God is Righteous in Making the Sinner Righteous

Years ago I heard Joseph Prince say, “God is righteous in making the sinner righteous.” When I heard this, my spirit responded with a hearty “Amen!”

But this was one of those times when my spirit grasped a truth faster than my brain. As they say, it was truth that was better “felt than telt.”

What does it mean to say, “God is righteous in making the sinner righteous”? I believed it with all my heart, but I couldn’t explain it.

Can you?

The puzzle God had to solve

When Adam sinned, he put his entire family – including you and me – on death row (Rom. 5:17). By walking away from God, he put all of us under the law of sin and death.

What could God do in this situation?

A just God could not say, “I will turn a blind eye to their rebellion and pretend it never happened.”

A merciful God could not say, “I will slay the lot of them and start afresh.”

A loving God could not say, “I will let them go their own way and do nothing.”

Do you see the difficulty? God could be just or merciful, but not both. To act justly, was to act unmercifully, and vice versa.

What could God do?

Thankfully, our wise and wonderful Father had a brilliant solution: the cross. Through his Son, he clothed himself in humanity, bore our sins, and redeemed us with his blood. He gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:6).

With this in mind, we can unpack the statement, “God is righteous in making the sinner righteous.” There are two parts:

1. God is righteous

The righteousness of God is revealed in the cross (Rom. 3:25–26). God did not cheat or cut corners when he kept his promise to save us. In sending his Son, he was fully loving (John 3:16, Rom. 5:8), fully merciful (Rom. 11:32, Eph. 2:4), and fully just (Rom. 3:25, 1 John 4:10).

In the Old Testament, God told us what he was going to do (save us), and in the New Testament, he did it. He was faithful to his word and true to his character.

But that is only half of the story.

2. God makes sinners righteous

God does not merely leave sinners unpunished; he justifies them (“You are innocent”) and makes them righteous (“You are mine”). This is the surprising announcement of the gospel.

We were lost, but God found us. We were dead in our sins, but God made us alive in Christ Jesus. We were part of Adam’s family, but when we turned to God in faith, he adopted us into his family.

It’s as though a king had torn down all the prisons, and adopted the prisoners as his royal heirs.

What does it mean to say “God is righteous in making the sinner righteous?”

To say, “God is righteous” is to say, “God is faithful to himself (he is just and merciful) and he is faithful to his creation (he has not abandoned us, but he is for us and with us).”

To say, “God makes sinners righteous” is to say, “God justifies the ungodly” (Rom. 4:5). He who knew no sin became sin that we might become righteous with his righteousness (John 1:29, 2 Cor. 5:21).

These are two sides of the same coin: Because God is righteous, he makes sinners righteous. And in making sinners righteous, God reveals his righteousness.

Do you see what this means?

• You don’t need to make yourself righteous because God has redeemed and accepted you
• You don’t need to make yourself righteous and holy because God has changed you and made you new
• You don’t need to maintain your salvation because God can be trusted to keep you and finish the good work he began in you

Your part is to quit trying to do God’s job. Your part is to rest in the One who is our righteousness, holiness, and salvation from God.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways! (Romans 11:33)

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