Holy and blameless

If someone asked me to describe myself in a few words, the words "holy" and "blameless" would definitely not be on the list. Sure, I wouldn't say that I'm a horrible person, but I definitely would not elevate myself to a level of holiness and blamelessness.

But to God, I am holy and blameless. Don't believe me? Read these verses:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." (Ephesians 1:3-4)

"Yet now He has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault." (Colossians 1:22)

That is absolutely incredible. And it's not because I earned this status; it's not because of my efforts to be a "good person" or to be godly or to spread God's love. No, it's not because of me at all that He sees me this way. It is because of Jesus. He took my unholiness and blame to the cross, so they died on the cross with Him. My unholiness and blame are actually gone and forever forgotten. Now, God doesn't look at me as unholy and blameful, even though I deserve that. He does not see me how I am just as a human, but who I am through Christ. So, because of that, He literally sees me as perfect. This is crazy to me, because I know I am so far from perfect. And I am, apart from God. Him seeing me as perfect is not evidence that our God is oblivious and idealistic; instead, it is proof that He gives undeserving love that actually transforms me into a holy being.

On the cross, Jesus received death so that we could receive life. He took on the status of a sinner so that we could inherit His status of righteousness. When God looks at us through Jesus Christ, He doesn't see us for who we are, but for who Jesus is. That is not too shabby ;). The creator of this Earth, who is perfect and all-powerful, sees me, little old me, as perfect as his blameless son Jesus. That is pretty fricken cool!

So let's try to begin to see ourselves and others in the way that God does. Say to yourself, "I am perfect in Jesus Christ" and "that person is perfect in Jesus Christ!" I know we definitely aren't accustomed to seeing ourselves or others in this way, but why not try to adopt the perfect attitude of God? I think life would be a lot better if we learn to take it easy on ourselves and other people every now and then, and just love on ourselves and on people as if they were holy and blameless. Because they are.

"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." - Galatians 2:20