Yesterday we looked at a sobering passage from the prophet Isaiah. It gave us an unvarnished look at our supposed righteousness. Today we turn our attention to an extremely comforting passage from the same prophet.
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.”
Isaiah 61:10
Instead of demanding that people become righteous themselves, God covers them with Jesus’ righteousness. He drapes them completely with it so that all he sees when he looks at them is Jesus’ perfection.
He sees them as perfect right now and worthy to live with him for all eternity.
How does this happen? What do we have to do to have God cover us with Jesus’ righteousness? Simply stop trusting in your supposed goodness and instead, trust completely in Jesus’ real goodness. Whenever you think of the reason why you are acceptable to God, point immediately and only to what Jesus did for you.
It’s his works, not yours, which makes you worthy to live eternally with God.
It sounds too easy and too good to be true. In one sense, it is. But in another sense, it isn’t. It’s humbling to admit that all my righteousnesses are filthy rags. It’s difficult not to try and take some credit—even a little credit—for God accepting me. It’s a constant temptation to divide my trust between what Jesus did and what I do.
Doing that, however, is disastrous. If we approach God pointing to any of our “good works” as a reason why he should save us, then we have introduced imperfect evidence. And damming evidence. Scripture says:
“Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
James 2:10
One little sin makes us completely guilty.
This is why God, in his love, covers us completely with Jesus’ righteousness.
This is why it is essential for you to trust completely and solely in what Jesus did for you. That, my friends, is the only way to eternal life.
What does forgiveness really mean for your life?
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