Day 192

Of Justification.

Chapter 11, Paragraph 1.

“…not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their Righteousness; but by imputing Christ’s active obedience unto the whole Law, and passive obedience in his death, for their whole and sole Righteousness, they receiving, and resting on him, and his Righteousness, by Faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.”

Scripture Lookup

1 Corinthians 1:30,31

Romans 5:17-19

Philippians 3:8,9

Ephesians 2:8-10

John 1:12

Romans 5:17

Reflection

In His active and passive obedience, Christ secured salvation for sinners. Christ passively obeyed when He suffered and died on the cross. Through receiving the penalty we deserved, He obtained for us forgiveness of sins. Also, Christ actively obeyed the law of God, fulfilling it perfectly on our behalf. He not only took away the punishment due to our sin, He also lived the righteous life that we cannot. There is nothing else needed to be done to have a right standing before God – Jesus did it all! In justification, then, we are declared righteous solely because of Christ. When God looks at us, He sees Christ’s perfect obedience, and attributes it to us.

How does one receive this salvation? By faith. It is not that we are declared righteous because of our faith, but rather we are declared righteous because of our faith in Christ. Faith is only the instrument by which Christ’s righteousness is imputed, or attributed, to us. It is even a faith that is not of ourselves, but a gift from God. Our faith makes us well, but only because of Christ.

Questions to Consider

• Are you resting in Christ’s righteousness?