One can never “overemphasize” our dependence on Christ. A popular way of demonstrating this is simply to go through the Ten Commandments. If I’m completely honest with myself, I break nine of the Ten Commandments every single day (and if it happens to be the Sabbath, all ten.) When Jesus explains the depth of these imperatives, it becomes clear just how easy they are to break. For example, I do not kill someone every single day, but do I get angry and frustrated with people? Absolutely. Do I prioritize things above God? Yes. Do I speak in ways that aren’t glorifying to Him? Often. Do I look at other people’s lives and wish I had some of their blessings? Almost constantly. The Hebrew for sin means literally “to miss the mark” which means everything shy of perfection, every time I miss the bull’s-eye. So even if I’m doing a good thing, if my heart isn’t in the right place, or if I don’t do it as well as I could- I’m missing the mark. In this definition, I sin. A lot. All the time. I have absolutely no chance of being able to stand before God without any sin on my record.

However, God does not only require of us not to sin, He also requires us to do good. We’re supposed to feed the hungry, house the homeless, visit those in prison, seek justice for the oppressed, take care of the orphans, widows, and foreigners in our land and a couple other things as well. (Or several hundred other things.)

One of the most important words then that describe Christ is dikiosunea which most generally means “righteous.” Truly, dikiosunea means so much more than just righteous. Jesus Christ didn’t only not sin at all at any point but He fulfilled every good thing He could do. Dikiosunea also connotes justice showing that Christ embodied everything that is fair and right.

This is why the idea of imputation is so important to me. Imputation is the idea that Christ’s record in applied to us or more simply, when the Father looks at us, instead of seeing a sinner marred by transgression, bad intentions, with unbelievable amounts of metaphorical blood on our hands, He sees instead His perfect Son who did no wrong and did all right. This is how we come to be saved and have reconciliation with a perfect God. It isn’t enough that Christ takes away our sins. Imagine if you were looking for a babysitter for your child: would you be satisfied if they simply hadn’t killed anyone or stolen from previous employers? You would want to know that they had skills and experience: had done well in their previous jobs.

Jesus Christ is righteous and He is just. He is good and He is perfect. None of these words can be used to describe me on even my best day so I desperately need Christ to take my place if I ever hope to be in a relationship with a wholly perfect and holy perfect God.