600 years prior to Jesus arrival on the earth the prophet Jeremiah said, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land . . . And this is the name by which he will be called: The Lord is our righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:5-6, cf 33:15-16). Jesus Christ is the righteous Branch through whom we are able to obtain righteousness ourselves!
READ: Romans 3:10-26
God’s ultimate plan for making us righteous was a person! Right relationship with God and others is only possible through a relationship with Christ. Jesus Christ provides RIGHTEOUSNESS for us by paying the penalty for our UNRIGHTEOUSNESS on the cross! Without Jesus Christ, we would be without hope of obtaining the righteousness demanded by God. What has Jesus Christ done in order to be our righteousness?
Jesus Christ knows that we are NOT righteous (Rom. 3:10, 23) – The standard of righteousness is perfection. This is bad news because we are more capable of jumping to the moon than we are capable of being righteous before God! Instead of living righteously, we “sin”. “No one is righteous, no, not one”. Very simply . . . SIN = UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. I am not righteous, you are not righteous, none of us are. “All (of us) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. Knowing that we are not righteous and the necessity of us to be righteous, Jesus offered Himself.
Jesus Christ MANIFESTED righteousness to us (Rom. 3:21) – Through Jesus’ life, He reveals to us what perfect righteousness is. We can see what it looks like with our eyes. We can hear what it sounds like with our ears. It’s been revealed to us in a clear and unmistakable way! 1 John 2:1 says, “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Righteous is an adjective that describes Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was not somewhat righteous. He was not righteous for a period of time. He was perfectly righteous, and for all of us who do sin, Jesus Christ is our righteous helper before the Father who demands sinless righteousness!
Jesus Christ graciously PAID for our righteousness with His blood (Romans 3:22, 24-26) – The word translated “justified” in verse 24 is simply the verb form of the noun “righteousness” or the adjective “righteous”. Therefore, the word translated “justified” could also be translated “have been made righteous”. To be made righteous is to be as if we’d never sinned. By sending Jesus to be the propitiation for our sin by His blood, God justifies us or makes us righteous. A propitiation is a sacrifice that satisfies the just punishment of God’s wrath. Jesus Christ sacrificed His life by shedding His blood in order to satisfy the wrath that we deserve for our sin. Jesus Christ willingly received the consequence and paid the ultimate penalty for our sin . . . with His blood. Another beautiful aspect of the word “justified” is that it is in the passive voice which means that “all (of us who) have sinned” did nothing in the process of being made righteous. God did the work of justification, making us right, through the blood of Christ. We are simply recipients of this underserved gift of God’s grace!
CONCLUSION
Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. PEACE . . . any relationship unhindered by anxiety, worry, disappointment, frustration, bitterness, fear, anger, hostility, or violence. Jesus Christ accomplished peace in our relationship with God and others by making us righteous. Perfect righteousness is only obtainable through Jesus Christ. We must receive the gracious gift of righteousness by putting faith in Jesus’ work on the cross (Rom. 3:22, 25-26). Have you received the righteousness from Jesus Christ that allows you to be at peace with God?
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