Christ's resurrection: The divine receipt of our everlasting righteousness in Him.

We know why our Saviour Jesus Christ came to die - because of our sins. But do you know why our Abba Father raised Him from the dead? We see this in Romans 4:25 where it is said of our Saviour: "Who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous."

The TPT puts it this way: "Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!"

His resurrection is the divine evidence that we have been made righteous forever and apart from works.

Think of this as being put on prison death row for something you did ("all have sinned" and "the wages of sin is death".) This prison is not just any kind of prison. The inmates range from well-behaved, moral people to the vilest offenders. It doesn't matter if a person's sin is great or small. (James 2:10 says "For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.") It is a prison from which escape by human effort is impossible. In order to avoid this prison by human effort, you must be 100% righteous before God; but Romans 3:20 says-

"For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."

Death is inevitable in this prison. The only way to pay your sin debt is to finish serving your sentence by dying in the prison.

A stranger who happens to be the son of the judge that sentenced you for your crime comes along and takes your place; He agrees to endure this horrid prison (the curse of the law) and then die for you. You didn't even know this was possible but the judge tells you that you are free to go without paying any price because He gave His own Son to pay the wages of your sin.

Years later, you're walking down your street, still scared that the swap is too good to be true and not quite sure that your sins have been paid. Then you bump into the son of the judge. You immediately KNOW that your debt of sin has been fully paid. Why? Because the One who gave Himself up for you is alive and no longer in prison. With the Judge being the Righteous Judge, there is no way He could have come out of that prison without paying the full price of your sin. Christ raised from the dead is the divine receipt of our being declared righteous/guilt-free by God!

Remember He "was raised up because of our being declared righteous." To believe that one still has to try to obey the law in order to be declared righteous before God is to deny His resurrection. This is unbelief.

Believers, because God so loved the world, He gave His own Son to die for our sins. He raised Him from the dead as a testament to the fact that all who believe that Christ died for their sins are no longer owing God a debt of payment of the wages of sin. Christ's resurrection is the divine receipt declaring that we have been made righteous in the sight of God. In Him, our sin debt has been fully paid.

Not only did He die to pay our sin debt and was raised from the dead because of our justification, He gave us the Helper (Holy Spirit) that teaches us all things and transforms us to the image of His glory, from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18,) so even though our sins - past, present and future- have been paid, we cannot use this as an excuse to sin; not because of our self-effort and discipline but because the Holy Spirit transforms us, causing us to live right. The desire to sin is taken away! What a life!

To believe that His perfect work of paying the wages of our sin has not made us righteous as He is righteous is to deny Christ. Those who preach that it is your law-keeping and good works that give one right-standing with God deny Him. This teaching is a lie and this is the result of believing it: Galatians 5:4-

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."

Beloved of God, by His grace, let's not be found here.

But does this righteousness last only until our next sin? NEVER! Christ our High Priest "offered one sacrifice for sins for all time" according to Hebrews 10:12. His one sacrifice has taken away our past, present and future sins, unlike those of the priests under the Old Covenant. See what Hebrews 10:11 says of them:

"Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins."

Hebrews 10:14 puts our life in Christ thus: "For by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."

In Him, we are forever righteous. We DID NOT earn this righteousness with our good works to begin with so our mistakes and misdeeds CANNOT make us lose it. The Parable of the Lost Sheep shows us that our Lord Jesus Christ is not in the business of killing His sheep that go astray/get wounded or leaving them to rot where they fell so the devil can devour them alive; no matter how His sheep come to be in that fallen situation. His strength is made perfect in weakness- our weakness. If we fall, He finds us and carries us home on His shoulders, and He rejoices. He is Saviour. He Himself said "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Even when your troubles are of your own making, He will help you. See Proverbs 28:26-

"Self-confident know-it-alls will prove to be fools. But when you lean on the wisdom from above, you will have a way to escape the troubles of your own making."

This is LOVE.

But God's grace is not a license to sin as many who do not yet understand say. Think of the things our Saviour had to go through for us in this prison that He endured for our sake: scourged, crushed and crucified. Does this immediately make you want you to go out and commit sin? Sin is a prison and many are trying to get out, not rush in! Preach grace and let grace take care of the sinner's sin problem. Matt. 1:21 says of Grace, Christ Himself: "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Grace is our Teacher, not you or I. We cannot save ourselves. Christ saves. Put in human effort at attaining righteousness and it is no longer grace (Romans 6:11) and thus no salvation. In Christ, God will NEVER AGAIN be angry with us or punish us. See this in Isaiah 54:9 which outlines the promise of the Lord to those whose righteousness is from the Lord; believing that Christ was raised from the dead "to prove that He had made us right with God!"

“Just as I swore in the time of Noah

that I would never again let a flood cover the earth,

so now I swear

that I will never again be angry and punish you."

He corrects us when we mess things up but never with things like sickness, the curse or anything that Christ sacrificed Himself to save us from. Hebrews 12:10 says our Abba Father chastens us "for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness"

Grace is the One Who teaches us to forsake worldly lusts and redeems us from "every lawless deed" according to Titus 2. Would you really let your neighbour's dog bite your beloved child to death because he didn't listen when you told him to stay put in the house? You will protect him and even warn your neighbour to put his dog on a leash or else you will crush it! How much more our Father in heaven who trains us up in the way we should go that we should never depart from it? This is grace- undeserved, unmerited favour.

Look what Hebrews 12:28 says of grace: "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."

Only by grace can we truly serve God the way He wants us to. Christ does it all. He is the righteousness of all who believe.

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.