In his major theological explanation of the Christian faith, the second generation Reformer John Calvin devoted a lot of time in his writing to the question of how we are made right with God. As he asks in Book 3 of the Institutes, “What then is our foundation in Christ?”
Our foundation in Christ is that He has become our righteousness. This means that Jesus Christ’s righteousness is received by us, in faith, so that we are accounted righteous in the sight of the LORD God.
Calvin understood that this has major consequences for the whole life of a Christian whose life and faith is built on such a solid foundation!
He wrote with great clarity and insight that
“Being admitted to participation in him, though we are still foolish, he is our wisdom;
though we are still sinners he is our righteousness;
though we are unclean, he is our purity;
though we are weak, unarmed, and exposed to Satan, yet ours is the power which has been given him in heaven and in earth, to bruise Satan under our feet, and burst the gates of hell, (Mat 28:18);
though we still bear about with us a body of death, he is our life;
in short, all things of his are ours, we have all things in him, he nothing in us.
On this foundation, I say, we must be built, if we would grow up into a holy temple in the Lord.”
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 3.15.5 (Beveridge translation)
“in short, all things of his are ours, we have all things in him, he nothing in us. ”