In 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis declaring salvation by grace through faith. Today the church desperately needs a second reformation of sanctification by grace. Christians are chained to a treadmill of trying to please God by their behavior, of trying harder and sinning less. If they can just discipline themselves enough and be determined enough, they are deceived into thinking they can become righteous and holy and be close to God and He will be pleased. Grace tells us that our relationship and intimacy with our Father in heaven is no longer dependent upon our behavior...or lack there of. Grace tells us we no longer have to strive to become righteous, because He has given us a new nature that is righteous. Grace tells us that it is the only thing powerful enough to deal with our sin. Grace tells us that God is already head-over-heels in love with us and nothing we do can change that. Welcome to "Formed by Grace."

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Starting to understand imputed righteousness

Before I put my faith/trust in the life and death of Christ - I had a problem...really two problems. First, my behavior, because it was sinful, created alienation from God. Isaiah 59:2 describes this, "But your iniquities have separated you from your God."



But this was not my only problem - God judges and punishes sin, and so I was a condemned person. Alienated and condemned - that was my relationship with God when the basis of my relationship with Him was my behavior...my trying...my effort...or lack thereof.



But then God in His grace sends Jesus and Jesus does two things. He lives a sinless life and then on the cross takes my place and is punished for my sin...he experiences the judgement of God in my place.



So what does it mean to become a Christian, to trust Christ, to believe in Christ? Two things. It means I am now going to trust in the sinless life of Christ and in the death of Christ in my place as the basis of my relationship with God...no longer is the basis of my relationship my behavior or my ability to please Him.



Now, and this is so important - just as I depend on the life and death of Christ as the basis of my relationship with God, so God depends on the life and death of Christ as the basis of His relationship with me. Just as I no longer depend on my behavior as the basis of my relationship with God, so God no longer depends on my performance as the basis of His relationship with me!

The implications of this are huge and we will unpack these in the blogs to follow.
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownMay 26, 2010 at 1:32 PM

    You gotta love imputed righteousness, Bill! My recommendation for the day: I started reading Luther's famous commentary on Galatians a month or so ago. What a delight! Luther is so fresh in the way he puts things. Thanks for blogging!

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