For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that He might bring you to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit (1 Peter 3:18).
Christ has stood in the place of the true Christian. He has become his surety and his substitute. He undertook to bear all that was to be borne, and to do all that was to be done, and what He undertook He per-formed. Hence the true Christian is a justified man (Isa. 53:6). Christ has suffered for sins, the "just for the unjust." He has endured our punishment in His own body on the cross. He has allowed the wrath of God, which we deserved, to fall on His own head. Hence the true Christian is a justified man (1 Peter 3:18).
Christ has paid the debt the Christian owed, by His own blood.
He has reckoned for it and discharged it to the uttermost farthing by His own death. God is a just God and will not require his debts to be paid twice over. Hence the true Christian is a justified man (Acts 20:28;1 Peter 1:18-19). Christ has obeyed the law of God perfectly. The devil, the prince of this world, could find no fault in Him. By so fulfilling it He brought in an everlasting righteousness, in which all His people are clothed in the sight of God. Hence the true Christian is a justified man (Dan. 9:24; Rom. 10:4).
Christ, in one word, has lived for the true Christian. Christ has died for him. Christ has gone to the grave for him. Christ has risen again for him. Christ has ascended up on high for him and gone into heaven to intercede for his soul. Christ has done all, paid all, suffered all that was needful for his redemption. Hence arises the true Christian's justification; hence his peace. In himself there is nothing but sin, but in Christ he has all things that his soul can require (Col. 2:3; 3:11).
Adapted from Our Great Redeemer: 365 Days with J. C. Ryle
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