65 MADE RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH. 2 Corinthians 5:21

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Read that verse again and understand it. Righteous means “Right with God” It is an amazing and life changing truth. The God who made His sinless Son to ‘be sin’ takes unrighteous people ie. people like us who are not right with God, and makes them ‘righteous’ or right with Him. How does it happen? By what we say or do? NO, By Faith. ie. by believing! That’s how people are counted as Righteous or right in God’s eyes. Not by their speech or anything they say, think, do or don’t do, but because of their belief (Faith) in God who forgave us all our sins when His Son Jesus suffered and died on that cross and paid the debt our sins incurred This Righteousness is not about behaving the - right way; it’s about believing the right way. Actually, It is impossible to become righteous in God’s eyes through human effort or by keeping the law. You become righteous ONLY by believing in Jesus Christ, and trusting in His finished work on the Cross. There is no other way. Why? Because in our inadequacy, we could never make up to God or compensate Him in any way for the damage our sins have done. To a Holy and perfect God. This could only be done by God Himself, and He did it, by sending His perfect, sinless Son The second person of the Holy Trinity, who paid the full price (every drop of His blood) required to bring us back to Himself. That is called our redemption or (buying back) So that we could enter in to His Glory with Him. You say,”I feel so guilty when I sin.” And so you should, it’s a good deterrent! But, Christ took away all your sins; therefore He took away all your guilt as well.. So what are you feeling? Inner conflict! Your regenerated spirit lives, and it reacts the same way your natural body reacts to something harmful, sin feels foreign to the new you, and when you indulge in it, the pleasure it brings is brief and the aftermath is bad. In essence your spiritual boundaries have been violated, and your regenerated spirit is telling you that you can’t indulge in sin any more. The old you could have indulged in sin and enjoyed it, but the new you can’t, because you are ‘a new creation in Christ’ see (1.Corinthians 5:17).”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone the new is here:.” So rejoice! Today God sees you as ‘righteous’ Therefore you can approach Him with complete confidence. See (Ephesians 3:12) “In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence”. In Romans (4:5) we read “Their faith was credited to them as righteous” ie. accepted by God, There are two ways people think they can become “righteous” The first is through trying, and the second is through trusting. Now, when you try to gain God’s approval by your performance, regardless of how great it may be, how long it takes you , or how many times you do it, you will never rest, because you will never be sure if you have done enough to please Him. But, when you place your trust in Christ’s Finished and completed work on the cross. (Which is called Redemption or buying back) The Bible says you enter into God’s rest. See Hebrews (4:3) “Now we who have believed, entered God’s rest, just as God said.” Paul writes, If anyone is in Christ, the new creation (something that didn’t exist before) has come; the old (appetites and actions) have gone. The new appetites and actions is here (2 Corinthians 5:17) . You don”t have to struggle to be seen as righteous in God’s eyes. The moment you place your trust in Jesus God makes you the righteousness of God (In Christ) (2 Corinthians 5:21) Why did He do it that way? Because any righteousness we could achieve through good works and keeping rules falls so far short of what He requires that He sees them as “Filthy rags” see (Isaiah 64:6) So God credited His righteousness to you and me.(2 Corinthians 5:18). Paul writes “David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who were declared righteous without working for it: ‘O what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight… whose record the Lord has cleared of sin. (Romans 4:6-8)” Hymnist Edward Mote wrote these words:-- Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” Now rejoice, That’s how God sees you and me, -today, made righteous by faith. Thank you for reading my thoughts on “Being made righteous by faith. Sometimes Theological and Religious terminology are confusing and misunderstood by new Christians, please don’t let that stop you from asking questions. Your Pastor and church leaders are only too happy to help. Keep up your prayer for God’s mercy which leads us all to His glorious throne of Grace. God bless Phaline.