JESUS IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS

“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” Phil3:9

Previously we discovered that there are two types of righteousness. Self-righteousness which comes through us obeying the law and God’s righteousness which is also known as the righteousness of faith or faith righteousness. Because self-righteousness could never be sufficient to save us or earn us anything from God, God decided to give us His own righteousness as a gift through the Cross of Jesus Christ. This righteousness we can only receive by faith. We cannot do anything to earn it because it does not come through obedience to any law. As Rom3:21 says this righteousness is ‘without the law.’

We then looked at the fact that God’s righteousness/faith righteousness is the righteousness that God is interested in and it is the one He has given to us and wants from us. In our last lesson we discussed the incredible truth that not only has God given us His righteousness by the Cross of Christ, He has also made us this righteousness. This is very vital for us to understand.

When God speaks about His righteousness, He is not talking about a set of rules or standards to attain unto. It is not a moral code to adhere to. When God speaks about His righteousness He is speaking about a person that we have in our spirit and a nature that we become in our spirit man when we are born again.

The new nature that He has given us when we became born again is a righteous nature. And the new spirit that He put into us is a righteous spirit. However this does not end there. He also indwells our spirit man through His HOLY SPIRIT.We the Christians become righteous because we have a new spirit that is righteous by nature and because we have Jesus in us who is righteous by nature. We are righteous because of who we are in our spirit and because of who we have in our spirit.

The prophet Ezekiel saw this by the spirit and prophesied it thus;

“Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” Ezek36:25-27

We must understand that God didn’t just pronounce us righteous when we weren’t really righteous. He isn’t just being kind to us. God actually made us righteous by giving us a new spirit that is righteous and by indwelling us in all His righteousness and holiness. We are righteous because Jesus lives in us. This Jesus has become our righteousness. Jesus is our righteousness! Not only that;

Jesus is the righteousness of God. Jesus is the manifestation of everything that God requires, wants and desires, In Jesus we have everything that God requires, wants and desires. Jesus is the perfect fulfillment and manifestation of the righteousness of God. Why is this important to us?

The righteousness that God has always wanted can only be found in Jesus. Jesus was the perfect manifestation of the righteousness of God. He is the one with whom God said He was well pleased.

“And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Mat3:15-17

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” Mat17:1-5

“For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 2Pet1:16-17

Jesus is the only man that ever lived a perfect life. He was without sin throughout His earthly life even if He was tempted just like we are. Jesus lived a perfectly holy and righteous life. God said He was well pleased with Him. His righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees. Now this same Jesus lives on the inside of each one of us and His righteousness is what we have been made by faith. His nature is now the nature of the born again spirit of the Christian.

God promised through Jeremiah the prophet that when Messiah came, He Himself would become our righteousness. He even told us the name by which we would call Him when that time came.

"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.  In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jer23:5-6

This scripture was fulfilled when Jesus came and died for us on the Cross. He brought unto us salvation and safety and He has become our righteousness. The LORD Jesus Christ is our righteousness.

When we become born again, God imparts to us a righteousness that it is impossible for us to have naturally. He places into us a new spirit that is exactly perfect in the nature and image of Jesus Himself. There is literally no difference in nature and character and unity between the born again spirit and Jesus. The two are one!

Paul the apostle was discussing this issue with the Corinthian church and giving it as a reason for the Christians to desist from sexual immorality and particularly sleeping with prostitutes. His reasoning was that now they had become joined to Jesus and were one with Him.  Their physical bodies were now parts of Christ’s body. They therefore should not join themselves to prostitutes because in effect they will be joining Jesus who is one with them to the unholy and immoral prostitutes. This may sound like blasphemy to most of us but look at what the Bible says;

“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” 1Cor6:15-17 ESV

“Don't you realize that your bodies are parts of Christ's body? Should I take the parts of Christ's body and make them parts of a prostitute's body? That's unthinkable! Don't you realize that the person who unites himself with a prostitute becomes one body with her? God says, "The two will be one." However, the person who unites himself with the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” 1Cor6:15-17GW

“Do you not see {and} know that your bodies are members (bodily parts) of Christ (the Messiah)? Am I therefore to take the parts of Christ and make [them] parts of a prostitute? Never! Never! Or do you not know {and} realize that when a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? The two, it is written, shall become one flesh. But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.” 1Cor 6:15-17AMPLIFIED

The Greek word that was translated ‘one’ here is the word heis. According to W.E. Vine’s Lexicon this word means ‘a single (one), to the exclusion of others’

This is an amazing truth if we can lay hold of it. When a man and woman have sexual intercourse, there is a physical union in the natural that takes place. The two people become one flesh/body. Their bodies join together and are considered as one body. They intercourse, they commune, they mingle.

