Perfect Righteousness

Knowledge of this great truth is crucial to living completely free from all burdens and resting in Christ's finished work. This doctrine flies directly in the face of all religion and is the heart of justification by faith. People who know and are firmly rooted in this knowledge are not easily penetrated with the fiery darts of wicked religious people who would control them through doubt, fear and intimidation.

What is righteousness? If I would talk about Mother Teresa's righteousness, we would automatically think of all the good things she did throughout her life. That would be correct. My righteousness is my right doing, your righteousness is your right doing, and God's righteousness is God's right doing. God's righteousness is the result of the right doing that Jesus Christ lived on this earth. Jesus healing people, casting out demons, preaching, overcoming temptation and sin, giving himself for the sins of the world would be God's righteousness. (Jesus being God 1Tim 3:16)

Moving on, when I do good I cannot transfer that good deed to you and make it as if you did it. For instance, if I help an old lady across the street, I can't make it so you actually did it. That would be impossible. I can transfer the effect or the outcome of that right doing to you (an award or trophy etc.) but not the righteous act itself. That righteous act that I did can never be yours in your experience. The same it is with God. When God does right, He cannot make it so that you actually did it in your reality that you could take credit for. He can though transfer righteousness to your account in the books of reckoning as we will see. When God places, reckons, or imputes righteousness to someone, they cannot take credit for that because they didn't actually do the righteousness. They are a beneficiary of the result of that righteousness which is God's and are counted righteous as such. So how does this translate into our reality? It doesn't. This is in God's reckoning alone. God promises and we believe. All we have is the promise of God and that is all we need.

There is a heresy that states that when God by His grace helps me to do right, that that is His righteousness. That is as wrong as the JW doctrine on the deity of Christ. God enabling me to do right is still my righteousness. It's not His. All works salvation people and most of professing Christians believe that God imparts His righteousness to our experience (helping us to do right) thereby making us righteous so we can go to heaven. That is dead wrong. That's merely another way of saying, "I believe my works will get me to heaven and I have no need of Christ". Imputing is an accounting term and it is God placing righteousness to our account FREELY AS A GIFT without us doing anything but believing on the Lord Jesus Christ with all our heart.

Romans 4:17 ¶ (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

God called Abraham a father of many nations when in Abraham's reality he was not, and God calls us completely and perfectly righteous when we are not.

Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he (God) had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him (Abraham) for righteousness.
Rom 4:23 ¶ Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

So here is Abraham before he had done anything righteous. Abraham believes the promises of God that he will be a father of many nations. God imputes or places righteousness to Abraham's account without Abraham doing anything righteous. Impute is an accounting term that simply means to place or reckon to someones account. Did Abraham see this righteousness that God placed to his account? Absolutely not. Abraham simply believed something outside of his experience that God had spoken. If Sarah had looked at Abraham she would not have seen the righteousness. It was in God's reckoning only. God said it and Abraham believed it. The same it is with us. It was not written to for Abraham's sake alone that righteousness was reckoned to him, BUT TO US ALSO TO WHOM RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALL BE IMPUTED IF WE BELIEVE ON JESUS.

Romans 5:17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

This righteousness is a gift. The bible calls it a gift of righteousness. This righteousness is God's. God did this righteousness when he became a Man and lived on this earth. It is Jesus Christ's right doing. How does this promise affect us? Now we can with full confidence know that we are going to heaven. Why? For the reason that God placed Christ's righteousness to our account. So no longer is the burden on me to perform up to God's perfect standard. It is not my right doing that is getting me to heaven, but Christ's! Not only did Christ die and forgive my sin by his shed blood, but God placed Christ's righteousness to my account freely without my doing anything to deserve it! That is awesome! This completely separates TRUE Christianity from the rest of world religions. There is nothing like this anywhere that God should call a guilty sinner righteous, when he is not.

2Cor 5:21 For he (God) hath made him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (Jesus).

That's why. God counted Jesus to be all the sinners of the world when He was not, so he could make us who believe righteous when we are not. It's a marvelous substitution is it not?! Christ the Son of God got counted as a sinner and became our sin (though he never sinned) and when we the guilty sinners place our faith in that finished work of Christ, we get counted as perfectly righteous, which we are not. Amazing! I love it.

Heb 10:14 For by one offering he (Jesus) hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.