Man, that's so RIGHTEOUS

 

For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.  --2 Corinthians 5:21

In the 1930's jazz sub-culture, some people began using the word "righteous" to mean excellent, smooth, or cool, as in "that artist is righteous."  The term continued to be used in the 1940's by listeners to swing music.  In the 1960's, the term gained new life in the hippie culture, when it was used to mean genuine or excellent, as in "that dude is righteous."  The term was resurrected again in the 1980s by surfer dudes, who used it to describe things other than music or people.  An example might be "that wave was righteous."

In the study of theology, we know that only God is truly righteous.  That is, He is utterly holy and without sin.  In Romans 3:10 Paul quotes Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 when he writes, "None is righteous, no, not one."  This is the curse of Adam, who communed with God face-to-face, but traded that innocence for the knowledge of good and evil.  Once evil was introduced, man could no longer fellowship with God.  Sin separates us from a holy God.  Since God dwells in a state of holiness, and we abide in a state of sinfulness and separation, our only hope is in God. 

Fortunately, God loves us enough to bridge that gap.  Psalm 136:23 says, "It is He who remembered us in our low estate, for His steadfast love endures forever."  In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself to a chosen few, one of whom was Abraham.  Romans 4:20-25 says, "No unbelief made him (Abraham) waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.  That is why his faith 'was counted to him as righteousness.' But the words 'it was counted to him' were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also.  It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."

Here is an immutable truth: faith leads to righteousness.  It was true under the old covenant as written in the Old Testament, and it is just as true under the new covenant as seen in the New Testament.  Romans 1:16-17 says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith'."  This is the gospel.  This is good news.  The word gospel literally means "good news."

What could be better news than this? Bible commentator Murray Harris wrote, "Not only does the believer receive from God a right standing before him on the basis of faith in Jesus (Phil 3:9), but here Paul says that 'in Christ' the believer in some sense actually shares the righteousness that characterizes God himself."  Charles Spurgeon wrote, "What a grand expression! He makes us righteous through the righteousness of Jesus; nay, not only makes us righteous, but righteousness; nay, that is not all, he makes us the righteousness of God; that is higher than the righteousness of Adam in the garden, it is more divinely perfect than angelic perfection."

Earlier we gave a definition of the word gospel.  Not to be too pedantic, but I want us to learn another vocabulary word that is not used very often outside of theological writings.  That word is imputation.

im·pute

/imˈpyo͞ot/

verb

1. represent (something, especially something undesirable) as being done, caused, or possessed by someone; attribute.

   "the crimes imputed to Richard"

   Similar:

   attribute

   ascribe

   assign

   credit

   accredit

   chalk up

   connect with

   associate with

   lay on

   lay at the door of

   pin on

   stick on

   • FINANCE

     assign (a value) to something by inference from the value of the products or processes to which it contributes.

     "by imputing the interest rates they potentially introduce a measurement error"
   • THEOLOGY

     ascribe (righteousness, guilt, etc.) to someone by virtue of a similar quality in another.

     "Christ's righteousness has been imputed to us"

RC Sproul said this: 

At the heart of the gospel is a double imputation: my sin is imputed to Jesus. His righteousness is imputed to me. And in this twofold transaction, we see that God, who does not negotiate sin, who doesn't compromise His own integrity with our salvation but rather punishes sin fully and really after it has been imputed to Jesus, retains His own righteousness. And so, He is both just and the justifier, as the Apostle tells us here. So my sin goes to Jesus; His righteousness comes to me in the sight of God.

Galatians 3:13 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'."  Remember the curse of Adam?  Jesus took it on Himself.  1 Peter 2:22-24 says, "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth.  When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.  He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By His wounds you have been healed."

A lot of people see the word "healed" in this verse in 1 Peter and in the Old Testament passage Peter quoted from Isaiah 53:5, and they think of physical healing.  I think it is much more than that.  Isaiah 53:11, from that same passage, says, "Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall the Righteous One, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities."  This is the divine healing we so desperately need, not a physical healing.  Which is more important, whether God will take away our illness or injury in this life, or if he will take away the curse of sin from us in the next?

One of my favorite hymns was written by Stuart Townsend in 2003:

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

It defies all human logic, but there it is.  1 Corinthians 1:27-30 says, "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.  And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption."

If my friends want to call me righteous, meaning excellent or genuine, I will be honored.  However, if God looks on me and sees His righteousness, I am humbled.