Discover Jesus’ Righteousness…and Yours

God is the source and centre of all existence… therefore righteousness has to do with alignment, congruence, agreement and harmony with Him. He is the weight, measure, standard, and norm with which the universe needs to align. To line up in harmony with Him, His standards, His truth… to believe and obey Him is to be declared righteous. To break trust and agreement with Him, to run from Him, to act in a way that is contrary to His desires – is to walk in unrighteousness, resulting in discord, dissonance and death.

Romans 3:10-12a, 23 (NIV)
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; … there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

According to this scripture, how many people are truly righteous before God?

Isaiah 1:18 (NLT)
“Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool”

Romans 6:23 (NIV)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Despite the fact that we have sinned and have therefore become unrighteous before God, what (according to these scripture) is our Heavenly Father’s intent towards us?

Isaiah 61:10a (NIV)
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness…

According to this scripture, is ‘righteousness’ an inside-out effort of human performance, or an outside-in gift from God?

Revelation 3
17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Matthew 5:20
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

According to these scriptures, does true righteousness and spiritual confidence come from our personal achievement, accrual of possessions, or religious observance (like the Pharisees)? Or is it, instead, something that only comes from God?

Romans 3:21-24, 27-28 (TPT)
21–22 But now, independently of the law, the righteousness of God is tangible and brought to light through Jesus, the Anointed One… now all who believe in him receive that gift… God freely gives away his righteousness… all because Jesus, the Anointed One, has liberated us from the guilt, punishment, and power of sin!

27Where, then, is there room for boasting? Do our works bring God’s acceptance? Not at all! It was not our works of keeping the law but our faith in his finished work that makes us right with God… God’s wonderful declaration that we are righteous in his eyes can only come when we put our faith in Christ, and not in keeping the law.

Romans 5:1, 18 [TPT]
1Our faith in Jesus transfers God’s righteousness to us and he now declares us flawless in his eyes. This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, has done for us.

18In other words, just as condemnation came upon all people through one transgression (Adam & Eve’s rebellion), so through one righteous act of Jesus’ sacrifice, the perfect righteousness that makes us right with God and leads us to a victorious life is now available to all.

Romans 4:5 [TPT]
But no one earns God’s righteousness. It can only be transferred when we no longer rely on our own works, but believe in the one who powerfully declares the ungodly to be righteous in his eyes. It is faith that transfers God’s righteousness into your account!

Carefully read these scriptures and let their truth soak into your heart. If necessary, read them several times whilst praying for God to reveal their truth to you. Then, answer these questions: What do these scriptures teach you about Jesus? His righteousness? And how it comes into our lives?

Our calling is to gratefully receive the robes of righteousness He has given. And to live from their enrobing reality in our day-to day-life… For this is our heaven-to-earth approach to righteous living, that He has provided for us:

2 Cor 5:21 (NIV)
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Galatians 3:27 (AMP & TPT)
For all of you who were baptized into Christ [into a spiritual union with… (Him)] have clothed yourselves with Christ [that is, you have taken on His characteristics and values].

Faith immersed you into Christ, and now you are covered and clothed with his life.

Ephesians 4:22, 24b, 31-32
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self… and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

How does it make you feel to know that you are spiritually clothed in Christ’s righteousness, and completely covered in His perfect work? How does this “already done” reality make you want to live now, as a new person clothed in Christ?

Matthew 13:43
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Ephesians 6:14
Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place…

James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

According to these scriptures, what are some of the benefits we can expect from having Christ’s righteousness upon our lives?