God made us the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. It says in Romans 3:21-25a:
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. (NIV 1995)
and in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (NIV)
There are many more verses on righteousness. When I started to look for them, I was surprised how many of them there are. God really wants us to know we are righteous by a free gift from Him. Since God has made us righteous in Christ, it is very important that we know and understand this, because only when we understand that we are already righteous, through faith, will we have peace with God.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1 NIV)
I used to read the Bible and feel convicted over not being righteous when there were so many promises for the righteous. I would think, “Well, that promise doesn’t apply to me.” Then when there were warnings for the wicked, I would get scared because in my heart I knew that there was nothing good in me.
Now that I am beginning to see that God has made me righteous through a free gift from Him, I look in the Bible and get excited about all the wonderful promises that are there for the righteous. Here are just a few promises:
The fruit of that righteousness will be peace;
its effect will be quietness and confidence forever. (Isaiah 32:17 NIV)
No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17 NKJV)
Whoever pursues righteousness and love
finds life, prosperity and honor. (Proverbs 21:21 NIV)
Jesus wants us to be humble so that we can receive this free gift of righteousness. We become able to receive this gift only when we realize that no matter how hard we try to be righteous on our own we will be never able to attain it.
What a wonderful gift it is that we can fall back into the loving arms of Jesus and realize that He has already made us righteous and we don’t have to do anything to become right with Him!
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You making me righteous. Please help me to live each day with that truth at the centre of my heart. Amen.
From an anonymous contributor
Farewell to Shadowlands 