Forgiven and righteous

DAILY BIBLE READING:

Job 40:1–42:17 
2 Corinthians 5:11-21 
Psalm 45:1-17 
Proverbs 22:14

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Being forgiven isn't enough to go to Heaven. We must be completely perfect. We must obey every single applicable law in Scripture.

"But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!" (Matthew 5:20 - NLT)

"But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48 - NLT)

It's not enough to be forgiven. We must also be thoroughly righteous.

As we look to the cross of Jesus in faith, we are saved by being forgiven of all our sins against God and His holy law. His death was the payment for the sin debt of everyone who would put their trust in Him.

Yet, forgiveness isn't enough. We also need to be righteous, a status that can only be obtained by having obeyed every single applicable law in Scripture.

That is how we are saved through Jesus' life. If the cross was all that was necessary, then why would Jesus wait some 33 years to get there? Why wouldn't he have died as a young child if forgiveness of sin is all we needed.

As we read the Bible, we come to realize that His life was absolutely essential because it was in His life that He obeyed every single applicable law of God. He gained a righteousness for Himself that He can credit to our account when we trust in Him.

His cross offers forgiveness. His life offers the righteousness that we need.

That's what our Verse for Today is all about. It refers to the Divine Swap. At the moment we are saved, Jesus takes our sins and lets his death on the cross pay for them while He also credits us with His own righteousness. 

So, we get forgiven and then credited with His righteousness.

It's not just forgiven people that get to Heaven. Only righteous people can get there. And if you are saved, both of these things are true of you.

"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21 - ESV)

Friend, if you are saved, God doesn't just see a forgiven sinner when He looks at you. Instead, He sees someone who has perfectly lived according to every law He has commanded us to live by. That's because Jesus has forgiven us and then credited us with His righteousness.

So, live that way! Don't live in defeat! Don't feel as if you are a disappointment to God! When God looks at you, He sees Jesus, and He smiles!