Righteous Conscious

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV.

For this Brief Word I want to pick up a thought I touched on in the last one.  It is the issue of Righteousness.

This is a great truth, and one which has enormous ramifications on our everyday life.  It certainly has on mine.

God is righteous. Totally. We come to Him based on His righteousness, not ours.

Here’s two important things.

Firstly God imputes our sins to Jesus.

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” Romans 4:7-8 NKJV.

Impute – means ascribe, assign, credit, lay, refer.

Our sin was imputed to Christ and He bore it’s full judgment.  He became what we were – sin, so that we can become what He is – righteous.  That’s the great exchange.  I trust you’re familiar with it.  For example:

• Jesus was punished that we might be forgiven.
  (Isaiah 53:4-5, 10).
• Jesus was wounded that we might be healed.
  (Matthew 8:16-17, 1 Peter 2:24-25).
• Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness that we might be made righteous with His righteousness.
  (Isaiah 53:10).
• Jesus bore our shame that we might share His glory.
  (Hebrews 12:2).

When Jesus died on the Cross, He took all my sin, all the judgment for all my sins – past, present and future.  He took all my rejection, guilt and shame.  He took all my wounds, my pains and my poverty.  Jesus took it all.  It was imputed to Him, ascribed, assigned and credited to Him.

That’s God’s mercy – not getting what we deserve.

My friend, just spend a moment thinking about that.  It is incredible.

But wait, there’s more.

Secondly God imputes the righteousness of Christ to us.

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Romans 10:3 NKJV.

The Jews were ignorant of God’s way of righteousness and thought they could be righteous by their obedience to the law.  Many make the same mistake today.

We are not made righteous by our obedience, but by His!

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19 NKJV.

We do not behave unto righteousness we believe unto righteousness. Remember, whose obedience is it? Jesus’!

This is God’s grace – getting what we don’t deserve.

This is actually a huge subject, and the teaching of God’s righteousness is important, so I hope you have or will study the subject and that the Holy Spirit will give you a revelation about it.

Bottom line – Jesus took everything we were and gave us everything He is.  You need to know this.

This is what I said in last month’s Brief Word.

When we’re in Christ, hidden in Him, God can’t see our sin.  When we abide in Him, we are covered, encapsulated, enveloped, by Him and all He is.  So when God looks at us all He sees is Christ.  And when He sees Christ He sees no sin, no wickedness, no iniquity, no guilt, no shame, no fear, no brokenness.  He just sees the righteousness, the purity, the worthiness of Christ.

God is righteous conscious.  When He looks at us He sees us in Christ, so all He sees are the attributes of Christ.  If God is righteous conscious then so should we be.

The more we fill our mind with these truths the more our everyday thoughts and actions will be of His righteousness.  Because whatever we focus on we empower.  For me, I want to empower the righteousness of Christ in me and not any unrighteousness my flesh might yearn for.

Surely, I mean surely, a revelation like that has an impact on our every thought and our every action.

This is the greatest antidote to mental health.  It is the greatest revelation about self-esteem.  It is a sure way to live a better life when we know we are righteous before God because of all Christ has done for us.  And when that truth fills and occupies our mind, our behaviour will soon follow.

All we do is believe.  We know belief determines behaviour, so our actions will change for the good when we believe and fill our mind with these truths.

What an indescribable gift we have when Christ is in our heart.  It is absolutely amazing.

Here’s what I suggest you do, right now, or as soon as possible.  Grab your Bible and a blank sheet of paper and a pen/pencil.  Now, open your Bible to 2 Corinthians 5:21, which says:

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV.

Take some uninterrupted, undistracted time, and think about that verse and it’s truth and write down what comes to mind.  Just let your heart and mind ‘bleed on the page’, and express what you really feel about all that God has done for you.

Here’s a few questions to get you started.

1. What does it mean when we say “God is righteous conscious?”
2. What does it mean that God has imputed my sin to Jesus?
3. What does it mean that God has imputed Christ’s righteousness to me?
4. What do you think is the greatest expression of God’s love for you?
5. What difference will it make in your life knowing this truth in your heart?

I’d love to hear from you so if you’re happy to share with me some of the things you’ve written down please let me know.  What revelation have you received about the love of God, about His righteousness and about your standing with Him?

Jesus became all that we were, so that we can become all that He is.  Hallelujah!

Image (painting by L Justinen) source unknown.