Alien Righteousness? - Timothy Ministries

When the man comes to faith in Christ, though, the robe of “the
righteousness of Christ” is brought out (Fig. 2 below). 46 This white robe
represents both the propitiating sacrifice of Jesus and His life-long record of
perfect obedience to God’s will. 47 Figure 2
God then imputes “the righteousness of Christ” to the man, and since
this robe of righteousness includes the cleansing merit of Christ’s propitiation
on the cross, the man’s filthy robe of sins is stripped away (Fig. 3 below).
Figure 3
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According to Alister E. McGrath, Luther thought of “the believer as covered in the
righteousness of Christ in much the same way … as Ezekiel 16.8 speaks of God covering
our nakedness with his garment.” Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology: An
Introduction (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2001). However, Eze 16 is about
Jerusalem (Israel), not about us per se, and the covering that God does is subsequent to
His declaration “Live!” (v. 6). Furthermore, God’s covering in this Eze passage has to do
with entering a marriage covenant (vv. 8-10), and while is may indirectly allude to
covering sin, it has nothing to do with imputed righteousness.
John Gill saw the “righteousness of Christ” as represented by “the best robe” that was
brought out for the prodigal son (Luk 15.22). John Gill, The Doctrine Of Justification, By
The Righteousness Of Christ, Stated And Maintained, Sermon (Rio, WI: AGES Software).
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