God Without Religion_ Can It Really Be This Simple_ - Andrew Farley [45]
When it comes to righteousness, many of us rightly believe in imputed righteousness—that God is counting us as righteous. But we might mistakenly think that righteousness is not real and tangible, at least not here and now. Maybe we imagine that God is up in heaven pretending that we’re righteous. Perhaps he sees us out of the corner of his eye as he looks upon Jesus instead. If he were to turn in our direction and really look at us, he’d see that same old dirty sinner that we still are.
Yes, we’re clothed with Christ’s righteousness. But don’t you dare look under those clothes or you’ll be in for a ghastly surprise! Or maybe God will give us a last-minute polish just before we reach the pearly gates. But wait—there’s only talk of us getting new bodies in heaven, so when do we ever become 100 percent clean and right on the inside, in our human spirit?
Could it be now?
Imputed or Imparted?
There’s a sense in which imputed righteousness is certainly true. We’ve been declared righteous through Christ. And we’ve had righteousness credited to our account (Gal. 3:6–7). But there’s so much more to it! We’ve had righteousness not only imputed to us but also imparted to us. Everyone agrees that our old self was literally and actually unrighteous by nature. Likewise, after the death of our old self, we were raised to be a new self—who is literally and actually righteous by nature. That’s the news flash!
Jesus said it well. He stated that our righteousness had to compete and win against the Pharisees in order to enter heaven (Matt. 5:20). So if we are heaven-bound people, then how righteous are we? Imagine thousands of Pharisees all lined up with their lifelong efforts lying beside them in a heap. All the blood, sweat, and tears that Pharisees experienced to try to get right with God pales in comparison to the righteousness we possess freely in Jesus Christ. The righteousness we possess is greater than all of the Pharisees’ efforts combined.
Why doesn’t the Bible speak of a last-minute polish for Christians just before we hit heaven? Because right here, right now, we are as righteous as we’ll ever be. Sure, we’ll get new bodies some day. As far as our human spirit goes, though, we’re ready for heaven. And our soul (psychology) is like a mirror that can reflect anything—sin or righteousness—in a given moment. It too is ready for heaven where there will be no sin to reflect. Together, our spirit and soul are already equipped for heaven, right now. It’s just our bodies that’ll need replacing.
So we’re as righteous as Jesus Christ in our human spirit. That’s what is so radical about the gospel:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)
“Well, yeah, in Christ,” we might say as we shove the idea to the wayside. We end up agreeing that we’re righteous in Christ, as if that’s not quite real. So is God pretending our new birth is a reality? Is God pretending we have a new heart? Is God pretending we’re righteous? Or does he call us “the righteousness of God” because it’s actually true?
Righteousness won’t do us any good unless we own it. And when we relegate it to some bin of truth that’s not quite real, it becomes useless to us in the everyday. It’s true that we received Christ’s righteousness as a gift. But what should you do with the greatest gift you’ve ever been given?
Own it.
Heart-to-Heart Talk
Do you have a sinful heart? I can’t tell you how many Christians I’ve met who would answer yes to that question. Then they remark, “But I’m saved by grace.” Now, that may sound really humble to you, but do you see what I see? There’s a fundamental problem with believing that Christians have a sinful heart. The whole point of being reborn in Christ is that we get a new heart (Ezek. 36:26), a new mind (1 Cor. 2:16), a new spirit (Ezek. 36:26; Rom. 8:16), and God’s Spirit living in us (1 Cor. 3:16). We might think it