Christ Jesus, who became to us… righteousness. – 1 Corinthians 1:30
If you are to grasp and enjoy your new purity in Christ, there are two things you need to know, and they are both right here in this verse. The first one is that Christ is your righteousness.
Your faith does not make you right with God, nor does your repentance, or your performance in the Christian life. Your service cannot make you right with God, nor can your ministry, or anything else that you offer to God.
What would you want God to examine on the last day? You might be thinking, “My faith is genuine, but it is far from perfect. My repentance is genuine, but it is not yet complete. My Christian life is a work in progress. My ministry has its failures as well as its successes, its missed opportunities, its neglected duties.”
On the last day, we all have to give an account of our lives, but if our eternity depended on what we’ve done for God, we would have no hope whatsoever. Augustine once said, “I do not dare to commend the works of my hands for fear that you may find more sins in them than merits.” If our hope rested on anything that we offer to God, then it would soon melt away.
Here is the wonderful thing: For those who are in Christ, what gets examined on the last day is not your faith, your repentance, your Christian life, or your ministry. It is your Savior. And there is no fault in Him. He is righteous.
Reflect on the comforting truth that our hope for eternity depends not on what we’ve done but on Christ’s righteousness.
