In Christ - I am the righteousness of God

I am the righteousness of God...

II Corinthians 5:21 God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 

I Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed. 

Daily Word with Jack Graham - 10/18/11

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10

“Doesn’t it just annoy you when you’ve spent time getting ready for a nice event, put on your best clothes, fixed your hair just right, and without warning, you somehow get a stain on your nice clean clothes? It bugs me to no end!

“Now, what’s funny is that if I’m outside working in the yard, I really don’t care if I get something on my clothes because I’m probably wearing stuff I care nothing about!

“It’s amazing how when we are dressed in our best, we’re much more conscious of anything that might stain our clothes. And when we realize we’re robed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we’re much more aware of the stain of sin in our lives.

“When you come to faith in Christ, you’re robed with His perfect righteousness. But God doesn’t just give you new robes so you can go to heaven; He does it so you can show His righteousness to the world!

“In Christ, you have been made fully righteous and clothed in His goodness. So live your life for Him by guarding yourself against sin and declaring His holiness to the world!

“CHRIST CLOTHES YOU IN HIS ROBES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IF YOU’RE IN HIM. SO GUARD YOURSELF AGAINST THE STAIN OF SIN AND LET YOUR ROBES BE SEEN BY DOING THE WILL OF GOD!”

Don’t you just HATE it when you wear your favorite blouse – only to spill soup or sauce down the front?  When that happens here (at the office) I do my best to scrub it out, but there’s always that stain letting the whole world know I have a hole in my lip!  Sometimes that stain never comes out – and I have to live with it – or toss the blouse – forever.  The difference between my blouse and the robes of righteousness I’ve been given is that when I get something on it – when I sin – there’s always a remedy – something that will remove the soup or sauce and leave my  robes spotless – that’s called repentance.  What a comfort, no?  The down side of that, though, is that when we’ve soiled our robes of righteousness in public – and it was witnessed by others – THEY may always see that stain, even if you can’t (and neither can God).  Some people have a really hard time letting us walk in the truth of who we are “in Christ” – they’d rather see us wallow in our past – and some of them are determined that we will never forget what we’ve done.  If you’ve got those kind of people in your life, you’ll need to fortify yourself with the TRUTH of your identity whenever you know you have to spend time with them.  Rest, though, in knowing that the One who really matters has forgiven – forgotten – and from His vantage point your “robes” are dazzling white!  Over time He can use you to show your detractors the truth, too – keep living for Him – keeping your robes clean – and let Him change their hearts!  Sharon

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