1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,680 Well, today we begin a new series entitled, Be Yourself Discovering Your New Identity In Christ. 2 00:00:08,480 –> 00:00:16,400 A new identity. The bible says if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. 3 00:00:17,680 –> 00:00:24,719 The old has gone and the new has come. Now, I reckon that is probably 4 00:00:24,719 –> 00:00:30,639 just about the hardest truth in all of the bible for us to really grasp hold of. 5 00:00:32,560 –> 00:00:36,959 If it’s new, why is it that I face the same old temptations? 6 00:00:38,560 –> 00:00:42,799 If the old has gone, why is it that I still struggle with some of the same 7 00:00:42,799 –> 00:00:51,680 issues of temperament? The bible tells me that I am a new person but I live in the same flesh. 8 00:00:52,080 –> 00:00:59,439 I live in the same world, I struggle with the same problems, face the same battles. 9 00:01:01,040 –> 00:01:09,279 So what’s new? If there has been such a big change why is it that the christian life is so difficult? 10 00:01:11,519 –> 00:01:14,879 Well, there are some people who in the light of these questions have 11 00:01:15,360 –> 00:01:21,279 have really decided that there is nothing essentially new about the christian life at 12 00:01:21,279 –> 00:01:26,320 all they’ve decided that being a christian is basically a matter of making a commitment to 13 00:01:26,320 –> 00:01:32,080 jesus christ in which you repent and you believe making an effort to live a better life which 14 00:01:32,080 –> 00:01:36,879 hopefully will turn out to be pleasing to God and if you do that the god will give you a little bit 15 00:01:36,879 –> 00:01:42,559 of help by the holy spirit because after all, as folks say God helps them that helps themselves. 16 00:01:43,519 –> 00:01:48,559 making a commitment, making an effort, getting some help, is that really christianity? 17 00:01:50,559 –> 00:01:57,760 well for many people that is just about all they’ve got but here’s the problem 18 00:01:58,559 –> 00:02:02,639 making a commitment may involve a change in what you believe, making an effort may 19 00:02:02,639 –> 00:02:08,080 involve a change in how you behave, getting some help may involve a change in what you can achieve 20 00:02:08,880 –> 00:02:14,000 but none of these things change who you really are 21 00:02:15,440 –> 00:02:24,080 and the bible states so clearly that to be a christian is fundamentally a change in who you are 22 00:02:24,639 –> 00:02:33,759 if anyone is in christ he is a new creation not a new effort, not a slightly better accomplishment 23 00:02:34,639 –> 00:02:41,839 not a new set of beliefs but a new identity the heart of the gospel is a change in who you are 24 00:02:41,839 –> 00:02:50,880 it is the formation of a whole new identity in jesus christ of course the world can’t begin 25 00:02:50,880 –> 00:02:55,839 to understand this the world thinks that we’re all essentially the same, that we’re all making 26 00:02:55,839 –> 00:03:01,039 our way at different stages on the same path of life that we’re all made of the same stuff 27 00:03:01,119 –> 00:03:06,240 and the way all ultimately have the same destiny but the bible makes it clear that that’s not true 28 00:03:07,279 –> 00:03:15,039 the bible makes it abundantly clear that there is a huge chasm between the person who is in christ 29 00:03:15,759 –> 00:03:22,160 and the person who is not in christ because to be in christ is not just a decision or a 30 00:03:22,160 –> 00:03:29,199 belief or an attempt to live a better life it is the formation of a whole new identity in him 31 00:03:29,759 –> 00:03:35,679 . So then over the next few weeks we’re going to explore what it means to be in Jesus Christ. 32 00:03:36,639 –> 00:03:43,600 I want to invite you to come with me on a journey of self-discovery, to discover 33 00:03:43,600 –> 00:03:52,479 who you are and what it means to be a new person in Jesus Christ. We’re going to explore, 34 00:03:53,440 –> 00:04:01,039 in other words, the Biblical doctrine of conversion to try and grapple with what 35 00:04:01,039 –> 00:04:09,520 it is that has actually changed what God has done for you in bringing you into Jesus Christ. 36 00:04:09,520 –> 00:04:16,320 What did God do when you came to Christ in repentance in faith? What is this new identity 37 00:04:17,040 –> 00:04:23,600 and what difference does it make? Because the heart of the gospel is not about what you 38 00:04:23,600 –> 00:04:31,040 offer to God, it is about what God does for you in you and then through you. 39 00:04:32,000 –> 00:04:38,880 Now, I want us to turn to one verse of scripture together, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 30. 