In that same way, when we become Christians, there is a spiritual union that happens between our new born again spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ. Our spirit literally becomes one with Christ. There is no separation. Everything that is His becomes ours. Everything that is true of Him becomes true of us spiritually. We become as He is. The apostle John speaks about this in this scripture;

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” 1Jn4:16-17

We are exactly like Jesus. Right this very moment, not when we die and go to heaven. It says that we are like Him ‘in this world’. The amplified bible puts it this way;

“In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion {and} attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.” 1Jn4:17 AMP

Because of this unity in spirit, the righteousness of Jesus Christ is no different than the righteousness of the believer. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is the righteousness of the believer. Jesus is the righteousness of the believer. THE CHRISTIAN IS AS RIGHTEOUS AS GOD IS BECAUSE JESUS IS HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!! Blasphemy you say? Look at this scripture;

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” 1Cor1:30-31KJV

This scripture plainly tells us that for those of us who have come into Christ, God has made Jesus to become our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. We have come into union and intercourse with Him. We have mingled and exchanged.

There is an exchange that takes place whereby God through the Cross takes away our old man who was unrighteous and unholy and gives us a new man who is joined to Jesus. This new man derives all that He is and all that He has from His union with Jesus. Whatever is true of Jesus becomes true of this new man because He is joined unto Jesus as one. The life of Jesus becomes His life.

The Amplified Bible has a very detailed amplification of this verse. It is worth looking at and meditating upon;

“But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin].” 1Cor1:30 AMP

It tells us that God by putting us in Christ has made us upright and in right standing with Himself, He has made us pure and holy and has provided for us a ransom from the eternal penalty of sin. The uprightness, purity and holiness that is true of Jesus becomes true of us. Because we are in Christ and He is in us.

Another scripture that makes this point very well is this;

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2Cor5:21

Because we have Jesus who is the righteousness of God, we too have become the righteousness of God in Him. What makes us the righteousness of God is the fact that we have Jesus who is the righteousness of God. It is not because we work hard and behave perfectly; it is because Jesus lives in us and is joined to our spirit as one. We are the garden of God where He has planted His righteousness that produces righteous works and holiness. Holiness is not the root; it is a fruit of who we are in Jesus.

Therefore, we the Christians are to abandon our natural righteousness by which we seek to please God and instead become aware and awakened to the righteousness of God which we have become through the faith of Christ. This friends, is what God calls righteousness and true holiness. Let us end with this passage;

“But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Eph4:20-24

Note1: Notice the use of the phrase ‘which after God is created’ in the KJV Bible. This phrase is translated as ‘created after the likeness of God’ in the ESV Bible, as ‘created in God's image’ in the NET Bible.  And the NIV states it as ‘created to be like God’. All of these are making the point that the new man (our born again spirit) is created just like Jesus. In the same exact nature like God. In our spirit, we are right now as Jesus is. We have the same nature as God.

Note2: Notice the use of the word ‘created’ in verse 24. This is emphasizing that the believer's righteousness and holiness is not something that we work for or earn or grow into as we mature and become a better Christian. We were created that way when we became born again. In the same way that we were born a sinner in our first natural birth, now we are born again righteous in our second spiritual birth. It is our nature. It is who we are.

You do not grow and mature into a righteous Christian. You are born righteous when you become a Christian.

This righteousness and holiness is in our new spirit which we received from God. We may still be day by day working out this righteousness and holiness in our actions, but our born-again spirit was created that way. That is its nature.

Note 3: God calls this new nature into which we are born ‘true holiness’. He is implying obviously that there is a false holiness and righteousness. This false holiness and righteousness is our self-righteousness that comes from our works and the good we do.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Jn14:6

Jesus is the only ‘Truth’. His holiness is the only ‘true holiness’. His righteousness is the only true righteousness. This is the one God has given us as a gift. It is the only one that is adequate when relating to God. It is the only one God wants.

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.” Jn4:23-26

God is a Spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth (true holiness). God is seeking those who worship Him in spirit and in truth. This is the only worship He wants. God looks at us through our spirit and deals with us based on this true holiness which is in our new man. This is wonderful news. This is what establishes us upon a sure foundation. May God establish us upon His righteousness.