"The Lord our Righteousness." — Jeremiah 23:6
Peace in Christ’s Perfect Righteousness
What brings a Christian the greatest peace, calm, and joy? It’s this: thinking about the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. How often God’s people feel troubled and sad! But they shouldn’t. If they could always see how complete and perfect they are in Christ, their hearts would rest.
Some people spend all their time talking about the sinfulness of the heart, the evil that lives inside us, and the corruption of our nature. All of that is true. But why stop there? Why not go further and remember this incredible truth: we are “perfect in Christ Jesus.”
No wonder those who focus only on their own sin walk around with heavy hearts. But when we remember that “Christ is made unto us righteousness,” joy takes its place. What though troubles weigh me down, Satan attacks me, or I face hard times on the way to heaven? All of that has already been dealt with in God’s covenant of grace. There is nothing missing in my Lord—Christ has done it all. On the cross, He cried, “It is finished!” And because it is finished, I am complete in Him. Now I can rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
As the Bible says: “Not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
Gratitude that Changes How We Live
You will not find holier people on this side of heaven than those who hold tightly to the truth of Christ’s righteousness. When a believer says, “I live on Christ alone; I depend only on Him for my salvation. Even though I fail, I know I am still saved in Jesus,” something amazing happens. Gratitude rises up in their hearts, and they begin to think: “Shall I not live for Christ? Shall I not love Him and serve Him, since He has saved me by His own sacrifice?”
As the Bible says: “The love of Christ constrains us,” meaning, His love drives and compels us, “so that they which live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again.”
If we are saved by Christ’s righteousness, credited to us by faith, we will treasure the righteousness He works within us. Gratitude for what Jesus has done will naturally lead us to live more like Him every day.