40 00:04:38,880 –> 00:04:45,200 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 30. I think this is one of the most marvelous 41 00:04:45,200 –> 00:04:51,200 statements in the whole of the Bible. Paul has been reminding us that God calls ordinary, 42 00:04:51,200 –> 00:04:55,119 not very impressive human beings like us who have nothing very much to boast about 43 00:04:55,119 –> 00:05:02,720 and then he says this in 1 Corinthians 1 30, it is because of him, that’s because of God the 44 00:05:02,720 –> 00:05:12,399 father who called us, it is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus. So this is a statement 45 00:05:12,399 –> 00:05:20,720 now about what it means to be in Christ. You’re in Christ Jesus who has become for us, 46 00:05:22,079 –> 00:05:25,440 and now he lists four things that we’re going to cover over these next four weeks, 47 00:05:26,559 –> 00:05:35,920 in Jesus Christ who has become for us wisdom from God, that is our righteousness, holiness 48 00:05:36,480 –> 00:05:43,359 and redemption. Four things that make up your new identity in Jesus Christ. 49 00:05:43,359 –> 00:05:48,640 We’re going to take them in the order that’s easiest for us to grasp. In Christ you are clean, 50 00:05:49,679 –> 00:05:57,679 that is he is your righteousness. In Christ you are free, because he is your redemption. 51 00:05:58,239 –> 00:06:03,760 In Christ you are holy, you are distinct from this world and separated to him, 52 00:06:04,559 –> 00:06:11,040 and in Christ your wise, we have the mind of Christ. Now before we plunge into this I just 53 00:06:11,040 –> 00:06:17,119 want to remind you again as to who the audience is here. Remember he’s speaking to those who 54 00:06:17,119 –> 00:06:25,519 are in Christ. The statement you are clean is not true of everybody but it is true distinctly 55 00:06:25,519 –> 00:06:32,320 in this verse of those who are in Christ. And it’s important to remember that God never forced 56 00:06:33,119 –> 00:06:38,640 anybody to be in Christ. If he did, after all, that would be a denial of the freedom that he 57 00:06:38,640 –> 00:06:45,519 has given to us. God gives to every person the choice of living without Christ, the choice of 58 00:06:45,519 –> 00:06:53,359 living at a distance from Christ. But he also gives to every person the invitation to be in 59 00:06:53,359 –> 00:07:00,000 Christ. And the way in which you come to be in Christ is through faith in the Son of God who 60 00:07:00,000 –> 00:07:06,720 loved you and gave himself for you. That is why Paul is so passionate about proclaiming the cross 61 00:07:06,720 –> 00:07:12,880 which he speaks about in verse 18. But of course people response to the cross in different ways. 62 00:07:13,600 –> 00:07:19,200 Verse 23, some people find it a stumbling block. They say, how could you possibly believe that 63 00:07:19,200 –> 00:07:24,880 this one person is the savior of the world? Others think it foolishness that one person 64 00:07:24,880 –> 00:07:31,920 could bear sin and be a sacrifice hence releasing others from this penalty of sin. 65 00:07:32,959 –> 00:07:40,079 But to us who are being saved Paul says, in verse 18 the cross is the power of God. 66 00:07:40,640 –> 00:07:49,359 For us who are in Christ it is the life transforming reality and so over these 67 00:07:49,359 –> 00:07:54,640 next four weeks our focus is going to be on what God has done for us in Christ 68 00:07:55,200 –> 00:08:01,920 and my prayer is that as we discover who we are we will find a new freedom to be ourselves 69 00:08:02,880 –> 00:08:12,079 in Jesus. You are clean in Jesus Christ. 70 00:08:12,160 –> 00:08:16,720 Now the word that the Bible uses to 71 00:08:17,279 –> 00:08:21,040 describe this wonderful truth, and it’s an important word to learn, 72 00:08:21,040 –> 00:08:26,720 is the word justification. Let me give you two scriptures of the many that could be quoted. 73 00:08:26,720 –> 00:08:29,440 The first is from Romans chapter five and verse one. 74 00:08:30,480 –> 00:08:37,919 Therefore since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God 75 00:08:37,919 –> 00:08:43,039 through our Lord Jesus Christ. We’ve been justified by faith. 76 00:08:43,039 –> 00:08:47,919 That’s the word that the Bible uses to express what it means to be brought into 77 00:08:47,919 –> 00:08:50,799 a right relationship with God, in which you are clean. 78 00:08:51,679 –> 00:08:56,559 To quote another verse from a little later in 1st Corinthians chapter six in verse 11, 79 00:08:57,440 –> 00:09:02,479 you were washed. He’s again speaking of those in Christ. 80 00:09:02,479 –> 00:09:07,440 You were sanctified. You were justified, notice the word there 81 00:09:07,440 –> 00:09:11,840 in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God. 82 00:09:13,200 –> 00:09:19,039 When you are justified in Jesus Christ there are really three dimensions to that. 83 00:09:20,239 –> 00:09:26,159 Legally it means you are acquitted. God throws out the charges against you. 84 00:09:27,440 –> 00:09:30,559 Relationally, it means that you are forgiven. 85 00:09:31,200 –> 00:09:36,159 God reconciles you to himself. He’s not just a judge he is a father. 86 00:09:36,159 –> 00:09:39,200 He doesn’t just throw out charges against you, he forgives you. 87 00:09:39,200 –> 00:09:42,960 He reconciles you to himself, he adopts you into his family. 