Righteousness by Grace through Faith

"Righteousness by grace through faith," those very words resonate throughout church sanctuaries across America every Sunday morning. May I invite you to set out on a journey to explore this momentous statement, and the freedom we have to pursue Christ woven within those incredible words? What do the words "by grace through faith" mean? A brilliant Christian theologian and writer, John Stott aptly states

In consequence Christ has no sin but ours, and we have no righteousness but his.

Walk with me as I ask the question, "How can a statement that is at the very heart of Christianity, be so far from the hearts of many Christians?" We seek to gain a more complete understanding of this root of the Christian Gospel so that it can begin to transform our everyday lives into lives that truly embrace our grace bestowed righteousness, and result in unhindered pursuit of the Most High.

Several weeks ago I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. One or two weeks before my appointment, I began to take excellent care of my teeth. I made sure to brush three times a day, flosh every evening, and drink 2-3 glasses of milk every day. I became devoted to the cleanliness of my teeth on a level that I had not been in months. Then it occurred to me how ridiculous my actions were. What is the purpose of the dentist? To clean your teeth. So why on earth, was I so concerned with having great looking, clean teeth when I got there? Don't we all do that though? We are so obsessed with making our teeth presentable that we lose sight of why we go to the dentist in the first place. We try and try to make ourselves clean when the reality is that as much as we try to make our teeth white, we can only do so much.  Once I gotten my teeth cleaned, my dentist said, "You are all cleaned up, I've given you a nice fresh start."   The dentist's tools (ones that we only dream about in our worst nightmares) clean our teeth to a point that we could never attain on our own.

How often have you approached God in this same manner? So focused on cleaning yourself up, making yourself right, picking yourself up off the ground, that you have forgotten the very essence of your faith. In the same way that the dentist is in the business of teeth cleaning, God is in the business of life clean-up,  restoration, and redemption. We can try to grit our teeth and grunt our way up to God, but the truth remains as Isaiah 64:6 says,

Our righteousness is as filthy rags...

No matter how hard we try to make ourselves righteous in God's sight, compared to his righteousness, all we can produce on our own is like filthy rags. We often quote this verse, and reference it in Bible studies and church services; but stop for a moment and truly ponder the depth of this simple, yet powerful statement. To me it appears that the way many of us live our lives is not based on God's righteousness by grace through faith, but by our righteousness: works produced through our own strength. I want to let you in on a little secret, our righteousness is not sufficient...and praise God it's not. All we need to do to see where righteousness by works leads is to look at stories riddled throughout the Old Testament. As we read, we see the people of Israel, trying to earn righteousness according to the law and failing; trying again and again failing  over and over...God's point? Righteousness in his sight cannot be achieved apart from his grace.

Why are we ashamed to go to God with the messed-up-ness of our lives? With our sin, our shame, or our pain? Why do we feel as if God will not hear our voice or grant us an audience with him unless we fix ourselves first? We place the burden of our sin and our righteousness squarely upon our shoulders and begin the trek up Mount Everest and hope to reach the top someday. The good news is: this was never what God intended. Listen to the words of Ephesians 1:4-10:

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

God doesn't expect us to climb the mountain to reach him, he descended the mountain to reach us, and then he carries us to the top to be with him. What a glorious truth that is! God grants us righteousness...how beautiful is that? How beautiful is he? Righteousness by grace through faith means that we receive the righteousness of God as a gift through the person of Jesus Christ, granting us immense freedom in Christ. We no longer have to feel the need to earn our righteousness in his sight, this allows us to throw aside the weight of self-righteousness and run towards Christ (Hebrews 12:1) freely and unashamedly.

Once we throw our self-righteousness aside, it brings us to the issue of our sin. So often when we sin, our first response is to run and hide; to wallow in self-pity, guilt, and fear. This is not the response of a Christian who has been set free from the weight of sin by receiving God's grace through faith.

Sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

Complete freedom in Christ. Not freedom to go on sinning as Romans 6:1 and 6:15 state, but freedom from sin. So often we feel as if we cannot escape the clutches of a particular sin in our lives, but the great news is we have already escaped the clutches of that sin through a relationship with Jesus Christ. We are freed men and women but so often we forget to live and walk in that freedom.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

So how does this effect our approach to God? Listen to Hebrews 4:16:

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

We may approach God with...

       ... boldness not shame,

       ...love not terror,

       ...completely secure, not insecure.

The truth is, sin no longer has dominion, but we often give sin power that it no longer has when we hide sin. When we do this, not only are we not living in God's grace, we are diminishing the person of Jesus Christ and his victory over that sin. John Newton, who was a slave ship captain and author of the song Amazing Grace, said,

I know two things to be true: I am a great sinner, and Christ is a great savior.

He understood that his sin made the grace of God that much greater. As 2 Corinthians 13 states, "My power is made perfect in weakness..." When we accept in humility that we are sinners saved by grace, we make Christ look great. Martin Luther agrees,

Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly for He is victorious over sin, death, and the world.

We must be careful lest we interpret these truths to mean that we have license to sin, as Romans 6, 7, and 8 clearly speak against, however we can rightly interpret them as freedom from the chains of sin that shackle those people who are apart from Christ because we are his. Rejoice in Christ because Jesus has overcome sin, death, and the world.

We can therefore walk in the amazing freedom of God's grace, letting loose the sins which hold us in a bondage of guilt and shame. Our identity has been changed through Jesus victory on the cross, now let us pursue him as he desires. Let us walk boldy into the throne room of God. Freedom is ours, righteousness is ours, all because of God's grace. Let the very essence of Christianity, which is Righteousness by grace through faith, finally reign in your hearts and see the amazing work which God will do.