I am in Christ above, and Christ is in me below. Here I find the power for my life.
Righteousness
The righteousness of God is the display of the nature of God in all His acts. We, believers, are made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). He, Christ, is our righteousness before God (1 Cor. 1:30). It is not the merits of Christ put to our account, nor is it Christ keeping the law for us.
The righteous judgment of sin (the root) and sins (the fruit) were both seen at the cross. The blood of Christ put our sins away (1 John 1:7). The death of Christ ended our Adam history before God (2 Cor. 5:17). Now Christ is our life (Col. 3:4) and we are “in Christ” before God (Rom. 8:1).
It is a blessed fact that Christ is the believer’s righteousness before God, so that he rejects all other righteousness as worthless. Read carefully what Paul says in Philippians 3:7-9. The Lord give us each to enjoy it more and praise His grace together! “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 Cor. 5:21).
Eternal Life
Eternal life is not just never-dying life. Angels live forever, yet they have not what Scripture speaks of as “eternal life.” The lost live forever under the judgment of God, yet they have not eternal life (1 John 5:12). It is a blessed truth that eternal life is Christ our life (1 John 1:12). Eternal life is the gift of God to everyone that believes the gospel (Rom. 6:23).
Possessing Christ as our life, we have now the nature of God with the affections and moral character of that nature. This new life cannot sin (1 John 3:9). The Gospel of John gives “eternal life” manifested in the Son of God. In the Epistle of John it is that same life manifested in those who are “born of God.” Possessing eternal life, we are thus able to enter into the very thoughts of God Himself. The blessed result is community of thought in “oneness of life.”
The Holy Spirit dwelling in us as believers gives the power for our walk, while the Word of God enables us to judge that which would hinder communion. May we walk carefully prayerfully so to enjoy the blessedness of it. “He that hath the Son hath life” (1 John 5:12). “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4).
H. E. Hayhoe