“But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works…” Romans 4:5-6

Putting on Righteousness

“Righteous” seems too big a word to describe me, as if I was a child putting on my daddy’s overcoat.

It doesn’t seem like it should fit. I feel the same about the words “holy” and “saint.”

Yet these are words God uses to describe us. He puts them on us like clothing, just like a daddy might give his little daughter his own coat to wear.

He “decorates” us, adorns us, with righteousness—and it is beautiful to Him. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels” (Isaiah 61:10). 

Not only does He clothe/decorate/adorn us with righteousness, but He also DECLARES us to be “the righteousness of God in (Christ)” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is why the word righteous describes me: God didn’t count my sins against me, but against Christ, Who died and atoned for them. So now, simply, I am righteous.

The word “holy” feels like it doesn’t fit either, but God says it does. “…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love…” (Ephesians 1:4). Holy means that we have been set apart by God, to manifest the life produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

And what about the word “saint”? “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord…” (1 Corinthians 1:2). We are saints by virtue of our call to be in Christ.

Declared to be righteous.
Chosen to be holy.
Called to be a saint.

To my way of thinking, being called righteous, holy, and a saint by God is beyond understanding. The coat is too big to put on. The shoes are too big to fill. But He has used those very words, and it is a simple fact in the kingdom.

“Oh God, why do You favor us so? Your love is great. Rise up within us, that we may live worthy of what You have declared us to be. In the mighty and precious Name of Your Son, Amen.”