2 Corinthians 5:21
This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because it says so much about what Jesus took for me at Calvary and about what His death provided for me. In a nutshell, God made Jesus to be the bearer of the sins of the world, though Jesus had never committed a sin of His own. This was done so that all who believe on Jesus would be made into the very holiness and goodness of God because of Jesus.
The promise of this verse provides hope and redemption for everyone who believes on Jesus. He literally took all of your sins; past, present and future and bore them in His body on the cross. When He was lifted up, it was so that He could be the lightning rod that drew all of God’s judgment against YOUR SINS, into His body (John 12:32). If God judged Jesus for your sins, He cannot remain just if He judges you for the same sins. You might say, “Pastor Paul, Jesus only covered my past sins, not my future sins”. Really? He died 2000 years before you were born, thus He died before you had committed any sins and yet He still covers them all!
You need not worry about how much righteousness you “perform” as to whether or not you are considered righteous in the eyes of God. Jesus had committed no sins, yet He had all sins placed in Him at the cross. You have committed no righteousness, yet you have all of His righteousness placed in you at conversion. Whereas He took what you deserved; you receive what He deserved. He did not deserve punishment and death; we did. We do not deserve righteousness and blessing; He did. He lived the law to perfection, fulfilling its demands so that we would never again be held accountable for our failures.
View yourself as the righteousness of God in Christ. In fact, I teach my church to say that out loud, everyday, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ!” We do not say it to make it so; we say it because it IS so! Paul said, “I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak” (2 Corinthians 4:13). Do you believe that Jesus bore your sins in His body at the cross so that you can bear His righteousness in you? If you believe it, say it. By putting it out into the world you let all of the forces of darkness know that you are well aware of who you are in Christ.
Praise God that Jesus knew no sin in His own life but was still made to be sin for us. This gives us hope that though we do not know how to perform righteously each and every day, His righteousness is still at work in us. When God looks at us, He does not see our failures or our problems. It is not a matter of God turning a blind eye on those failures, but rather it is a matter of Him seeing only Jesus and His perfection. Paul said, “For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). He didn’t tell you to hide your life with Christ in God; he said that it is already hidden. When God looks at you, He sees Jesus!
Rejoice in the knowledge that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. The more that you become aware of this phenomenon, the more that you will see that righteousness come out of you in every area of your life. We do not live more like Jesus by “trying harder”; but rather by knowing who He is in us and letting Him do the work.
This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible because it says so much about what Jesus took for me at Calvary and about what His death provided for me. In a nutshell, God made Jesus to be the bearer of the sins of the world, though Jesus had never committed a sin of His own. This was done so that all who believe on Jesus would be made into the very holiness and goodness of God because of Jesus.
The promise of this verse provides hope and redemption for everyone who believes on Jesus. He literally took all of your sins; past, present and future and bore them in His body on the cross. When He was lifted up, it was so that He could be the lightning rod that drew all of God’s judgment against YOUR SINS, into His body (John 12:32). If God judged Jesus for your sins, He cannot remain just if He judges you for the same sins. You might say, “Pastor Paul, Jesus only covered my past sins, not my future sins”. Really? He died 2000 years before you were born, thus He died before you had committed any sins and yet He still covers them all!
You need not worry about how much righteousness you “perform” as to whether or not you are considered righteous in the eyes of God. Jesus had committed no sins, yet He had all sins placed in Him at the cross. You have committed no righteousness, yet you have all of His righteousness placed in you at conversion. Whereas He took what you deserved; you receive what He deserved. He did not deserve punishment and death; we did. We do not deserve righteousness and blessing; He did. He lived the law to perfection, fulfilling its demands so that we would never again be held accountable for our failures.
View yourself as the righteousness of God in Christ. In fact, I teach my church to say that out loud, everyday, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ!” We do not say it to make it so; we say it because it IS so! Paul said, “I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak” (2 Corinthians 4:13). Do you believe that Jesus bore your sins in His body at the cross so that you can bear His righteousness in you? If you believe it, say it. By putting it out into the world you let all of the forces of darkness know that you are well aware of who you are in Christ.
Praise God that Jesus knew no sin in His own life but was still made to be sin for us. This gives us hope that though we do not know how to perform righteously each and every day, His righteousness is still at work in us. When God looks at us, He does not see our failures or our problems. It is not a matter of God turning a blind eye on those failures, but rather it is a matter of Him seeing only Jesus and His perfection. Paul said, “For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). He didn’t tell you to hide your life with Christ in God; he said that it is already hidden. When God looks at you, He sees Jesus!
Rejoice in the knowledge that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. The more that you become aware of this phenomenon, the more that you will see that righteousness come out of you in every area of your life. We do not live more like Jesus by “trying harder”; but rather by knowing who He is in us and letting Him do the work.
