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"but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is
by faith" (Phil. 3: 9).
We have this because "God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him
we might become the righteousness of God" (II Cor. 5: 21). Notice the `so that'. This is
how we get eternal life and righteousness. God made the Lord Jesus Christ a sin offering
for you and for me and if we believe it, God will credit us with His righteousness. A
person who has faith in Christ's offering for sin is credited with righteousness . . . . . by
God! This must be one of the most amazing gifts of all time; truly amazing grace. Our
good works have a place after salvation, but not before. The Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice
for sin is all sufficient. Nothing can be added to it. No amount of good works will do in
its place. No rites or ceremonies can be a substitute and "salvation is found in no-one
else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved"
(Acts 4: 12).
So human works, human merit, human achievement play no part in salvation. In fact
it is the very opposite for the first step is the admission of personal inabilities and
inadequacies. It is recognizing that no matter how hard we try and no matter how much
we improve our lives, we will never be completely righteous. Even if we gain some
measure of control over our words and works, our thoughts still let us down. The first
step recognizes that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3: 23).
So what must I do to be saved from the consequences of sin? "Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16: 31). The all sufficiency of His one sacrifice for
sin is one of the four basic tenets of the Berean Trusts and is arguably the most important
one for it deals with questions concerning life and death, sin and salvation.