A couple emails ago, I claimed that the resurrection “vindicates Christ,” and we looked at one way it does this. Today, I’d like to explore another way the resurrection vindicates Him: It does so by proving His righteousness.
When God raised Christ from the dead, He declared to the world that the sacrifice made by Jesus was sufficient. This necessitates that Jesus be righteous, as God would have never accepted anything short of perfection. This is a wonderful truth because if Christ were not perfectly righteous, there would be no salvation.
Paul makes mention of this when speaking of what is sometimes referred to as “the great exchange.” He said: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). This verse reveals two ways the righteousness of Christ is important for believers.
First, it is important because if Jesus had any sin, He would not have been able to atone for our sins, as the death He died would have only been sufficient payment for His own sin. Jesus had to “know no sin,” for God to “make Him sin” for us.
Second, an often overlooked, yet important part of the Gospel, is the righteousness of Christ credited to those who believe. This is what Paul meant when he said “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” If Jesus weren’t righteous, there would be no righteousness for Him to credit to us. Therefore, the righteousness of Christ is crucial for both the atonement of our sin on the cross and the imputation of His righteousness to us.
Praise God, then, that He is risen, proving once and for all that He is righteous!
– Shaun M. Hewlett