Not Trying to Become Righteous: Learning to Live From the Righteousness of Christ
Rev. Aniekan "Mbomboyo" Okokon ·
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 Corinthians 5:21
There is a kind of Christian who never rests. He reads, prays, fasts and serves, and underneath all of it runs a quiet dread: am I right with God yet? Every sermon on holiness adds to the weight. Every failure confirms the fear. He is trying to become righteous, and he will never arrive, because righteousness was never something we achieve. It is something we were made.
The great exchange
Look at the structure of 2 Corinthians 5:21. Christ, who knew no sin, was made sin. We, who knew no righteousness, are made the righteousness of God. It is a double transfer. Our record went to Him at the cross and He bore its full consequence. His standing came to us, and God now relates to us on the basis of it.
Notice what Paul does not say. He does not say we are treated as though we were righteous while actually remaining something else. He says we become the righteousness of God in Him. It is who we are, not a legal fiction laid over who we really are.
A gift you reign from
Those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. — Romans 5:17
Romans 5:17 gives the verb: receive. Not earn, not maintain, not deserve. And then it gives the consequence: reign. Righteousness received is righteousness that rules. The person who knows he is right with God stands up straight in prayer, forgives freely, repents quickly, serves without keeping score, and is not destroyed by his own failures — because none of those things touch the ground he stands on.
Striving and living, side by side
- Striving asks, "Have I done enough today?" Living asks, "What has Christ done, and how do I walk in it?"
- Striving treats sin as a threat to my standing. Living treats sin as a contradiction of my nature — grieved, confessed, and left behind.
- Striving needs to be seen. Living is content to be known by the Father.
- Striving makes obedience a payment. Living makes obedience a family resemblance.
None of this makes holiness optional. It changes its source. The tree does not strain to produce fruit; it produces fruit because of what it is. You are not trying to become righteous. You are learning to live like the righteous person Christ has already made you. That is a different life, and a far freer one.