The Mind of Christ (Part 2)- His Righteousness is Ours

The Mind of Christ (Part 2)

His Righteousness is Ours

The Word says that the Holy Spirit came to make His permanent dwelling place be within our spirit the moment we accepted the gift of Salvation. Two major changes occurred with us being reconciled back to God.

1. We are given the Mind of Christ
2. We are given a new identity

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. “(1 Cor 5:17)

Once we understand that our spirit has been given the life, thoughts, power and nature of the Holy Spirit, and that we can choose to think His thoughts, the next step of making our minds come into agreement with His Word is to understand that we are a new creature in Christ.

“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1 Cor 1:30)

 “However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” (Rom 4:5)

  “And being found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. “(Phil 3:9)

The Greek word used for righteousness— “Dikaiosune” means equity of character and comes from the Greek word “dikaios” which means equitable, innocent, holy just, right..

Put the full meaning of the word together and you have a word denoting “One who is innocent, holy, just and having equitable, or the same character of someone else.”  That someone else is our Creator and Lord, Jesus Christ. We are given through the atonement on the cross, the very standing before the Father’s eyes as His Son. We are equal in His sight as the Ancient of Days, the Holy of Holies, the Alpha and Omega, The Prince of Peace.

This is a stumbling block for many because we have chosen to contend with God’s Word. In the name of (false) “humility” we refuse to accept the reality that we are as righteous as our Creator. He is where the foundation needs to be laid. We did nothing to earn this. Just as heaven is a free gift (Eph 2:8) so is all that comes along with being reconciled back to Him. God is holy. Everything He creates and touches is holy. There is nothing incomplete in His touch. Nothing unholy can come near Him. This is the picture that was given us on the Mt Sinai when the Jesus spoke to Moses and said “Whoever  touches the mountain shall surely be put to death..”

The bridegroom of Christ needs the revelation of who she is if she is ever to be prepared for Him to return to fulfill His wedding vows. We are spotless because of what He did. He took everything unholy, unclean and opposed to His nature on Himself. In the moment Jesus did so, that was the “forsaking” that Jesus experienced on the cross. The anguish of the garden, I do not believe was not only the anticipation of the physical torture He would endure, but the spiritual separation from the Father He knew He would experience.

“By His stripes we are healed.” (Isa 53:5)

The  Hebrew word for “stripes” is “Chaburah” and is actually singular not plural. The literal translation reads, “By His wound, we are healed .” The Romans were skilled artists in the craft of torture. They spent centuries perfecting the art of taking a person to the brink of death without allowing them the relief of mortality. Jesus was literally flayed alive with strikes from bone and metal imbedded leather from the flagrum they used for torture. The design of this whip would rupture the skin open on contact. After the whipping was done, his body would have been eviscerated down to arteries,  leaving no skin left on his back and sides. This is why the Greek word for stripes is singular- literally  “a singular wound” because he was one bruise, not many, when they were done with Him.

But Jesus knew all this was coming. He spoke of the scourging specifically to His disciples at least once. (Mat 20:19, Mk 10:34)

It was all part of the plan.

Consider this: Before the beginning of time, The Godhead decides that the Son would redeem a creation that hadn’t even been formed yet. Before anything existed, Jesus knew He would one day enter Time to redeem His estranged children. Now, fast forward to the fall of Adam, and then arguably five thousand years of humanity’s timeline passes. Jesus enters the realm of time in final preparation to fulfill the spiritual shofar sounded throughout man’s existence.  “Your Redeemer is coming.”

The angels announce in a symphony to the ragtag men of the fields the commencement. A call and answer echoed throughout time. Isaiah 9 meets Luke 2. The greatest Marco/Polo ever shouted.

It is time…

He is in the garden, alone. His closest friends are asleep. He perceives in His spirit, that every second the steps of his betrayer draw the mob closer.

However….

In that moment, Jesus, with the full weight of that sacrifice upon Him says, in essence,  “Ya know what Dad? Let’s talk this over. This plan we worked out thousands of thousands of thousands of years ago… let’s do this another way. I want out.”

As I type this I am simply overwhelmed with the reality that the intensity of Jesus’ turmoil was such that His forehead ruptured blood vessels. Yet this anguish was overshadowed by the unsearchable richness of His love for us.

“Not My will..” He said.

“Not my will..” The desire of Jesus at this moment was very different than the Father’s. This is where the power of the Lamb and His love causes great sobs to rise up in me. He allowed Himself to be lead to the slaughterhouse. He laid down to the will of His Dad. Why?

Because of His love for you.

There are simply no words for me to convey that depth of love, other than my heart repeating one word over and over.

“Jesus.”

We just don’t let it sink in. We choose instead to say in our heart, “No, I know how God really sees  me. I am not worthy.”

He did not lay down to the torture of the cross so that you can try to become worthy by your self-righteous acts of piety and false humility. That thinking has its origins in the world, is unscriptural and has no basis for thought in the Mind of Christ that you have. It is that thinking, that is unworthy of who you are. He died out of a love that I personally am incapable of articulating to you.

So why am I taking the time to landscape this picture so much? Because if we choose to accept what God’s Word says, and we understand a bit more what Jesus actually voluntarily endured for us, we would begin to realize how offensive it is to Him when we argue with His truth about the new identity He gifted us through His torture. He died so that we are made holy.

 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor 5:22)

Why? Because He loves you so much He figured out a way to live in you.

 “This righteousness of God is given through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”    (Rom 3:22)

The word faith means “to believe”. Did you exercise your beliefs that Jesus is the Messiah by asking for his forgiveness? If you did, the Word says that the Holy Spirit entered into you and imputed (freely gave) the righteous standing of Jesus, along with His worth, to you.

It is the power of the cross that gives us the gift of His righteousness.

“And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, Righteousness, and sanctification and redemption..” (1 Cor 1:30)

It cannot ever be earned. Either before…or AFTER salvation. Ever. So please… stop trying to figure out a way to attain it. It is IN you. It is around you. It is upon you. The kingdom and all its righteousness is now in you. You are blameless, holy, beyond reproach or accusation. His fullness, His diety, His everything is housed in the temple called “You.”

“For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.” (Rom 5:17)

If we are going to choose to walk in the Mind of Christ we have been given with the new birth, then we must chose to accept His word is true. Always. Walking in the Mind of Christ is abiding in agreement with His word. His word lets us know we have been freely given the gift of having His righteousness poured out upon us, and His righteousness, power, holiness and fullness dwells in us.

If you feel your thoughts contending with this, that is the carnal mind, trying to tell you what it wants you to believe. That is because the carnal mind hates God and will never submit to the love of God. (Rom 8:7)

We died to that mind. We died to our sin nature. We are new creatures in Him, with His mind, His righteousness, and the greatest gift of all, His raging river of love churning and turning within us, bursting for ways to express His love to us.

His righteousness is yours. Dare to believe it. Dare to seek to comprehend how loved you are. Have the courage to agree with what He says about you.

(You are the righteousness of Him.)

Then… and only then, can you give this gift to others.