88 00:09:44,239 –> 00:09:49,119 So justification, being made right with God, means legally that we’re acquitted, 89 00:09:49,119 –> 00:09:55,039 it means relationally that we’re forgiven, and it means personally that we’re clean. 90 00:09:56,039 –> 00:10:05,760 That you’re washed. That you are not guilty before God or in yourself. 91 00:10:05,760 –> 00:10:10,960 And all of this is true, this is all part of what the bible means by justification, 92 00:10:10,960 –> 00:10:16,559 and it is all true of every person who is in Jesus Christ. 93 00:10:16,580 –> 00:10:24,239 In Christ you are righteous and to be righteous, to be justified, means to be 94 00:10:24,239 –> 00:10:30,840 legally acquitted, so there’s no condemnation. To be relationally forgiven, 95 00:10:30,840 –> 00:10:38,280 so there’s no alienation. And to be personally washed and made clean, so you 96 00:10:38,280 –> 00:10:45,400 no longer need to live under the shadow and the burden of guilt. 97 00:10:45,400 –> 00:10:50,940 Now, why is this truth that we’ve summarized from the Bible so difficult 98 00:10:50,940 –> 00:10:57,260 to grasp? Why is it that some folks who’ve heard this a hundred times can’t get it 99 00:10:57,260 –> 00:11:02,619 into their heads or into their hearts? Why is it that when this is clear in the 100 00:11:02,619 –> 00:11:07,039 Bible there are so many people in church who still say after 10 and 20 years that 101 00:11:07,099 –> 00:11:15,559 they feel they’re living under a burden of guilt? How can that be? 102 00:11:16,640 –> 00:11:21,900 Let me tell you two stories that I think illustrate why this is just so difficult 103 00:11:21,900 –> 00:11:30,580 to grasp. The first is the story of an innocent man who is falsely accused. This 104 00:11:30,580 –> 00:11:35,739 man was picked up by the police at the scene of a crime. It was a case of 105 00:11:35,900 –> 00:11:40,719 mistaken identity. He did not commit the crime, but he happened to be in the area 106 00:11:40,719 –> 00:11:46,260 when the crime was committed. He was falsely accused. Nonetheless he was 107 00:11:46,260 –> 00:11:51,739 arrested, he was arraigned and eventually his case came to trial. At the trial the 108 00:11:51,739 –> 00:11:55,940 evidence is brought forward and of course in the hearing it becomes clear 109 00:11:55,940 –> 00:12:00,940 that this man is not guilty but is actually innocent. The judge pronounces 110 00:12:01,580 –> 00:12:10,140 not guilty and the man is free to go home. Now how does this man respond? Picture 111 00:12:10,140 –> 00:12:14,239 the television cameras outside of the courthouse. He comes out and he punches 112 00:12:14,239 –> 00:12:21,640 the air. He is so happy because he has been vindicated. He always knew he was 113 00:12:21,640 –> 00:12:26,659 innocent and now the whole world knows that he is innocent. The world knows the 114 00:12:26,659 –> 00:12:35,419 truth about this man. And he rejoices that the truth about him is finally 115 00:12:35,419 –> 00:12:43,539 known. The man falsely accused. Here’s a second story. This is the story of a man 116 00:12:43,539 –> 00:12:50,059 who did commit a crime, but was not convicted. He was picked up by the police, 117 00:12:50,059 –> 00:12:55,159 he was charged and eventually his case came to trial. But the prosecution in 118 00:12:55,159 –> 00:13:00,520 this story did a poor job. They did not prepare their case well and they have 119 00:13:00,520 –> 00:13:05,039 missed a key piece of evidence which if they brought it forward would definitely 120 00:13:05,039 –> 00:13:10,419 have led to a conviction. But without the key piece of evidence the case is not 121 00:13:10,419 –> 00:13:15,440 proved beyond reasonable doubt and so the judge pronounces his verdict, not 122 00:13:15,440 –> 00:13:26,500 guilty and the man is free to go home. How does this second man leave the court? 123 00:13:26,500 –> 00:13:33,780 He walks out the court in subdued silence. He leaves the court relieved to have 124 00:13:33,780 –> 00:13:43,739 got off but fearing that the real truth about him may one day be make known. 125 00:13:43,739 –> 00:13:49,400 Maybe one day they will catch up with me. Maybe one day they’ll find out I did 126 00:13:49,400 –> 00:13:58,219 do it. He may have escaped punishment but he still has to live with his own 127 00:13:58,219 –> 00:14:10,260 conscience. Now here’s the question. When God justifies us, are we like the first 128 00:14:10,340 –> 00:14:20,099 man, or the Second Man? Well, you see, are you like the person who is innocent 129 00:14:20,099 –> 00:14:28,340 before God and your innocence has been proved? Or are you like the person who is 130 00:14:28,340 –> 00:14:34,799 guilty before God and yet not convicted? 