 8:1] The very justice of God that you may up to now have been afraid of works in your favour; you see my friend, all your crimes have had their penalty paid for by the blood of Jesus and God being just, cannot and will not punish the same sin twice. When Jesus died for your sin, you great-great great grandfather even was not yet conceived—and the sins He paid for were not the ones you had asked for forgiveness for, but rather all of them, from birth to death/ the coming of Christ (for some) and because the price for all of them has been permanently paid, you can be sure as well that the righteousness of Christ you receive is likewise permanent.
How can we be sure Jesus did not sin? Well Hebrews 4:15 has an answer—for we are told we have a high priest tempted like we were but yet remaining without sin. And likewise, so does 1 Peter 2:22-24 and 1 John 3:5. And the very next verse from the book of Hebrews comes with the conclusion of what you now need to live your life like—coming boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy in times of need. But before I go there, I want to end in the Book of Romans 3 were that portion “There is none righteous” is and to finish by illustrating just how misquoted it is. Because you see, when read and applied to you today, this is out of context. From verse 3 to 20 of Romans 3, what Paul is doing is illustrating just how the law, how the observation of rules in the Bible, both the 10 commandments and the ceremonial law could not be lived out by anyone prior, up to now and in the future and how this law was flawed because it could not give anyone righteousness-in fact, referring to the 10 commandments in 2 Corinthians 3:7 Paul calls them a “ministry of death” even though there was glory when it came.
You see, trying to come to a place where you are right with God by your acts and ability to keep the rules will never work, it is a place you will never be able to reach—you will weigh yourself down with guilt, feelings of unworthiness and you will hide from God for you will look at your acts and realise they cannot make you “deserve to ask Him anything.” And this is why you need to realise as Romans 3:21-31 continues to elaborate that there is a righteousness apart from the law, apart from one’s ability to keep rules and ordinances but one that is a gift from God and that one gets simply by believing in Jesus. It is a righteousness which is a gift, which says it is given and it is of this that the Bible says “As many as received the gift of righteousness and abundance of grace shall reign as kings in this life.”
In the next part, I will share what will happen when you realise, accept and begin to live like you are made righteous.
The grace of God keep you always.
Munyaradzi Goredema- Prisoner of Hope.