Promise Verse: God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Four kinds of Righteousness:
There are times when you think I have done wrong things in my life. I have failed in my prayer times. Does God love me? Does He care for the things in my life? Of the things I do in my life, He should not care for me at all.
This is because it is not by your righteousness God is blessing you. Man became sin. Jesus became sin for us. His righteousness is your right to God’s unmerited favour.
(Gal 2:21 NIV) I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
Dear brothers and sisters don’t take this verse lightly.
Your Righteousness is Freely given, not earned:
Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane. He took the closest of the apostles. Peter, James, and John. Those three slept unable to accompany Him in prayer. In the garden even John the beloved apostle slept. John was at the bosom of Jesus during the last supper. He is the beloved disciple. Even John could not pray at the sorrowful hour. But Jesus was still praying for Him and them. When you are not able to pray and fail to pray, know that your Savior and Lord is praying at the right hand of the Father. The prayers of the close three disciples failed but Jesus’ prayer overcame the situation.
The Roman soldiers took him bare body and began to beat Him. They gave Him maximum pain. They used hooks and broken glass to bring the flesh out of Him and His flesh was hanging. In one scene, Jesus collapsed getting the blows. I wish that He would stay down, and the tormentors would repent. But He did not stay down. With you and me in mind, He clung to the post to receive all the blows they gave. It is by His stripes, we are healed.
Usually when people go through such a beating, they will be dead. After this torment, He was forced to carry his cross and walk Golgotha. He could not carry the weight of the cross and Simon carried. They beat Him on the way. But Jesus survived to carry our punishment upon the cursed cross. His hands were stretched on the cross, nailing his hands to the wood. They stretched his feet and nailed Him.
Did Jesus endure all these things for nothing? Was this all in vain?
(Gal 2:21 NIV) I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
My friend, do not frustrate the grace (unmerited favour) of God in your life by looking to yourself and trying by your own efforts to make yourself righteous before God. We cannot earn God’s favour and acceptance. We can only receive righteousness as a free gift from God. God’s righteousness is free for us, but it costs Him dearly. He paid for it with the blood of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. It is a gift that can only be given freely not because it is cheap, but truly, because it is priceless!
“Pastor. Rufus, how can I, who did no right be made righteous?
You see, Jesus had no sin of His own, but He took upon Himself all of humanity’s sins. On the other hand, you and I had no righteousness of our own, but on that cross, Jesus took upon Himself all our sins, past, present and future, and in exchange, gave us His perfect, everlasting righteousness. Now, is this righteousness that we have received a result of our own works or His work? It is clear that our righteousness is a result of His work and we can only receive His righteousness through His unmerited favour!
(Rom 11:6 NIV) And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
There is no middle or alternative road. You are depending upon yourself to become righteous. Or you depend upon Jesus for your righteousness. You depend on Jesus or depend on yourself.
How many times have you lost your cool on the road? How many times have you got angry with your spouse and behaved badly at home? Why should God give you favour in office for your work? As a painter, why should your contractor and the owner of the house say, “You have done a good job”. Why should they look at your presentation and say, “Good job, well done”.