Even the Old Testament has told us “all our righteousnesses [deeds] are as filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6 KJV). Righteousness, or a “right standing” before God, a standing God demands, depends on the atoning work of Christ on Calvary. Jesus’ words, “You no longer behold me” (John 16:10), “refer to the cross . . . or through the cross to the ascension.”20 Our righteousness is a result of God’s reaching out through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ to atone for sins, thereby enabling
Page 34