When I first became a Christian there were three verses that we were encouraged to learn as a way of summarising the Gospel. Romans 3:23: ‘all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God’. Romans 6:23: ‘for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord’. (John 3:16 was fairly important too!). Finally, our verse for today.

This particular verse is often seen as a great place in the Bible to turn to for a pithy summary of the doctrine of atonement and justification. The person of Jesus Christ has become sin for us, our sins are treated as belonging to him, on the cross he bore our sins (fulfilling OT prophecy most notably Isaiah 53:4-6) and in the words of John Stott, became our ‘substitutionary sacrifice’. Our sins are taken away, by his blood we are cleansed, and all that belongs to him, belongs to us. As Peter puts it: ‘He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness’ (1 Peter 2:24).

In Greek mythology, (at least as depicted in the film Troy!), two rival kings agree that rather than pit their armies against each other, they would each select one person to fight on their behalf. The Greeks choose Achilles who was victorious. The battle was thereby deemed to be won. The Trojans were defeated and the Greeks enjoyed the spoils of war. All that lay within Troy then belonged to them.

This conveys something of what it means for Jesus to become sin for us and for His righteousness to be given (imputed) to us. Note, however that, whilst it’s perfectly fine to understand verse 21 in this way, there is also a call here for us to become the righteousness of God. The same sentiment is picked up in the above verse from 1 Peter…so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. There is a response for us to make.

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Application:

As children of God we are called to walk by faith and live in the light. Allow the Holy Spirit to ‘search me and know my heart’ (Ps 139:23). Respond to anything He shows you and if there is something to change or put right then do it today.

Prayer:

Find the lyrics for the song ‘In Christ Alone’ and thank Him that He controls your destiny.