Wise Words

My friend Justin, who never fails to bless me when I talk to him (and who also has a super hot, funny, awesome wife and a crazy cute daughter -- holla, Zoe Buttercup!), had these wise words for someone wondering about holiness:

What always lights me up ... is 2 Cor 5:21, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

I agonize over this: God who has no sin is ultimately righteous and has no fault in him whatsoever (1 John 1:5). Christ Jesus has that same holiness and purity (Col 1:19).

I am a sinner, filled with faults, imperfections and impurities, thus ultimately and eternally disqualifying me for fellowship with perfection. More than that, my willing, continual rejection of his reality entitles me to an eternity of eternal punishment.

But GOD (Eph 2:4), allowed Jesus to be sin for me, so that in him I might become the actual righteousness of God? How does one measure the righteousness of God? He chose to perfect imperfection. He chose Justin Mullins. He saw me as a dead man and said to his son, "I want that one; will you die in his place?" And his son said, "Yes, indeed." Now I share eternal fellowship with perfection forever and nothing will be able to affect that, nothing. This is a done deal, but not yet fully realized until I'm with him (it's already-but-not-yet).

Yeah, I dig the holiness of God. It's ultimate expression is that he gave his holiness to his son who gave it to me because in Christ I become the righteousness of God. I always have to go back to this, this is where I begin: God is Holy, I am not. Christ is Sufficient. I believe that, turn from my sin and turn to him. This is where I end. This is the gospel. I love it.

I pursue holiness because Holiness pursues me.