Lesson Twenty-six
HOW TO BE SAVED - FROM SIN (3)
IV. How to be Saved
A. From sin
3. By receiving Christ as our
righteousness, God’s gift – Isa. 61:10; Jer. 23:5-6; Phil. 3:9; 1 Cor. 1:30
Burden to Impart:
To be saved from sin, we have seen
the need to confess our sins and to believe in the Lord Jesus as our savior who
died for our sins. In addition to believing in Jesus, we need to receive Him as
our righteousness. God is righteous, and apart from Christ we are unrighteous.
This results in our being separated from God. When unrighteous people receive
Christ as their righteousness, they are saved. And you cannot earn this
righteousness; it is God’s gift.
Memory Verse: “But of Him
you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness
and sanctification and redemption,” (1
Corinthians 1:30)
Facts to Teach:
1.
Although we forsook God and became incurably evil, God would never give
us up. He is full of compassions, loving kindness, faithfulness, and eternal
love. He became incarnated as a Shoot unto David (Jer. 23:5) so that He could
be our righteousness. His name is even called “Jehovah our righteousness” (Jer.
23:6).
2.
“Our” here indicates that Christ becomes one with us to be our
righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21). Christ is made our righteousness
based on His redemption.
3.
As the righteous Shoot (Jer 23:5), Christ came
in the flesh as the descendant of David to die on the cross and shed His blood
in order to wash away our sins and accomplish redemption (Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:22;
1 Pet. 1:18-19).
4.
With His redemption as the basis, we can believe into Him to receive
God’s forgiveness (Acts 10:43), and God can justify us (Rom. 3:34, 26), make
Christ our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30), and clothe us with the robe of
righteousness (Isa. 61:10).
5.
“I will rejoice greatly in Jehovah, my soul will exult in my God; for He
has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with the robe
of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10)
6.
We can rejoice in the Lord, we can exult in our God, because of what He
has done. When we receive Christ as our righteousness, He clothes us with
Himself as garments of salvation; He wraps us with Christ, the robe of
righteousness.
7.
By Christ as our righteousness we have been justified by God that we
might be reborn in our spirit to receive the divine life (Rom. 5:18).
8.
This is altogether of God, not of ourselves, that we may boast and glory
in Him, not in ourselves.
[See Gospel Outlines, Subject
140, by W. Lee; also Hymns #295.]