Dressed in His Righteousness Alone

This program contains portions from the following episodes:

"You Have a Fresh Start"

"The Wrath Absorber"

"It Is Finished"

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Dannah Gresh: Hey, got a question for you . . .

Carrie Gaul: Are you trusting in your “righteousness”? It’s not righteousness; it’s unrighteousness. Are you trusting in your works, in what you can do? Or have you placed your faith in the works of what Christ already did on your behalf? It’s one or the other.

Dannah: That’s my friend Carrie Gaul with some basics of the Christians faith. Basics we’re prone to forget. 

Welcome to Revive Our Hearts Weekend. I’m Dannah Gresh. 

Ever heard one of those good news and bad news jokes? One of our producers, Phil, is the king of dad jokes around here. He claims it’s just the sense of humor of a second grader. Anyway, he shared this one with me. 

A guy takes his pet carrot out for a walk. As he’s walking his pet carrot, it gets hit by a car. He rushes it to the ER, and they perform surgery on the carrot. Finally, the doctor comes out to the waiting room with an update. 

Of course, the man wants to know. “Is my carrot alive? Will it make it?” 

The doctor says, “Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is your pet carrot is alive.” 

The man breathes a huge sigh of relief. “What’s the bad news, Doctor?”

The doctor looks him in the eyes and says, “I’m sorry, but your carrot’s gonna be a vegetable for the rest of its life.”

[groan]

Dannah: Phil, I think there are better good news/bad news jokes than that!

Well, today on our program, we’re going to hear some good news and some bad news. In fact, I have some great news to share with you today, and this is no joke!

You know how you try and try to do the right thing, but you just can’t? Well, the good news is that God has made a way for you to be right with Him. The secret is that it has to come from someone outside of yourself. 

Well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Christians believe in something we call “the gospel.” That word “gospel” simply means “good news.” We’ll talk more about that good news in a moment. First, though, we need to set the stage for why the gospel is such good news. We might call it the bad news that needs to come before we understand and appreciate the good news. Here’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, with that perspective. 

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: The Scripture says there’s none that seeks after God. You weren’t looking for God. When I was saved as a four-year-old child, I wasn’t looking for God. God was looking for us. And God said, "I want you to be in my family." That means we can’t take credit for anything about our salvation. It was initiated by God.

Some months back I had to go get some blood drawn for some tests I was having done. The nurse who was drawing my blood brought up something about spiritual matters, and so I looked at her and I said, “Are you a Christian?” She said quickly, “I’m trying.” As soon as I heard her say that, I thought of this passage.

You don’t try to have salvation. That’s not how you get it. The Scripture says you obtain this faith, you’re given this faith by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. We’re saved not by trying, not by going to church, not by being good. Who could ever be good enough to win God’s favor?

Dannah: That’s the bad news. We can’t be good enough. The Psalmist said it this way, in Psalm 130: “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” And the implied answer is, “Nobody!”

Nancy continues.

Nancy: That’s what the Scripture says in Romans chapter 3, verses 23–24:

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Then Titus chapter 3, verses 3–7:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures . . . But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy . . . through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

It’s all, all, all of God. It’s the righteousness of Christ. You have been given this faith by the righteousness that is in Christ Jesus.

Dannah: That’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. So the bad news is: you need saving because of sin. The wrath of God (His holy anger) is against you. And you can’t save yourself. You owe a debt that can only be paid by death.

Now comes the good news I promised. Jesus paid that debt for you by offering Himself as your substitute. Not only did He take your sin on Himself, He gave you His righteousness. He lived the life for you that you could never live.

Carrie Gaul served on Revive Our Hearts staff for many years. She explained it this way. 

Carrie: First John 4:10 says, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He [has] loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” That is a verse we hear often, but sometimes some of those words, we don’t always know what they mean.

I just like it simple. Let me get it simply. So I said to a pastor friend of mine one time, “Can you explain to me what propitiation means?” And he said to me, “Oh, absolutely, Carrie! Propitiation just simply means that Jesus became our wrath-absorber.’”

I have a glass bowl here that will represent the vessel of God’s wrath—the fullness of His wrath. And I have a glass goblet that’s filled with red liquid, representing the wrath of God that should be rightfully poured out upon us for our sin. That’s what Scripture says. That’s what your sin and mine deserves—the fullness of God’s wrath.

When Jesus stepped forward and said, “I will stand her place,” God took our sin upon Him and God poured forth—as I’m pouring into this vessel right now, He poured forth His wrath upon Jesus, the fullness of His wrath.

