The Established Path of Discipleship

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. (1 Cor. 1:30-31)

This is part 2 of a 4 part series. You can read part 1 here.

After I left home, my father would occasionally write me letters. Each letter contained the postscript “Don’t play with matches.” At first, this p.s. was a humorous reminder of when I and a friend almost burned down the woods near my house. As I aged, it reminded me not to play with sin because it burns. It can sear the conscience and char relationships. Conscience, however, is not always a good guide. Sometimes, our consciences condemn us despite the declaration of righteousness in Christ.

It doesn’t take long. Shortly after our conversions, the nagging questions come. Am I saved? Am I doing enough for God? Am I reading my Bible enough? I sinned again. Does God still accept me? I could add more similar questions to this list, but I think you understand. What is the answer to all these questions assailing our conscience? What is the remedy? Christ, our righteousness, is the remedy for our condemning conscience.

The problem with questions like these is that they are looking in the wrong place—inward for assurance. The righteousness we have in Christ (that is, in union with him) is alien—it comes from the outside. In Philippians 3:9, Paul describes it as “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” Our obedience, work, and passion for God will ebb and flow. As such, they are poor barometers for assurance. Those are important, but they must never be the grounds for our assurance of salvation.

One ground of our assurance of salvation is the active obedience of Christ. Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience to God, and that obedience was imputed to us through faith in Christ. This is the essence of the great exchange in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” This exchange was a double imputation: Christ took our sin, and we received his righteousness. This guarantees that there is “now [in the present] no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

Understanding that Christ is our righteousness will liberate you from the burden of living a performance-based Christian life. You don’t have to wake up every day feeling the pressure of meeting a righteousness quota because Christ met that quota. Instead, you can find peace and rest in Christ, your righteousness. You are free to obey God, not out of fear of punishment or condemnation, but out of a deep faith in God’s abundant grace and mercy.