131 00:14:34,919 –> 00:14:39,020 Well, of course, if you have understood anything about the Bible, you will 132 00:14:39,039 –> 00:14:43,599 understand that you are more like the Second Man. All have sinned, and fall 133 00:14:43,599 –> 00:14:48,719 short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through 134 00:14:48,719 –> 00:14:53,179 the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. The whole point of the Bible is that God 135 00:14:53,179 –> 00:15:02,260 justifies sinners. Justification is not about God declaring the innocent free. 136 00:15:02,280 –> 00:15:10,400 It’s about God declaring the guilty free. This is quite clearly stated in Romans 137 00:15:10,400 –> 00:15:14,679 chapter 4 in verse 5, and the best translation of it in a number of 138 00:15:14,679 –> 00:15:22,320 versions there that I’ve quoted for you. God justifies the ungodly. Now, this is 139 00:15:22,320 –> 00:15:27,340 mind-boggling, but it is at the very heart of the truth of the New Testament. 140 00:15:27,659 –> 00:15:35,020 You would expect the Bible to say, God justifies the righteous. If God is just, 141 00:15:35,020 –> 00:15:39,619 surely, in his court of law, he should be looking to justify people who have not 142 00:15:39,619 –> 00:15:47,299 broken the law. Like the first man. But of course the problem there is that nobody 143 00:15:47,299 –> 00:15:56,299 is righteous. Romans 3 10, not even one. So, if God justified the righteous, none of 144 00:15:56,340 –> 00:16:01,520 us would have any hope. Would we? Now, the good news of the gospel is that God 145 00:16:01,520 –> 00:16:10,820 justifies the ungodly. God throws out legitimate charges against us, not 146 00:16:10,820 –> 00:16:15,159 trumped-up charges. He throws out legitimate charges against us. He does 147 00:16:15,159 –> 00:16:21,679 this freely and he does it justly because he does it on the basis of the 148 00:16:22,440 –> 00:16:39,359 So what God does for us is not some kind of subversion of justice, it is 149 00:16:39,359 –> 00:16:44,539 absolutely just because Jesus took the penalty for us and it involves him 150 00:16:44,539 –> 00:16:49,320 throwing out the legitimate charges against us, not on the basis that we are 151 00:16:49,320 –> 00:16:57,020 not guilty, but on the basis of the fact that Jesus took the guilt for us and so 152 00:16:57,020 –> 00:17:05,760 God says to us you are justified, you are clean, you are righteous, you are free to 153 00:17:05,760 –> 00:17:14,199 go in and through my son Jesus Christ and we believe it. We say yes that’s the 154 00:17:14,199 –> 00:17:20,079 gospel, but somehow it feels like believing something that’s not really 155 00:17:20,079 –> 00:17:27,040 true. It’s obvious to you that your life is far from what you want it to be, it’s 156 00:17:27,040 –> 00:17:33,459 therefore obvious that it’s even further from what God wants it to be, and trying 157 00:17:33,459 –> 00:17:37,459 to believe that you’re actually clean therefore seems sometimes like trying to 158 00:17:37,459 –> 00:17:43,880 persuade yourself of something that you know just isn’t true. So we spend the 159 00:17:43,880 –> 00:17:48,339 rest of our lives too often fearing that the actual truth about us may one day be 160 00:17:48,339 –> 00:17:53,180 known, and we slip in and out of church sometimes saying, if only people knew 161 00:17:53,180 –> 00:17:59,420 what I was really like. Thank God they don’t. Of course, the devil says that to 162 00:17:59,420 –> 00:18:10,339 you as well, doesn’t he? What kind of Christian are you, really? So here’s the 163 00:18:10,339 –> 00:18:19,000 reality. We are righteous in Christ but we still sin. We’re made clean and yet we 164 00:18:19,000 –> 00:18:27,099 are not what God calls us to be, and because it’s much easier for me to see 165 00:18:27,099 –> 00:18:31,680 my sins than it is for me to see my righteousness, the temptation is for me 166 00:18:31,680 –> 00:18:39,479 to conclude that my sins are actually the greater reality. So how can you be 167 00:18:39,520 –> 00:18:46,839 clean and know yourself to be clean if you’ve done some stupid thing that you 168 00:18:46,839 –> 00:18:56,680 deeply regret? How can you come to feel clean when your heart and your mind have 169 00:18:56,680 –> 00:19:04,400 been violated by images you find hard to forget? How can you find peace within 170 00:19:04,439 –> 00:19:13,219 yourself when you have deep regrets and you know how much you have failed? When 171 00:19:13,219 –> 00:19:18,239 you have come through experiences of violation that have made you feel so 172 00:19:18,239 –> 00:19:29,760 wretched so worthless is there any hope of you knowing yourself to be clean? Now 173 00:19:29,819 –> 00:19:37,199 these are huge questions and these are huge pastoral questions but if you are 174 00:19:37,199 –> 00:19:44,800 in Christ this morning I want you to hear the word of the Lord in Christ you 175 00:19:44,800 –> 00:19:53,719 are clean. You’re clean now let’s try and open our minds up to this truth to take 176 00:19:53,719 –> 00:19:58,599 it in through mind and through heart so it begins to change the very way in 177 00:19:58,599 –> 00:20:03,239 which we think about ourselves. Two things for us to grasp from this verse I 178 00:20:03,239 –> 00:20:08,400 hope you have it open at 1 Corinthians chapter 1 in verse 30. Number one, Paul 179 00:20:08,400 –> 00:20:15,880 says Christ is your righteousness. Notice it is because of him that’s 180 00:20:15,880 –> 00:20:21,619 because of God the Father that you are in Christ Jesus who has become for us 181 00:20:21,719 –> 00:20:27,260 wisdom from God that is our righteousness holiness and redemption. 