In Jesus’ death for us—we’re going to represent that today by the sponge I’m holding in my hand. When Jesus went to the cross for you, ladies, He absorbed the wrath of God for you, just as this sponge will absorb the liquid that is in this glass bowl.

When Jesus died, the wrath of God was poured out upon Him, but in His death He absorbed all of the wrath of God toward you. I’m holding up that glass bowl right now and I’m turning it upside down, because there’s no more wrath for you. The wrath of God is gone! It’s been absorbed in Jesus Christ.

There is no more wrath! God is not mad at you my friends. God is not angry at you. He’s not waiting for you to mess up one more time so that He can drop the gavel of His wrath upon you. Yes, that’s what your sin deserves. Yes, that’s what my sin deserves, but He poured it out on Jesus! Do you understand why the Savior is so precious?

You and I no longer receive that which we deserve because God poured it out upon the Savior!

Jesus paid the price for our sin—past, present, and future. He received unto Himself the fullness of God’s wrath so that you might become the righteousness of God. And when you and I, in this black, heavy, sinful, dark robe that we’ve been referencing—Paula is wearing it again today on the platform. Her head is hanging in shame and guilt, and some of you remember well. When we acknowledge our sin, that this is indeed who we are. At the core of who we are, the very essence of who we are, we are sinners.

You see, it is not if you’ve been baptized. It is not if you’ve been in church all of your life. It is not if you are doing a Bible study three nights out of the week. It is not if your parents or others in generations before you have been involved in church ministry all of their lives. It is not even if you are involved in church ministry right now. Hear me when I say this, and hear me well: It is not even if you call yourself a Christian or say that you believe in Jesus. James chapter 2 says even the demons believe in Jesus, and they tremble.

The question is: Do you believe at the essence of who you are (clothed in this robe that Paula is wearing on the platform today), that there is nothing you can ever do to make yourself acceptable to God, that you can’t ever clean up that robe? Do you say, “Yes, Lord, yes, I’m a sinner. Yes, I acknowledge it. Yes, I understand that, and I desperately need a Savior. Today I choose to put my faith in Jesus, in His sinless life, His sacrificial death and His glorious resurrection"?

And when we do, my friends, when that takes place, whatever age you are, what happens is you and I enter into a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. A part of the covenant symbolism that took place was an exchange of robes. In the Old Testament, if you want to study something that will make your life just come alive, study covenant in the Old Testament, and then jump into the New Testament and lay it over top, and it will just come alive to you.

In the covenant traditions, there was an exchange of robes. When you place your faith in Jesus Christ, this is what happens: It’s the exchange of robes. Jesus takes from you that sinful, dark robe. As I’m taking it off of Paula today, it’s the robe that He wore to the cross. As I’ve laid it upon my own shoulders, representing Jesus Christ, He takes that sinful robe, and He exchanges it with you.

He gives you in its place His robe of righteousness. So we’re putting on Paula on the platform today this gold, glittering, long-flowing robe of Christ, representing Christ’s righteousness.

Dannah: Now something you’re not able to see here is that, up until this point, Paula was not only wearing the dark robe symbolizing our sin, but she was also hanging her head in shame. Her long hair completely covered her face. At the moment Carrie placed the glittering, gold robe on Paula, she looked up. Her hair swept back, and she smiled beautifully. Let’s keep listening to Carrie Gaul.

Carrie: You are no longer this person, clothed in the sinfulness of your old man. This is no longer you. This is who you are. This is the righteousness of Christ that you’re clothed in.

So, my friends, this moment you are either alive in Christ, or you are dead in your sins. You are either clothed in this black robe of sinful, depravity, evil, the one that you’re born in. You’re either clothed in that robe that’s hanging on the platform right now, or you're clothed in the righteousness of Christ, represented by that gold, glittering robe that Paula’s wearing. It’s one or the other.

You say, “Carrie, how do I know? I don’t know what I’m wearing.”

Well, where have you placed your faith? Is your faith in your own works, represented by this black robe? Are you trusting in your “righteousness”? It’s not righteousness; it’s unrighteousness. Are you trusting in your works, in what you can do? Or have you placed your faith in the works of what Christ already did on your behalf? It’s one or the other. Have you come to the place that you have placed your faith in Christ’s works?

If your faith and trust are in your own righteousness today, my friends, you have no hope. You are dead in your sins. There is nothing you can do to clean up that black robe. You stand condemned by the God who loves you more than you can ever fathom and has done everything to make it possible for you to come to Him in a covenant relationship through Jesus Christ.

