Two Kinds Of RighteousnessSample

We Have Righteousness Now

The church has been effective in teaching man his need for righteousness, and of his weakness and inability to please God. She has been strident in her denunciation of sin in the life of the believer. She has preached against unbelief, world conformity, and the lack of faith, but she has been sadly lacking in bringing forward the truth of who we are in Christ, or how righteousness and faith are available. 

Most of our hymns put off redemption until after death. Often, they proclaim that:

• We are going to have rest when we get to heaven. 
• We are going to have victory when we get to heaven. 
• We are going to be overcomers when we get to heaven. 
• We are going to have peace with God when we get to heaven. 
• There will be no more failings when we get to heaven. 

On this side of heaven, however, there is nothing except failure, misery, disappointment, and weakness. Scripture tells us, “Ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:10). When are we to be “complete”? Is it in this life or in the next? 

Romans 8:37 tells us, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” When are we to be “more than conquerors”? Is it after death when we leave this “veil of tears”? 

Philippians 4:13 promises, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” When will we be able to do all things? Is it after we finish the course and stand with Him in the new heaven and the new earth? 

Romans 8:1 declares, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” When are we to live without condemnation? 

Yet, too often, we hear nothing but condemnation preached. Little distinction is made between saint and sinner. 

When does Romans 5:1 become a reality? “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

I believe that what Scripture says about us is absolutely true, that God Himself is our very righteousness right now, and that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. I am convinced that we are partakers of the divine nature and that there is no condemnation to us who “walk in the light, as he is in the light” (1 John 1:7). 

Indeed, if, after we are born again, we are still ruled by our “fallen nature”—the sin nature that came into Adam at the fall—then our new birth is a flat failure. Apparently, God can give us eternal life and forgive us after we sin, but He is unable to give us dominion over our old, sinful nature. The whole thing is absurd. It is not true. It is not the Word of God. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:17–18)

There can be no real development of faith, no strong, victorious Chris­tian life, with this mixed conception. We are either new creations, or we are not. We have either passed out of death into life, or we have not. 

When the apostle Paul says, “Sin shall not have dominion over you” (Romans 6:14), he means exactly what he says. If you live a life of weakness and defeat, it is because you do not know who you are in Christ. 

The supreme need of the church at this hour is to know what we are in Christ, how the Father sees us, and what He considers us to be.