182 00:20:27,260 –> 00:20:37,180 Christ is your righteousness. It’s not your faith the makes you right with God 183 00:20:37,180 –> 00:20:42,540 it’s not your repentance and the amount of it that makes you right with God. It 184 00:20:42,540 –> 00:20:48,020 is not your performance in the Christian life that makes you clean it is not your 185 00:20:48,180 –> 00:20:52,060 service it is not your ministry it is not anything else that you offer to God 186 00:20:52,060 –> 00:21:00,380 it is Christ Who is your righteousness. I want you to think about this with me it 187 00:21:00,380 –> 00:21:04,819 involves for some of us thinking in a new and biblical way because we’ve not 188 00:21:04,819 –> 00:21:11,619 grasped this yet. Let me ask you this question what would you want God to 189 00:21:11,619 –> 00:21:16,420 examine on the last day. It’s a multi choice question nice and easy. What would 190 00:21:16,459 –> 00:21:21,380 you want God to examine on the last day when you stand before Him in the 191 00:21:21,380 –> 00:21:27,859 judgment. Would you want God to examine your faith? Would you want God to examine 192 00:21:27,859 –> 00:21:34,099 your repentance? Would you want God to examine your Christian life? Would you 193 00:21:34,099 –> 00:21:40,060 want God to examine your ministry? Or would you want God to examine your 194 00:21:40,699 –> 00:21:51,260 Savior? This is a no-brainer for me. My faith is genuine, but it’s far from 195 00:21:51,260 –> 00:21:55,160 perfect. I don’t want to base my entrance into heaven on that because there’s all 196 00:21:55,160 –> 00:22:01,739 kinds of holes in my faith. My repentance is real, but it’s not yet complete. 197 00:22:01,739 –> 00:22:12,739 There’s a work going on. My Christian life is a work in process. My ministry has its 198 00:22:12,739 –> 00:22:16,619 failures, as well as its successes, it’s neglected duties, and its missed 199 00:22:16,619 –> 00:22:22,140 opportunities. We all have to give account to God for these things, but I 200 00:22:22,140 –> 00:22:29,300 don’t want my eternity, my standing, my very identity to be tied up in that. 201 00:22:29,839 –> 00:22:35,839 Augustine once said, great Christian believer, he said, I do not dare to 202 00:22:35,839 –> 00:22:45,760 commend to you the work of my hands, lest you find in them more sins than merits. 203 00:22:45,760 –> 00:22:53,420 He understood how flawed even our best efforts really are. Now, if my hope rested 204 00:22:53,420 –> 00:22:57,880 on anything that I offer to God, then it would soon melt away, but here is the 205 00:22:57,880 –> 00:23:03,160 wonderful thing, for those who are in Jesus Christ, what gets examined on the 206 00:23:03,160 –> 00:23:07,979 last day is not your faith, is not your repentance, is not your Christian life, 207 00:23:07,979 –> 00:23:18,140 is not your ministry, it’s your Savior and he is righteous. There is no fault 208 00:23:18,140 –> 00:23:27,199 in him, and when God sees you, he sees you in his righteousness. So 209 00:23:27,239 –> 00:23:31,400 God is not kind of picking away as he looks at you at the limitations of your 210 00:23:31,400 –> 00:23:36,000 faith, the partiality of your repentance, the incompleteness of your service or 211 00:23:36,000 –> 00:23:41,359 of your offering of yourself to God, and on the last day, the issue will not be 212 00:23:41,359 –> 00:23:48,540 how righteous Christ has made you, the issue will be how righteous Christ is in 213 00:23:48,540 –> 00:23:56,040 himself. This is very important, Christ has become our righteousness. See 214 00:23:56,040 –> 00:24:01,560 some teachers have developed the idea that the really important thing is how 215 00:24:01,560 –> 00:24:07,000 righteous we have become and a picture of that might be you know if you put 216 00:24:07,000 –> 00:24:15,880 sugar into tea, sugar imparts its sweetness to tea and makes the tea sweet. 217 00:24:15,880 –> 00:24:22,260 Now, in the same way these teachers say Christ imparts his sweetness, his 218 00:24:22,579 –> 00:24:28,359 righteousness to us. And they say that this is the thing that God is really 219 00:24:28,359 –> 00:24:32,500 looking at. Now of course there is a sense of which it’s true that the 220 00:24:32,500 –> 00:24:36,280 likeness of Christ is formed in the life of a Christian believer, 221 00:24:36,280 –> 00:24:42,300 but if your entrance into heaven or mine depended on the degree to which you had 222 00:24:42,300 –> 00:24:49,000 become like Jesus, you would be on very shaky ground indeed. It’s not your 223 00:24:49,060 –> 00:24:56,219 likeness to Christ that is your righteousness, it is Christ who is your 224 00:24:56,219 –> 00:25:04,839 righteousness. The righteousness lies in him, not in you. And if I can push that 225 00:25:04,839 –> 00:25:11,079 analogy, the issue on the last day will not be the sweetness of your life, it 226 00:25:11,079 –> 00:25:17,040 will be the sweetness of Jesus. It’ll not be how righteous you are, it’ll be how 227 00:25:17,439 –> 00:25:21,599 righteous he is. And we already know the verdict of God the Father on that issue 228 00:25:21,599 –> 00:25:26,839 because God the Father raised him from the dead. Now that is what Paul is 229 00:25:26,839 –> 00:25:30,939 getting at, it is the very heart of the gospel. In Philippians in Chapter 3 230 00:25:30,939 –> 00:25:38,579 where he says, we glory in Jesus Christ and we put no confidence in the flesh. 