If you are in that black robe of sinfulness today, you do not have to stay there. You simply repent. It’s the most beautiful word in all of Scripture. It simply means your faith was in this black robe that I’m pointing out to you today on the platform. If your faith is here, then you simply move it. You choose. You say, “I’m a sinner. I need a Savior.” And you choose to place your faith in the righteousness of Christ.

And if you’re listening to us today, and you’ve already placed your faith in Jesus Christ, then you are clothed in His righteousness right now. This is how God sees you. This is how He thinks of you. This is how He responds to you.

That’s why Zephaniah 3:14 says, “Sing, O daughters!” Raise the rafters! Be happy! Celebrate! God has reversed His judgments against you. From now on, God is your King, and there’s nothing to fear, ever again.

The reality of who we are in Jesus Christ, the truth of how God sees you today, clothed in the perfect righteousness of His Son, is life changing. My friends, we have been approved. We have been approved!

What robe are you wearing? Are you clothed today in the robe that you were born in, of that black, heavy, dark, utter sinfulness? Are you clothed in that robe? Or have you made the great exchange, and you’ve received the robe of Christ’s righteousness upon you?

Have you placed your faith in Christ alone for the salvation of your soul? Or are you still desperately trying to clean yourself up, to make yourself acceptable to God by the works of your own hand?

If you have never acknowledged that there is nothing apart from the blood of Christ that will make you acceptable to God, that it was your sin that put Christ on the cross; if you’ve never come to God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, today. . . today, Scripture says, is the day of salvation. Choose to put your faith in Him today. Acknowledge your sin, your desperate need for a Savior, and receive Christ’s righteousness.

And today, my friends, if you are found in His righteousness, will you rejoice with me? You are gloriously approved by God because of the shed blood of Jesus and His righteousness.

Dannah: Ah! Carrie Gaul has been helping us appreciate the beauty of the gospel. We don’t have to perform. We never could anyway. Our approval comes because of Jesus and His righteousness. It really is the best news possible!

Song: “Nothing But the Blood,” Keith and Kristyn Getty

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Naught of good that I have done.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.¹

Dannah: What can you do today to keep from losing that wonder? Once again, here’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth.

Nancy: Praise the Lord! Because the righteous One went to the cross and bore our sin, many can be made righteous.

Ladies, that’s the gospel. That’s the gospel! Never, ever forget it. Never lose sight of it. Never let a day of your life go by that you don’t preach the gospel to yourself and remember that we have been made righteous because the righteous One suffered in our place.

Because as Isaiah 53:11–12 says,

He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
   and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
   and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
   and makes intercession for the transgressors.

That's why we sing,

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweet frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

He oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the overwhelming flood.
When all around my soul give way
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound
Oh my I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.²

If you’re standing on anything or anyone or any hope other than, less than Jesus Christ, you have no hope at all. You have no ground on which to stand. You have no hope in eternity. All other ground is sinking sand. In Christ alone is our hope.

Dannah: Let’s keep that truth front and center as we go about life today, the rest of this weekend, and all of next week. We’re dressed in Jesus’ righteousness alone. Because of that, we’re approved by the Father. His wrath was poured out on His Son instead of us. Amen! Hallelujah!

You know, when our identity is based on whose we are, it changes the way we view everything, even the difficulties and trials we face. That’s the idea behind a simple statement Nancy often says: “Anything that makes me need God is a blessing.” This month, as a thank you for your donation of any amount, we’ll send you a magnetic notepad with that quote from Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth on it: “Anything that makes me need God is a blessing.” Ask about it when you contact us with your donation.

You can give a gift by calling 1-800-569-5959, or go to ReviveOurHearts.com/weekend and click on today’s episode, called “Dressed in His Righteousness Alone.” 

Thanks for listening today. I hope you’ve been encouraged in your faith. Next week, we’ll look at ways we can share that message of the good news of Jesus Christ with kids. Barbara Reaoch and others will help us see that Jesus truly is the Hero of the story.

I’m Dannah Gresh. We’ll see you next time for Revive Our Hearts Weekend.

Revive Our Hearts Weekend is calling you to cherish the gospel freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness you have in Christ.

¹“Nothing But the Blood,” Keith and Kristyn Getty, Hymns for the Christian Life (Deluxe Version) ℗ 2012 Getty Music Label, LLC.

²“The Solid Rock,” GLAD, Glad Collector’s Series ℗ 1998 Provident Label Group, LLC.

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.