“By the wedding garment in the parable [found in Matthew 22:2-14] is represented the pure, spotless character which Christ’s true followers will possess. To the church it is given ‘that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white,’ ‘not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.’ The fine linen, says the Scripture, ‘is the righteousness of saints’ (Revelation 19:8; Ephesians 5:27). It is the righteousness of Christ, His own unblemished character, that through faith is imparted to all who receive Him as their personal Saviour. . . .

“ ‘All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags’ (Isaiah 64:6). Everything that we of ourselves can do is defiled by sin. But the Son of God was ‘manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin.’ Sin is defined to be ‘the transgression of the law’ (1 John 3:5, 4). But Christ was obedient to every requirement of the law. . . . When on earth He said to His disciples, ‘I have kept My Father’s commandments’ (John 15:10). By His perfect obedience He has made it possible for every human being to obey God’s commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ . . . we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness. Then as the Lord looks upon us He sees, not the fig-leaf garment, not the nakedness and deformity of sin, but His own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah.”1

“The white robe of innocence was worn by our first parents when they were placed by God in holy Eden. They lived in perfect conformity to the will of God. All the strength of their affections was given to their heavenly Father. A beautiful soft light, the light of God, enshrouded the holy pair. This robe of light was a symbol of their spiritual garments of heavenly innocence. Had they remained true to God it would ever have continued to enshroud them. But when sin entered, they severed their connection with God, and the light that had encircled them departed. Naked and ashamed, they tried to supply the place of the heavenly garments by sewing together fig leaves for a covering.”2

“Sin is disloyalty to God, and [is] deserving of punishment. Fig leaves sewed together have been employed since the days of Adam, yet the nakedness of the soul of the sinner is not covered. All the arguments pieced together by all who have interested themselves in this flimsy robe will come to nought. Sin is the transgression of the law. Christ was manifest in our world to take away transgression and sin, and to substitute for the covering of fig leaves the pure robes of His righteousness. The law of God stands vindicated by the suffering and death of the only begotten Son of the infinite God.”3

Righteousness is the opposite of sin, “All unrighteousness is sin,” and “sin is the transgression of the law,” the apostle tells us (1 John 5:17; 3:4). Christ is the only One who ever lived a righteous life from the beginning of life to its end. The law was written in His heart; the law was His life (Psalm 40:8). He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”; He “did no sin” (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22). Christ, then, is the only source of righteousness for us. He came to this world to live a righteous life for human beings as well as to die for them (Romans 5:10).

“Only the covering which Christ Himself has provided can make us meet to appear in God’s presence. This covering, the robe of His own righteousness, Christ will put upon every repenting, believing soul. ‘I counsel thee,’ He says, ‘to buy of Me . . . white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear’ (Revelation 3:18).”4

How can we secure the righteousness which Christ is counseling us to buy? First, it cannot be obtained by works. This gospel truth is stated by the apostle Paul: “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified [made righteous] in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). This is one reason that we are not justified by the deeds or works of the law. The law declares everyone guilty, and “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Verse 23). The law which pronounces the sinner guilty cannot at the same time save him or her. The work of the law is, under God, to convict of sin and place the transgressor under condemnation, so that the sinner will be repentant, confess his or her sins to God, and receive the imputed righteousness of Christ, “for Christ is the end [meaning ‘object,’ ‘purpose’ - James 5:11; 1 Peter 1:9] of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4).

It is that law that points out sin, and hence demands righteousness which it cannot supply to the sinner. But by the Holy Spirit the law leads to Christ, and the sinner receives from Him, by faith, His righteousness, which is a life in perfect harmony with the law that points out sin. Then the law, like the mirror, witnesses to the fact that the person has the righteousness which it demanded, but couldn’t supply (Romans 3:21).

The New Testament refers to righteousness in the sense of conformity to the demands of the will of God, the so-called “righteousness of the law” (Galatians 3:21; Philippians 3:6, 9; Titus 3:5), but in the end this attainment falls far short of true conformity to the divine will (Romans 3:19, 20; Luke 18:9-14; John 8:7). However, if Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20) with the law of God in His heart (Psalm 40:8), then we walk “not after the flesh but after the Spirit,” and “the righteousness of the law” is “fulfilled in us” (Romans 8:4). God’s active help is extended to us in the miracle of His grace through Christ.

God’s righteousness proclaimed by Jesus is a gift to those who are preparing for the kingdom of God (Matthew 5:6). By faith in Christ and His work of atonement, unrighteous sinners though we are, we receive God’s righteousness - that is, we are given a true relationship with God which involves the forgiveness of all sin and a new moral standing with Him (Romans 3:21-31; 4:1-25; 10:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9). By dealing with all the consequences of our sin and unrighteousness (both toward God and humans), through the cross, God at once maintains the moral order by which alone He can have fellowship again with the human race (Romans 3:26).

