WHAT MAKES US RIGHTEOUS? 

He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God through him. — 2 Cor. 5:21 

It is evident from this great truth that righteousness is not of our own making. We are righteous (or made right with God) not because of what we have done but because of what God has done. God made Jesus, who had no sin, a sin-offering on our behalf so that we might be righteous (justified) before God. It is through Christ, that is, faith in Christ, that we become the righteousness of God. What an exciting and liberating truth!

It is liberating in that it frees us from the folly of supposing we become righteous by our own goodness or good works. We have no righteousness of our own. If we did, Christ would not have had to become a sin-offering on our behalf. Did not the apostle say as much in Philip. 3:9: "And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith," and Gal. 2:21: "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."

"Through the law" in that last verse would mean through law-keeping, any law-keeping, even a law that Christ would bring. If we could be saved by keeping the law of Christ, then our Lord needed not to have died. He would simply come and give us a better law. But no law can save us or make us right before God. Paul says plainly that righteousness does not come by law, and just as plainly he declares that it does come from God, by faith, which would be both our faith in Christ and God's faithfulness. We are righteous only because God is always faithful in the promises that He makes. One promise He makes is that righteousness is imputed on the ground of faith, not works: "But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:5).

This means that one is not righteous because he ministers to the needy, but he ministers to the needy because he is righteous. Going to church, reading the Bible, and praying does not make us either good or righteous. We do these things because God has imputed to us the goodness or righteousness of Christ. We may barely reflect the goodness of Christ, considering our sinful nature, but any goodness we have comes from Christ, not from ourselves. Isa. 64:6 says it well: "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Righteousness is not filthy, of course, except when it presumes to come from the pride of man. Even our Lord, the only perfect man in human history, did not want to be called good, for, he said, only God is good (Lk. 18:19). Then who are we to claim goodness or righteousness for anything at all that we have done? Thank God that we are righteous only because of what He has done!.

Note how plainly Paul says this in Tit. 3:5: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit."

Mercy! That is the only reason any of us will be saved. When we come to understand "the sinner's prayer" in Lk. 18:13, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner," we will see the grace of God more clearly and understand the righteousness of God more nearly. And all this will cause us to love Jesus more dearly. - the Editor