The Righteousness of Christ Lived Through You

The Righteousness of Christ Lived Through You

Romans 6:1-11, Matthew 5:17-26 T Trinity 6

INI

If we ignore the life that the Gospel has called us to live, sin will own us. It will control us. It will change us. And eventually, it will destroy us—eternally.

That’s why Paul writes to the Romans: “Should we continue in sin that grace may abound?”The answer: absolutely not. Because, as God warned Cain, “Sin is crouching at your door. Its desire is for you.” And when you give in to that desire and let it consume you, you stand in opposition to the holy and pure God—who repels sin as oil repels water. Yet just as He did with Cain, God has given you the responsibility: you must rule over sin.

This is why God doesn’t leave us to face sin blindly. From the very beginning, He has called sinners not to surrender to sin, but to rule over it—to resist its pull and replace the vices of the flesh with the virtues of faith. If we don’t get a grip on our sin, it will destroy us and others around us. Just look at how Cain’s vice of anger and jealousy led to the murder of his brother. Or consider Samson’s lust for Delilah. His desire for women became stronger than his desire for God. Because of it, he broke his Nazarite vow, and God took away his strength.

Since sin is so destructive—both to ourselves and to those around us—God doesn’t leave us without direction. That’s why He revealed His will through the Law. In the Ten Commandments, God clearly defines His expectations for humanity. He shows us what it means to live a righteous life—a life of right conduct before Him and with one another, marked by love. This is His perfect, righteous design for all mankind, and He expects us to live according to it. By obeying the commandments, we live a life of love. No exceptions. Anything that falls short of that is sin.

In fact, not only does our Creator expect us to live by these commandments—Jesus deepens and intensifies their meaning in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, “You’ve heard it said, ‘You shall not murder,’ but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment.”

There’s no leniency here. The Law of God must be fulfilled. Our righteousness—our right conduct before God—must exceed that of the most moral people of the day. Jesus preached, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Imagine Jesus saying that your good deeds must exceed those of Mother Teresa if you want to get into heaven. That’s the thrust of His statement.

So we can’t relax when it comes to the Law. Otherwise, sin will devour us. Your conduct must be perfect, or you will fall. And if we’re to have any hope that our righteousness might exceed that of the most moral people in Jesus’ day, then we need a righteousness that comes from outside ourselves and what we do.

The Pharisees leaned on their active righteousness. They trusted in their own fulfillment of the Law as a kind of transaction to earn God’s favor. And yes, they did many good things: they fasted, tithed, prayed, helped the poor, and lived outwardly moral lives.

But they lacked one thing: trust in God. They lacked saving faith—a faith that looks to God for mercy when they fall short of His Law. Instead of seeking the righteousness that comes from God, they sought righteousness in themselves. And in doing so, they missed the perfect righteousness that can only be received by faith.

Faith receives the righteousness of Christ. That’s what Jesus reveals in the Gospel: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” And through the active righteousness of the One, the many are made righteous—not by what they do, but by what He has done.

We receive a passive righteousness—a righteousness not our own. It’s alien to us. It’s given to us through Christ, who lived the perfectly obedient life we never could. Through faith, His righteousness becomes ours. That’s why later in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…”

He was the man we could never be. His trust in His Father was perfect. He fulfilled every demand of the Law through His obedience. Satan tempted Him to transgress, just as Satan tempts us. Yet in the wilderness, Christ overcame temptation. He emptied Himself, became like us, and lived in perfect obedience to His Father—for us. And now He gives us His perfect life of love. We passively receive His active righteousness. Jesus’ righteousness is credited to our account.

And that fundamentally transforms how we live today. The righteousness we receive from Christ frees us – not just from the curse of the Law, but from a cold, mechanical obedience to it. We’re freed to live joyfully in this world with love toward God and love toward our neighbor. We’re freed to pursue godly virtues, becoming more like Christ in our daily lives.

Paul encourages Timothy to live this way – “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness (that is, right conduct worthy of the name Christian), faith (which is the source of this transformed life), love (which is the fulfillment of the Law’s demands), and peace (which flows from resting in what Christ has won for us).”

That is to say, you live out your passive righteousness in a new conduct before the Lord. And how does passive righteousness received from Christ live actively?

Luther says, “Although a Christian is free from the Law in regards to salvation, he voluntarily subjects himself to it and begins to practice what no law ever could force him to do – to love God, to delight in his commandments, and to live for the benefit of His neighbor.”

The desire to sin will never go away. But through faith, we must rule over it. So, we’re called to put off the vices of our sinful nature – things like pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. We don’t give room for these things to rule over us, because our sin was buried with Christ in the tomb. And we arise to live the new, baptismal life in Christ as we live His virtuous life. We walk with humility, charity, chastity, kindness, gratitude, self-control, patience, and diligence.

Don’t take your sin lightly. Rule over it—not in your own strength, but through faith in the One who has already conquered it for you. Jesus Christ has fulfilled the Law in your place. He has buried your sin in His death and raised you to walk in newness of life. His righteousness is yours now, through faith.

So go, live in that righteousness. Put off the old ways. Lay aside the vices of the flesh. And instead, walk in humility, patience, self-control, and love—not because you must, but because you can, by the power of Christ in you. You are free. Free to love God. Free to serve your neighbor. Free to live the virtuous life—not to earn salvation, but because salvation is already yours in Christ.

INI