"For he hath
made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him." (2 Corinthians 5: 21)
We cannot make ourselves righteous. That falls under the law:
"For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which
doeth those things shall live by them." (Romans 10: 5)
Yet by the law is the knowledge of sin:
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou
shalt not covet." (Romans 7: 7)
Yet in Christ, we have received the righteousness of the law:
"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8: 4)
How do we walk in the Spirit? First, we rest in the knowledge that in Christ, there is no condemnation (Romans 8: 1).
We then receive Himself into us by His Holy Spirit, and we are quickened to live by His life:
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he
might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the
Spirit." (1 Peter 3: 18)
God has done all of this of us through His Son, from whom we receive the Promise of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 33)
We cannot do what God has made us to be, because we do nothing apart from Him.
"Abide in me, and I in
you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no
more can ye, except ye abide in me.
"I am the vine, ye
are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth
forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15: 4-5)
Since it is God's grace, something which we did not earn, that flows through us (1 Corinthians 15: 10), the best that we can do is rest in His faith:
"I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2: 20)
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