And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. (Philippians 3:9)
God’s love for us is so great that before He even created the world He already had a plan in place to rescue us from the sins He knew we would commit against Him. To be able to justly forgive our sins, a perfectly righteous person would need to take the righteous punishment we deserved.
In Philippians 2, we see that Jesus Christ who is 100% God willingly humbled Himself, coming to earth in human form. He lived as a perfect human, fulfilling God’s righteous law completely. (Hebrews 4:14-16) He then willingly sacrificed Himself on the cross enduring the full measure of God’s wrath against sin, and He rose again showing His power over death and sin forever! (Hebrews 6:26-27)
Study it Out
- Is Christ’s sacrifice enough to pay for sin temporarily or eternally? (Hebrews 9:12; Hebrews 10:12)
- Did Jesus die for our sins so that we could continue to live any way that we choose? How does Christ’s death give us the power to say no to sin and yes to God? (1 Peter 2:22-25; Romans 6)