231 00:25:38,579 –> 00:25:43,439 Jesus said the flesh profits nothing, the flesh is never going to get you 232 00:25:43,479 –> 00:25:48,359 into heaven. That’s why Paul says I want to be found in Christ, not having a 233 00:25:48,359 –> 00:25:53,400 righteousness of my own that comes by the law, in other words by what I do but 234 00:25:53,400 –> 00:25:57,359 that is through faith in Christ of righteousness that comes from God and is 235 00:25:57,359 –> 00:26:08,579 by faith. So I am not resting my hope of everlasting life in what Christ has done 236 00:26:08,579 –> 00:26:20,219 in me, but in who Christ is for me. He is your righteousness. It is where your 237 00:26:20,219 –> 00:26:28,280 righteousness lies in Him. Now let me remind you of two wonderful benefits 238 00:26:28,280 –> 00:26:32,060 that follow from this when we grasp it. Number one, you can’t foul it up. 239 00:26:32,060 –> 00:26:38,079 I mean, you just can’t foul it up. If your righteousness was in you, you could foul 240 00:26:38,180 –> 00:26:40,420 it up at any time. Quite honestly, you might go out from the 241 00:26:40,420 –> 00:26:45,839 sanctuary and someone will step on your toe out in the foyer, in the crush there. 242 00:26:45,839 –> 00:26:48,640 Then you might fly at them and you blown your righteousness just like that. 243 00:26:48,640 –> 00:26:53,739 You see, you gotta start all over again, hopeless. Happen at any moment. 244 00:26:53,739 –> 00:27:00,380 If your righteousness is in you, you could blow it at any moment. 245 00:27:00,380 –> 00:27:06,000 But if your righteousness is in Christ, nothing can touch it. 246 00:27:06,000 –> 00:27:10,760 Anything you can do or failed to do can make Jesus less righteous and if your righteousness 247 00:27:10,760 –> 00:27:15,900 is in Him, it is absolutely secure. And let me put it this way because this is 248 00:27:15,900 –> 00:27:27,800 huge for some people. Nothing that happens to you can violate your 249 00:27:28,800 –> 00:27:36,380 purity in Him. If your purity just lies in yourself… 250 00:27:36,380 –> 00:27:39,479 There wouldn’t be much purity anyway, would it? 251 00:27:39,479 –> 00:27:42,900 For any of us. But if you think of your purity as just lying 252 00:27:42,900 –> 00:27:46,699 in yourself, there are things that can happen in the sordid world that would violate your 253 00:27:46,699 –> 00:27:52,660 purity. But if your purity is in Christ, and you have 254 00:27:52,699 –> 00:27:58,660 grasped that, you will begin by the grace of God to see that nothing that happens in 255 00:27:58,660 –> 00:28:05,660 this world can violate your purity in him. 256 00:28:08,959 –> 00:28:14,719 Not only can it not be fouled up, you can’t boast about it either. 257 00:28:14,719 –> 00:28:18,199 Here’s a wonderful thing. Of course, this is the application that Paul 258 00:28:18,199 –> 00:28:20,859 makes in verses 29 and verse 31. You’ll see it there. 259 00:28:20,859 –> 00:28:25,400 Nobody’s got anything to boast of because our righteousness, our justification, our 260 00:28:25,400 –> 00:28:32,400 cleansing is in Jesus. C.H. Spurgeon once said that our justification 261 00:28:32,619 –> 00:28:39,420 is entirely off God’s grace. He said, I didn’t lend the help of one little 262 00:28:39,420 –> 00:28:42,839 finger. And then he said, that’s just as well because 263 00:28:42,839 –> 00:28:49,839 if God had let me do that I would’ve given all the glory to the one little finger. 264 00:28:50,140 –> 00:28:56,459 Christ is your righteousness. Here is the second thing briefly, Christ’s 265 00:28:56,459 –> 00:29:00,979 righteousness is yours. Now, there are two things you’ve got to grasp 266 00:29:00,979 –> 00:29:03,420 if you’re to really get a hold of what it means to be clean. 267 00:29:03,420 –> 00:29:07,920 Number one, Christ is your rightiousness. It lies in him, not in you. 268 00:29:07,920 –> 00:29:13,979 And you can’t foul it up. It is total. It’s complete and it’s perfect. 269 00:29:13,979 –> 00:29:18,640 But secondly, and equally important, Christ’s righteousness is yours. 270 00:29:18,640 –> 00:29:24,540 You see, it’s not something out there. You are in Christ. 271 00:29:24,540 –> 00:29:35,839 He has become for us, righteousness. He is our righteousness. 272 00:29:36,140 –> 00:29:46,420 This righteousness never ceases to be his, but because you are in him, it actually truly 273 00:29:46,420 –> 00:29:51,640 becomes yours. Imagine, for a moment, that you are living 274 00:29:51,640 –> 00:29:58,420 as a squatter in a derelict building. You’ve been sleeping in appalling circumstances on 275 00:29:58,420 –> 00:30:01,079 top of a pile of magazines that are strewn on the floor. 