Christ’s Righteousness

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD was standing by.
Zechariah 3:1–5
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Christ’s Righteousness
The devil will not waste a single moment. He stands ready to accuse you and me and the whole of Christendom. The dirt of our sins is upon us. We have done what we should not have, but our God has paid for our transgressions by the blood of his Son. The Son of God has become our High Priest. Just like Joshua’s name, which means, “God saves,” so also our High Priest, Jesus saves us by his work on the cross. He stands before the devil to condemn him. He stands before Satan to rebuke him. Thus, our God takes our filthy garments from us and replaces them with the perfect heavenly clothes. We cannot enter the heavenly courts by our own righteousness, but Jesus has clothed us in his own righteousness. It stands against the devil and every accusation. Our God rebukes Satan and sends him away. The guilty are made innocent. The dirty are washed. The outcasts have become the Children of God and the heirs of eternal life. Thanks be to God for taking away our iniquity. It is as far as the east is from the west. He has buried it and has granted it no resurrection, but you will live forever with Jesus. You will stand with him forever.