Have you ever been listening to popular Christian music and thought, “Hey! Is that really right?” I certainly have. I’ve been listening to MercyMe music quite a bit after having watched the movie I Can Only Imagine. One song that left me with such a question is “Flawless”. One line of the lyrics is “He made us flawless.” Really? Flawless…me? That’s not how I’ve been seeing it.
When we don’t understand this righteousness we miss out on much that God has granted us.
As those that believe in the Gospel, we understand that Christ died for our sins on the cross. I think we all get that, right?
But we know even in being a Christian that sin is inevitable, whether intentional or not. 1 John 1:8 reads “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
We also know when we sin we know we have a path for correction. 1 John 1:9 reads “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Since sin is inevitable, the inevitable happens—we sin. When we do, our standing with God may be questioned. Are we no longer saved until we again repent? Are we in limbo somehow? If we died at just that moment, might God overlook our most recent sin? Aside from the questions, we may feel the guilt well up in us and we may feel distant to God. Often that drives us back to Christ in repentance. We may have feelings of embarrassment, being unworthy, being undeserving, and more.
But let’s reconsider such thinking. Our initial standing in God was brought about by belief. Belief. Say that about ten more times.
Belief is everything—everything on our part.
Paul explains what our belief does. Our belief in God is accounted for us as righteousness. Romans 4:3-4 reads “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,”. There are no works in this accounting. Note that the same type of belief is mentioned in John 3:16, which reads “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
When we sin, our belief doesn’t become disbelief. As our belief remains, so does the accounting of righteousness.
This is an accounting of righteousness. From an accounting perspective, we owe nothing. We stand as righteous, even though we sin. How can we possibly be seen as righteous yet sin?
It’s important to understand what righteousness this is. When we believe, the free gift of Christ’s righteousness is accounted to us. Romans 5:17-19 reads “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
So in God’s accounting, we stand with the very righteousness of Christ.
This accounting is a permanent state, because it has nothing to do with our works. Our sin is irrelevant to this state.
I dare say now, that if we sin, we still have Christ’s righteousness accounted to us. Does that mean we should accept sin in our lives? May it never be. Paul is clear on this subject in Romans 6:15-23.
But we are perfect in God’s eyes. This is freedom. This is amazing grace.
Now, this doesn’t mean that sin has no effect on us.
There is conviction and there is accusation.
Accusation comes from Satan, others, or even ourselves—but not from God. Any may proclaim that we are unworthy or undeserving. We are indeed unworthy and undeserving. But that’s not new news. Before we were saved, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 reads “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Further, Romans 8:33-34 reads “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” There is no relevant entity or person that can bring an accusation against us. We can simply grin and respond to the accusation with “God loves me and died for me to cover all my sins. And thanks for the reminder that drives me to Him!”
Conviction comes by the Holy Spirit. We understand we have done wrong and it shouldn’t surprise us. God is likewise not surprised. He knew we would sin and it was also borne on the cross by Christ. God seeks to conform us into the image of His only begotten Son and the handling of sin is one part of it. This is where 1 John 1:9 comes in. He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When Jesus began washing the disciples’ feet, he told Peter in John 13:10,“…He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, …”. If we are bathed and then walk around, its our feet that get dirty. Likewise we have the righteousness of Christ but in walking around we get dirty with sin that must be washed off.
Thus when we find ourselves in sin, we need not hide ourselves from God. Our account has Christ’s righteousness. We can simply confess the sin and He will work in us to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He will work to conform us into the image of His only begotten Son.
Now, if you’ve not heard MercyMe’s song, “Flawless”, go download a copy. It’s a great tune, and now in my top 3.
Then, accept the permanent standing you have—that in Christ’s righteousness.
Version History
1.00 – September 24, 2018
1.01 – September 2, 2019
Walking with God in The Way 