A dear friend of mine asked us to discuss 2 Corinthians 5.21. That passage says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us. And the reason is so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” We called it the great exchange. And because the passage under consideration is part of it, I decided to share it with you.
Apparently, some popular televangelists have turned it into a sort of mantra. They charge their audiences to declare they are the righteousness of God in Christ. However, the televangelists do not properly expound on the concept. As my friend and I discussed this great exchange, an old hymn came to mind. I almost wrote ‘popular hymn’ but I changed the adjective to old because such concepts may no longer be popular.
It is “Rock of Ages, Cleft For Me” and in the third stanza, you find these words.
“Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling.
Naked, come to thee for dress. Helpless, look to thee for grace.
Foul, I to thy fountain fly. Wash me, Savior, or I die.”
That concept of helplessness is what makes this hymn unpopular. We like to think there is something we can bring to the table, such as our good works or service. Nevertheless, the great exchange does not work that way. The only pathway to God’s grace is helplessness. At the cross of great exchange, you recognize your helplessness and exchange it for His grace. Or, you search your heart and see your sin, bring it to him and exchange it for His holiness.
What Is Righteousness?
You bring your poverty to the great exchange and return with His wealth. In exchange for your sickness, you get his healing. We could go on and on with the list of negativities you can exchange for positive attributes. But for now, we stay with the passage that started this discussion, the righteousness of God in Christ.
Any time I have to define righteousness, I consider the question should be about a ‘who’ and not a ‘what’. But we shall come to that later. For now, let us define it as a thing. Some consider it to be right standing with God. Righteousness is rectitude; uprightness or the quality of being morally right. This is the same way the bible would define righteousness.
But because God weighs the heart, a problem could arise with such a definition of righteousness. Let us take a couple of examples. As you are reading this post, what are your thoughts? Are they pure or morally upright? Would you say your thoughts are in right standing with God? In other words, do you think as Jesus would think? I am willing to say, without controversy, that the answers would be mostly negative.
That is, unless you do what the Apostle Paul advises in Philippians 2.5, a critical portion of the great exchange. Paul says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” Until you start thinking like Jesus, all your righteousness is as filthy rags. So, Paul tells us to exchange our filthy minds for the mind of Christ. Go to Him with your dirty mind and return with a righteous mind.
A Critical Portion of the Great Exchange
Once you have the mind of Christ, your words and actions will follow. You may know already that your mind controls your actions and even your words. The bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And in the epistle of James, you see how the body follows the thoughts. He says “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” Observe that this all starts in the mind.
But there is more: “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” From the mind comes death but not in one day or even one year. The results of sin are slow but steady unless there is a great exchange. And the mind is the most important part of the exchange.
That is why you see Paul going to the root of the matter. He counsels us to exchange our minds for that of Jesus Christ. Every other thing will follow and you can then be the righteousness of God. But only in Jesus Christ, the Righteousness of God. Observe that this Righteousness starts with a capital letter and that is because we are speaking here of Jesus. Please note that outside of Jesus, there is no righteousness, none whatsoever, no matter how hard you try to be just.
Read it in Colossians 3.3. “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Is your life hidden with Christ in God? Then you are the righteousness of God. If your life is not with Christ, invite Him into your life right now, in the privacy of your home. He will come in.
Maranatha!
