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The Amish Voice 5
counts it as the righteousness (perfection) of Christ.
The man is counted as righteous in Christ.
counts it as the death of Christ. The man is counted as
having already died in Christ, as having already paid
the penalty for sin in the death of Christ.
counts it as the resurrection of Christ. The man is
counted as already having been resurrected in Christ.
Very simply, God loves His Son Jesus Christ so much that
He honors any man who honors His Son by believing on Him.
He honors the man by taking the man’s faith and counting
(crediting) it as righteousness and by giving him the glorious
privilege of living with Christ forever in the presence of God.
3. How God justifies a man. The word justify is a legal word taken
from the courts. It pictures man on trial before God. Man is seen
as having committed the most heinous of crimes; he has rebelled
against God and broken his relationship with God. How can he
restore that relationship? Within human courts if a man is acquit-
ted, he is declared innocent, but this is not true within the Divine
Court. When a man appears before God, he is anything but inno-
cent; he is utterly guilty and condemned accordingly.
But when a man sincerely trusts Christ, then God takes that
man’s faith and counts it as righteousness. By such God counts
the man—judges him, treats him—as if he were innocent. The
man is not made innocent; he is guilty. He knows it and God
knows it, but God treats him as innocent. “God justifies the un-
godly”—an incredible mercy, a wondrous grace.
How do we know this? How can we know for sure that God
is like this? Because Jesus said so. He said that God loves us. We
are sinners, yes; but Christ said that we are very, very dear to
God.
“And he [Abraham] believed in the LORD; and he
counted it to him for righteousness” (Ge.15:6).
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ro.5:1).
A CLOSER LOOK:
(2:16)
Faith vs. Works—Self-Righteousness
: Why is it that a man
can never be justified nor secure righteousness by works and law?
Why is it that a man can never approach God by works and law?
1. There are two ways that a man can try to secure righteousness
and approach God.
a. A man can try to work to secure righteousness; he can do all
he can to keep the law of God and to please God. But note: a
man can do this…
only if he can keep the law perfectly, never breaking it
once and never violating it a single time…
only if he can make sure that every single thing he ever
does or thinks is perfectly good and righteous and pure…
only if he can please God in every act, word, and thought,
never displeasing God in anything.
Only if a man can do this can he secure righteousness by
works and law. But what man can be perfect and good and
righteous and pure in every single act, word, and thought? It is
absolutely impossible to secure righteousness by works and
law. A person may try to approach God through works and
law, but he can never achieve perfection—not the perfect
righteousness and holiness required to see God.
“Follow peace with all men, and holiness, with-
out which no man shall see the Lord” (He.12:14).
b. A man can believe that Jesus Christ is God’s gift of right-
eousness to the world--that God so loved the world…
that He gave His Son to live a perfect life upon earth in
order to secure the Perfect and Ideal Righteousness for
man.
that He gave His Son to take the unrighteousness of man
upon Himself and to die for man, that is, to bear the judg-
ment of unrighteousness for man.
that he gave His Son to arise from the dead for man in
order to conquer death and to give man a new and perfect
life that is eternal.
A man can believe that God loves him and t akes
his faith in Christ and counts it as righteousness.
A man can believe that God loves him and accepts
him because he honors His Son Jesus Christ—
honors Jesus Christ by believing and following
Him.
A man can believe that God loves His Son so much
that He will take any man who honors His Son and
do anything for him. If the man believes in Jesus
Christ for righteousness, then God will count the
man righteous.
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and
t hat not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of
works, lest any man should boast” (Eph.2:8-9).
2. Note another point: the two ways that men try to approach
God are completely different from each other. Faith and works
are incompatible. Faith is always the oppo- site of works.
If a man works to keep the law in order to be right-
eous, then he can offer to God only
self-
righteousness
, only the righteousness of the
works
he has done
.
If a man trusts the righteousness of Jesus Christ
for
QUESTIONS:
1. Why is justification necessary?
2. Why is God so willing to justify you?
3. There are a lot of ‘good people’ in the world. Is that sufficient
reason to be called righteous by God? Why or why not?