The Righteousness of Christ

Ephesians 6:14-18a
February 9, 2020
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

Praise be to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As we wait and prepare for Jesus’ return, we have his armor. We have his strength. And so we can stand firm against the schemes of the enemy. For the war has already been won by Jesus, but it is not yet over for us.

Last Sunday we considered the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and the belt of truth. These two parts of armor are glorious and powerful. But there are more parts to put on. We’re just getting started.

Dear Highland, this morning I command you in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord to put on the breastplate of righteousness. And may you stand firm in Jesus’ righteousness.

What is the righteousness of Christ? What does it mean to have his righteousness? The righteousness of Christ is his perfect obedience to the law. It is the full content of a perfect life without sin. It is a perfect record of his good works. The righteousness of Christ is what he did and who he was… for you.

This is so important because righteousness was the original goal for Adam and for all of us. We were created to obey the law of God. We were created to live a life without sin. We were created to do good works. This is what we were supposed to do. This is who we were supposed to be… for God.

But Adam did not achieve his God-given goal of righteousness. He disobeyed God’s law and sinned against him. His life and his record was stained and ruined with bad works.

And the same goes for every single human being who came after him. On you own, you do not have perfect obedience to the law. On your own, you do not have a perfect life without sin. On your own, you do not have a perfect record of good works. On your own, you deserve eternal death, the punishment of hell and the justice of God.

On your own, all of this is true of you.

But if you are in Christ, then you are not on your own. And none of this is true of you.

The reason why is simple but profound. Easy to understand but hard to get over. God our Father has shown mercy and grace to us.

God took all that you are and all that you do - all of your disobedience to the law, all of your sin in your life, all of stained and ruined record, all of your unrighteousness - God took all of that and made it all Jesus’. And God took all that Jesus was and all that Jesus did - all of his perfect obedience to the law, all of his perfect life without sin, all of his perfect record of good works - God took all of that and made it yours.

Jesus was credited and clothed with your sin. You have been credited and clothed with Jesus’ righteousness.

Because of your sin, Jesus was punished and crucified as a sinner forsaken by God the Father. Because of Jesus’ righteousness, you have been justified and accepted as a righteousness son or daugther in the sight of God the Father.

Because of Jesus’ death for your sin, you can be forgiven of all of your sins. Because of Jesus’ life for your righteousness, you can have eternal life with God in the kingdom of the new heavens and new earth.

Praise the Lord!

Jesus became sin and we became his righteousness. This does not mean that Jesus actually became sinful. And this does not mean that we actually became righteous. This means that Jesus’ legal status changed, and he became liable for our guilt, personally responsible for the punishment of our sins. This means that our legal status changed, and we became inheritors of his innocence, personally identifiable with the reward of his obedience.

This means that it is not enough to say that we are saved because of Jesus’ death. We are also saved by his life. One theologian put it like this: “If Christ had merely paid the penalty of sin for us and had done nothing more we should be at best back in the situation in which Adam found himself when God placed him under the covenant of works.”

To put it mathematically, we were at negative infinity. Jesus’ death brought us to zero. But Jesus’ life bumped us up to positive infinity. To put it spatially, we were hell-bound. Jesus’ sacrifice brought us back to Eden (which is actually horrible because that means we’re back to square one in which now we have to take the test). But Jesus’ obedience bumped us up to “Eden-plus” or rest with God. To put it relationally, Jesus’ payment released you from prison, with God saying, “You are free to go.” But Jesus’ righteousness reserved for you a spot at heaven’s banqueting table with God saying, “You are invited to come.”

To put this all in another way, you are saved by works. Technically speaking, you are saved by merit. Indeed, the only way to get to heaven is to obey God and be perfectly good. The test and the terms never changed. But the test-taker did. You are saved by works! But the gospel catch is that it’s not your works. It’s not your merit. It’s not your obedience that saves you. It’s Jesus’s works and merit and obedience that saves you.

Imagine two books in front of you: a black colored book and a white colored book. The black book is the book of your life. The pages are filled with your sins and how you have broken God’s law. And the cover has your name on it. That's the black book. The white book, on the other hand, is the book of Jesus’ life. The pages of his book are filled with his obedience and how he kept God’s law. And that cover has his name on it.

Now imagine that the two covers of these two books are torn off and then switched. And God looks at the black book with the white cover. He sees sin and disobedience to his law. And he declares that the person of that book must die. That person is Jesus Christ. And then God looks at the white book with the black cover. He sees righteousness and obedience to his law. And he declares that the person of that book receive glory and eternal life. That person is you.

Praise the Lord!

Brothers and sisters, this is how our salvation works. This is what the righteousness of Christ is all about. And this is a huge part of the armor of God.

Satan hates the righteousness of Christ. And Satan schemes to get you to look at your own personal righteousness and build your life from that. Satan’s attack against you is twofold. He strives to puff you up with pride and make you think that your self-righteousness is good. And he seeks to accuse you with condemnation and make you think that your self-righteousness is bad.

This is a powerful and devastating scheme. When believers in Christ look at and rest on their own righteousness, they can feel smug, overly critical of others, important, and proud. Or they can feel discouraged, guilty, condemned, and suicidal. Or they can feel everything at different times, in different situations, or with different people. And at the end of the day, when believers in Christ look at and rest on their own righteousness, they exercise a wrong and dysfunctional understanding of their right and glorious relationship with God. Assurance is twisted or destroyed. The flock becomes fearful. And we wonder if God really loves us. The war is real and the war is now.

Dear Highland, do not look at or rest on your own righteousness. This is exactly what the enemy wants you to do. Your own righteousness is not Jesus’ righteousness. Your own righteousness is not designed to be your armor. Your own righteousness is supposed to be your response, your joyful and thankful response, to the righteousness of Christ.

Therefore, stop putting on the breastplate of “I give a lot of offering and my church attendance is solid” or the breastplate of “my prayers are sincere” or the breastplate of “I’m a good parent” or the breastplate of “I’m not like that church member” or the breastplate of “It’s been a really good month for me spiritually.” Stop putting on the breastplate of “I’m a terrible Christian” or the breastplate of “What’s wrong with me” or the breastplate of “I’m not sure if God really loves me.”

Instead, put on the breastplate of “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3). Instead, put on the breastplate of “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more” (Hebrews 10:17). Instead, put on the breastplate of “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Instead, put on the breastplate of “We love because [God] first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

In other words, look at and rest on the righteousness of Christ. This is true Christian strength. This is the armor of God. This is how we stand.

Soli Deo Gloria