276 00:30:01,079 –> 00:30:04,260 The derelict building has been condemned by the village. 277 00:30:04,300 –> 00:30:06,579 You will soon be pulled down. You are bankrupt. 278 00:30:06,579 –> 00:30:11,660 You have nowhere to go. One day you meet a man who has compassion 279 00:30:11,660 –> 00:30:15,819 on you. He tells you that he owns a home, and that 280 00:30:15,819 –> 00:30:20,880 he would like to offer it to you. He tells you the address, and he gives you 281 00:30:20,880 –> 00:30:24,260 the key. You tell him you have no money to pay the 282 00:30:24,260 –> 00:30:27,800 rent, but he tells you there is no rent. 283 00:30:27,800 –> 00:30:31,839 You ask how long you can stay and he tells you that the invitation is open-ended – you 284 00:30:31,839 –> 00:30:33,520 can stay there all your life. 285 00:30:33,520 –> 00:30:37,239 You can live there as if that home were your own. 286 00:30:37,239 –> 00:30:40,979 He tells you that he has several homes and that each day he comes by to clean the home 287 00:30:40,979 –> 00:30:44,619 and to tend the garden. You won’t see me, he says, I only come by 288 00:30:44,619 –> 00:30:53,219 when my tenants are away, but I maintain that which I give. 289 00:30:53,219 –> 00:30:56,300 When you find the house you are absolutely overwhelmed. 290 00:30:56,300 –> 00:31:00,020 It is beautiful. The garden is perfect. 291 00:31:00,060 –> 00:31:03,560 The lawn is lush green, like a deep pile carpet. 292 00:31:03,560 –> 00:31:08,979 The picket fence around the edge of the garden is freshly painted and inside the house there 293 00:31:08,979 –> 00:31:18,479 is everything that you need for life. It is the home of your dreams. 294 00:31:18,479 –> 00:31:27,119 But it is also your home. You are not a squatter. 295 00:31:27,119 –> 00:31:35,680 It is not your home by right, but it is your home by grace. 296 00:31:35,680 –> 00:31:40,000 You walk in the garden. You sit in the lounge. 297 00:31:40,000 –> 00:31:42,939 You eat at the table. You sleep in the bed. 298 00:31:42,939 –> 00:31:47,079 And every day you see the evidence of his presence. 299 00:31:47,079 –> 00:31:50,260 The grass is cut. The rooms are cleaned. 300 00:31:50,300 –> 00:31:52,619 The fridge is replenished. 301 00:31:54,660 –> 00:32:03,180 Christ’s righteousness, his own righteousness actually becomes yours. 302 00:32:03,180 –> 00:32:11,939 You live in it, so enjoy. Enjoy. 303 00:32:11,939 –> 00:32:17,560 Why live under a continuing burden of guilt when the righteousness of Christ is yours? 304 00:32:17,599 –> 00:32:23,199 Why walk around like a kind of ex-squatter, ashamed of yourself, 305 00:32:23,199 –> 00:32:25,140 unable to forgive yourself, saying, 306 00:32:25,140 –> 00:32:28,459 how did I get to be a squatter in the first place? 307 00:32:28,459 –> 00:32:36,359 No, you have been brought into a whole new position, live in it, rejoice in it. 308 00:32:36,359 –> 00:32:39,140 Stop talking about yourself and what went wrong, 309 00:32:39,140 –> 00:32:47,160 start looking to him and what he’s given to you, what he has brought you into. 310 00:32:47,300 –> 00:32:54,300 What you are in him, and as you see what he has done for you and as you see what he’s 311 00:32:55,500 –> 00:33:00,459 brought you into, you will begin to love him. 312 00:33:00,459 –> 00:33:04,780 You’ll begin to think much less about yourself and what went wrong in your former life, 313 00:33:04,780 –> 00:33:09,900 and to see how he’s lifted you and what grace really means and that you’ve been brought 314 00:33:09,900 –> 00:33:15,459 into a new position in which you are in fact clean in him. 315 00:33:16,319 –> 00:33:21,180 You don’t need to be hiding from God, you don’t need to be apologising for yourself, 316 00:33:21,180 –> 00:33:25,560 you don’t need to be dragging your head or your feet in shame, you don’t need to spend 317 00:33:25,560 –> 00:33:32,560 the rest of your life trying to impress God because you’re already in the house. 318 00:33:32,560 –> 00:33:38,780 Grace has reached you, and it’s changed your entire experience. 319 00:33:39,739 –> 00:33:46,699 You don’t have anything to prove, you don’t have anything you need to hide. 320 00:33:46,699 –> 00:33:55,339 God knows who you are in yourself, and he knows who you are in Christ, and in his love 321 00:33:55,339 –> 00:34:01,640 for you, he views you in Christ, you are not a squatter. 322 00:34:01,640 –> 00:34:06,000 You’re the guest of the son of God. 323 00:34:06,939 –> 00:34:10,500 Satan may come by the picket fence one day and say, 324 00:34:10,500 –> 00:34:14,239 You’re nothing more than a squatter. 325 00:34:15,020 –> 00:34:19,260 What kind of Christian do you think you are? 326 00:34:20,360 –> 00:34:26,560 And you tell him in Christ I am clean. 