In His Eyes, I'm Perfect

In my commitment to be a more avid reader of theological books this year, I have been engrossed in some pretty good books since January.  Currently, I'm in the middle of Because He Loves Me by Elyse Fitzpatrick, and it is yet another excellent recommendation, which will be appearing over in my sidebar list of completed books in a few days.

Somehow my passion for what I read gets a bit lost in the translation, though, so I rarely write a book review.  It seems I lack brevity and conciseness, which is really the point of a book review.

So for now I'd just like to share with you my favorite part of the book, the part I keep going back to over and over again.  Mrs. Fitzpatrick blew me away with the truth she shared, and I can hardly believe that it's true. 

In chapter 4 she talks about our justification in Christ and proceeds to explain what that means.  She says that our sin slate has been wiped clean.  Now quoting from the book:

...Jesus' perfect record has become ours.  Because God has accredited or imputed Jesus' perfect obedience to you, when God looks upon you, he sees you as a  person who

• always does the things that are pleasing to him;
• is so focused on accomplishing his will and work that doing so is your daily food;
• doesn't seek your own will but seeks his will instead;
• doesn't seek to receive glory (praise, respect, worship) from others;
• has always kept all his commandments;
• lives in such a way that your life brings holiness to others;
• loves others and lays down your life on a consistent basis;
• lives in such a way that the people around you know that you love your heavenly Father more than anything else;
• seeks to obey every command so that righteousness will be fulfilled.

In God's opinion (the only one that matters!) that's your record today. 

(Elyse Fitzpatrick, Because He Loves Me, "The Verdict" pg. 72-73)

Is that not the most incredible thing a Christian can hear?  Are you as blown away by these statements as I am?  I'm nothing like this list describes, but God looks at me and sees Jesus instead.  I'm no longer under condemnation.  I'm justified.  And knowing that's how He sees me somehow makes me want to live like that even more.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  (2 Corinthians 5:21 - NKJV)