The gift of God’s righteousness assures salvation and eternal life in the kingdom of God (Romans 6:12-23; 2 Corinthians 6:7, 14; Philippians 1:11; Ephesians 4:24). Hence the extrinsic righteousness imputed through the cross finds inevitable expression in the intrinsic righteousness of a life which in a new way conforms to the will of God, even though the ultimate realization of this conformity must await the consummation of the kingdom (1 John 3:2; Philippians 3:12-14; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Peter 3:11-13).

“To everyone God has made an offer that will help to brace every nerve and spiritual muscle for the time of test that is to come to us all. I am charged with the message, Clothe yourself with the whole armor of Christ’s righteousness. . . . And, having done all you can do on your part, you have the assurance of victory. To every soul is granted the gracious opportunity of standing on the Rock of Ages.”5

Righteousness, then, is secured only by faith in Christ and His atoning work for sin that culminated on the cross of Calvary. It can be received in no other way. To be justified or accounted righteous, one’s sins must be covered. All our own works, no matter how good and how many, cannot atone for our past sins in God’s sight. Christ atoned for sin by His death, and hence we can be forgiven and accounted righteous only by faith in, and acceptance of, what Christ has done for us.

Only by faith in Christ, then, can justification be received. When one accepts, by faith, Christ as his Saviour, his past sins are forgiven, and the righteousness of Christ is imputed to him. The word “impute” means to be credited with, to set to one’s account, to be charged with. Christ lived a life of righteousness. When one is convicted of sin, and comes to God in repentance, confessing all known sins, God forgives that person by virtue of Christ’s atoning death on the cross; and then He imputes to him or her the righteousness of Christ. The righteousness of Christ is credited to our account as if we had ourselves lived it. It covers all our past life, and in Christ, the Father looks upon the sinner as if he or she had never sinned. That brings us hope!

“Clad in the armor of Christ’s righteousness, the church is to enter upon her final conflict. ‘Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners’ (Song of Solomon 6:10), she is to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.”6

“Christ’s white robe of righteousness will never cover any soul that is found in sin unrepented of and unforsaken. ‘Sin is the transgression of the law’ (1 John 3:4). Therefore those who are trampling upon the law of God, and teaching others to disregard its precepts, will not be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Jesus came not to save people in their sins, but from their sins.”7

God set forth His Son Jesus “to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:25, 26). Christ then is “our righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6). He has become “righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). “For he [the Father] hath made him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Christ’s righteousness can be imputed to us, because He kept God’s law. All will agree that had He broken one of the commandments of God, He would have no righteousness to impute; for He Himself would have been a sinner; but He kept all of the commandments (John 15:10). His life was in perfect conformity to God’s holy law. It was in His heart (Psalm 40:8). The faith that brings justification is a living faith, bringing forth the fruits of righteousness (Romans 6:22).

“The white raiment is purity of character, the righteousness of Christ imparted to the sinner. This is indeed a garment of heavenly texture, that can be bought only of Christ for a life of willing obedience.”8

Thus, when a person is born again and justified, then a life of sanctification begins which is a life of obedience to God. The Holy Spirit imparts the righteousness of Christ to us so “that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). Righteousness by faith then is a specific provision of the gospel of Christ which becomes evident in keeping all God’s commandments. This is why the Lord insists: “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14).

“The white raiment is the righteousness of Christ that may be wrought into the character. Purity of heart, purity of motive, will characterize everyone who is washing his robe, and making it white in the blood of the Lamb.

“Today let the question come home to the heart of everyone who professes the name of Christ, ‘Dost thou believe in the Son of God?’ Not, ‘Do you admit that Jesus is the Redeemer of the world?’ Not to soothe your conscience and the consciences of others by saying, ‘I believe,’ and think that is all there is to be done. But do you believe with all your heart that Jesus is your Saviour? Do you bring Him into your life, and weave Him into your character, until you are one with Christ? Many accept Jesus as an article of belief, but they have no saving faith in Him as their sacrifice and Saviour. They have no realization that Christ has died to save them from the penalty of the law which they have transgressed, in order that they may be brought back to loyalty to God. Do you believe that Christ, as your substitute, pays the debt of your transgression? Not, however, that you may continue in sin, but that you may be saved from your sins; that you, through the merits of His righteousness, may be reinstated to the favor of God. Do you know that a holy and just God will accept your efforts to keep His law, through the merits of His own beloved Son who died for your rebellion and sin?

“You may say that you believe in Jesus, when you have an appreciation of the cost of salvation. You may make this claim, when you feel that Jesus died for you on the cruel cross of Calvary; when you have an intelligent, understanding faith that His death makes it possible for you to cease from sin, and to perfect a righteous character through the grace of God, bestowed upon you as the purchase of Christ’s blood.”9

May God help us to make this amazing experience of moral transformation our own! This is possible through the strength and merit of the precious blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.