327 00:34:26,560 –> 00:34:33,179 When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within, what do I do? 328 00:34:33,600 –> 00:34:40,820 Upward I look and see Him there who made an end of all my sin. 329 00:34:40,820 –> 00:34:49,699 Because the sinless Saviour died, my guilty soul is counted free for God the just is satisfied 330 00:34:49,699 –> 00:34:56,320 to look on Him and pardon me. 331 00:34:56,320 –> 00:35:02,139 And you know, Satan can convince you by the picket fence that you’re just a sinner. 332 00:35:02,280 –> 00:35:05,379 He’ll make you believe that nothing’s more natural in the world for you than to go on 333 00:35:05,379 –> 00:35:06,379 sinning. 334 00:35:06,379 –> 00:35:10,580 And one of the greatest things that you need is to begin to see yourself in a whole new 335 00:35:10,580 –> 00:35:11,580 way. 336 00:35:11,580 –> 00:35:16,479 I mean very practically, when my desk has a pile of papers on it and it’s trashed, 337 00:35:16,479 –> 00:35:18,860 I throw more papers on it. 338 00:35:18,860 –> 00:35:21,239 When it’s clean, I don’t do that. 339 00:35:21,239 –> 00:35:26,600 If you think of your life fundamentally as being a mess, you’ll live a mess. 340 00:35:26,600 –> 00:35:30,820 If you realize in the depth of your being that the most fundamental reality about you 341 00:35:31,040 –> 00:35:37,860 is that in Christ you are clean, you will begin to live in a whole new direction. 342 00:35:37,860 –> 00:35:42,600 In fact you begin to be who you are. 343 00:35:42,600 –> 00:35:46,840 And that’s the heart of this whole series. 344 00:35:46,840 –> 00:35:51,639 Recognize what God has done for you in Christ, what he’s brought you into in Jesus Christ, 345 00:35:51,639 –> 00:35:55,879 and be who you are. 346 00:35:55,879 –> 00:35:59,860 But, you’re not. 347 00:35:59,860 –> 00:36:05,600 There is, after all something faintly, ridiculous about trying to be something you’re not. 348 00:36:05,600 –> 00:36:07,000 Our family went out clothes shopping. 349 00:36:07,000 –> 00:36:09,979 We were in Kohls on Friday night. 350 00:36:09,979 –> 00:36:12,500 And we’re all trying some stuff on. 351 00:36:12,500 –> 00:36:16,580 And I get teased a lot in the family about dressing too straight, I just have to tell 352 00:36:16,580 –> 00:36:20,120 you that that’s just how it is and a burden I have to bear. 353 00:36:20,300 –> 00:36:30,159 So just for fun, I went and got a shirt way outside my style zone. 354 00:36:30,159 –> 00:36:33,679 Went into the fitting room, we’re all trying some stuff on and then came out, said to Karen 355 00:36:33,679 –> 00:36:37,459 to the boys, what do you think? 356 00:36:37,459 –> 00:36:44,100 And the response was, dad, you look ridiculous. 357 00:36:44,100 –> 00:36:49,260 And then they said, be who you are. 358 00:36:49,260 –> 00:36:54,159 No use you trying to be cool, dad, you’re not. 359 00:36:54,159 –> 00:36:58,360 They’re right. 360 00:36:58,360 –> 00:37:03,979 Be who you are and there is something faintly ridiculous about the guy who tries to be something 361 00:37:03,979 –> 00:37:08,000 that he’s not. 362 00:37:08,000 –> 00:37:09,000 Think about it. 363 00:37:09,000 –> 00:37:14,500 Abraham receives the promises of God and then lies to the king of Egypt. 364 00:37:14,500 –> 00:37:18,459 Abraham, that’s not who you are. 365 00:37:18,739 –> 00:37:23,860 David is made the king over God’s people and then goes and cheats on his wife. 366 00:37:23,860 –> 00:37:29,020 David, that’s not who you are. 367 00:37:29,020 –> 00:37:34,179 Jonah is called into ministry and goes running away from the call of God. 368 00:37:34,179 –> 00:37:38,979 That’s enough to make a whale sick, isn’t it? 369 00:37:38,979 –> 00:37:42,800 Jonah that’s not who you are. 370 00:37:44,459 –> 00:37:47,699 You harboring resentment, that’s not who you are. 371 00:37:47,699 –> 00:37:51,540 You sitting in front of that film on the television you know you shouldn’t be watching, that’s 372 00:37:51,540 –> 00:37:52,879 not who you are. 373 00:37:52,879 –> 00:37:59,399 You living in fear when your life is in the hnd of God, that’s not who you are. 374 00:37:59,399 –> 00:38:05,080 You walking around as if you carried the guilt of the world on your shoulders, that’s not 375 00:38:05,080 –> 00:38:09,600 who you are. 376 00:38:09,600 –> 00:38:17,600 In Christ, you are clean. 377 00:38:17,600 –> 00:38:21,540 Be who you are. 378 00:38:21,540 –> 00:38:24,820 Be yourself. 379 00:38:24,820 –> 00:38:29,719 That’s the heart of what it means to live the Christian life, to be the person you are 380 00:38:29,719 –> 00:38:34,919 in Jesus Christ, to grass the most fundamental reality about yourself. 381 00:38:34,919 –> 00:38:42,780 And if you’re saying right now, boy, I wish I was clean, then the invitation to you to 382 00:38:42,879 –> 00:38:48,800 in Jesus Christ whatever you have done is open today. 383 00:38:48,800 –> 00:38:58,340 Come, be washed so that in Christ you, too, will be clean. 384 00:38:58,340 –> 00:39:01,260 Let’s pray together. 385 00:39:01,260 –> 00:39:11,459 Father in heaven, for such a mind-staggering miracle, we lift our hearts to you in thanksgiving 386 00:39:11,459 –> 00:39:17,959 and praise, in Jesus’ name, Amen.