We all have a meeting in the courtroom of God to be judged, and we will all either be declared righteous or guilty. The problem is that we’re all guilty, but the solution is that God has provided a way to remove our guilt and make us righteous.
This excerpt was taken from the full sermon, “The Breastplate of Righteousness (Part 1)“.
This is for the person who believes “in Him who justifies the ungodly.” Now see, that’s where this thing is so beautiful. He justifies the ungodly.
Wait a second! You’ve got an ungodly person. Do you recognize what justify means? Justify means God Himself looks and says, “Not guilty!” And it says he’s ungodly. He’s ungodly. He’s guilty. And God says, “Not guilty! Not ungodly!”
How? What happens? Okay, now you’ve got to turn really quickly over to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5. The very last verse. This is one of the glorious verses on the righteousness of God as well. Look at it here. 2 Corinthians 5:21. Here’s what happens: “For our sake…” (that’s the sinner,) “He…” (that’s God the Father) “made Christ to be sin who knew no sin so that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God.”
You see, the righteousness of God is something we become. It’s for us. How did it happen? It didn’t just happen. God did not just sweep those sins under the rug. He doesn’t just say to an ungodly man: “Righteous.” No, no, no. That righteousness has to come from somewhere. You see what happens. There’s Christ. He comes into the courtroom. God takes our sin and makes Him to be sin. He knew no sin. He has no sin. And now we’re free of it. And we are the righteousness of God in Him. This is it. This is the truth.