Christ's Righteousness

“The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked,

but He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.”

Proverbs 3:33

This morning, as I was meditating on this passage, I found great comfort in the latter half of this verse. I found comfort, though, for only one reason: the righteousness that God blesses is one that will never leave me, because it does not originate from within me. I’m sure many who read this passage are tempted to read it through the eyes of work. That righteousness before God is something that can be achieved by obedience is a view implicitly held by far too many evangelicals, even though this view is far from evangelical. Yes, obedience is commanded (John 14:15, Matthew 28:19-20), but never in Scripture is obedience a means of salvific righteousness (Rom. 3:20, 28; Gal. 3:10). In fact, obedience is the product of salvific righteousness (Eph. 2:10; James 2:17).

            Paul makes very clear in Romans 3 that “none is righteous, no, not one” (cf. Psalm 14:1-3, 53:1-3). This does not, however, deny the blessing of God on the righteous. But who are the righteous that God blesses, if none are righteous? Those who turn from their sin and look to Christ by faith (Mark 1:15; Rom. 3:21-26). It is the righteousness of Christ that justifies us before God. Without the perfect righteousness of Christ, your works are but soiled rags (Isaiah 64:6). “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) It is only in Christ that I can find comfort in this verse, because apart from Christ, I cannot please God (Romans 8:6-8) and I am wicked.

Please do not be tempted to read this passage and others like it and see yourself as blessed by God because you throw up a “God is good” on facebook, or you say “praise the Lord” occasionally, or you bow a knee and point to the sky after you score a touchdown, or you attend or are a member of a local church. These are nothing more than mere Christian platitudes and are a stench in the nostrils of God apart from Christ, because apart from Christ they are not authentic. They are futile attempts of earning the favor of God. God is not interested in Christianized gestures. He looks with favor upon those who have, by His grace alone, turned from their sins and looked upon Christ by faith alone. Only then can Romans 8:28 be true: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” When we read texts from the Old Testament like this one, we must immediately make a bee-line to the cross of Christ.

As the Preacher from Ecclesiastes teaches us, all work and toil on this Earth is a striving after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14). Only in Christ does our work and labor on Earth carry any value, because the one who looks to Christ works and labors for something eternal. They labor for the Gospel of Jesus Christ as messengers to lost souls, declaring everlasting peace with God. They labor as messengers to lost souls, declaring unending free grace. And they labor as messengers to lost souls, declaring the end of futile, merit-based pursuits of God. You can never stand before God and give Him a list of good works long enough for Him to find any favor in you. It is the work of Christ in fulfilling all the requirements of the law, His death, and His defeat of death by rising from the grave that has acquired salvation and favor for any man.

Looking anywhere else is a declaration that Christ’s work of salvation was not sufficient to purchase total and complete salvation, and makes you an enemy of God. Looking anywhere but to Christ means that the first half of Proverbs 3:33 applies to you, because apart from Christ, all men are wicked. May what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in his first letter apply to all who read this: “For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”  (1 Thessalonians 1:9,10)

Jonathan Whittle 

Meet the Team: Jeremy Chasteen (Generation LINK Director)

This post is the first in a series called "Meet the Team" introducing you to our Generation LINK staff. We hope it will help you get to know Generation LINK staff members serving around the country a little better.

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Where did you graduate from and what did you study?

I graduated from East Carolina in 1995 with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. I also received a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological seminary.

How did you first develop a vision for Generation LINK?

I spent nine years on staff with a campus ministry and saw the impact that participating in summer and year long missions opportunities has on students. However, over time I realized one thing that’s often missing from these opportunities is the local church. When we planted Crosspoint Church in Clemson, SC in 2005, we saw an opportunity to implement excellent campus ministry strategy in the context of the local church by providing summer and one year residencies. I really desire to equip the next generation of pastors, missionaries, and men and women going into the marketplace. To be honest, we developed Generation LINK because it’s what our pastors wish we had while we were in seminary. Generation LINK is a beautiful marriage of seminary training and meaningful ministry in church plants.

What excites you most about Generation LINK?

Having the opportunity to invest into young men and women who are making big decisions in their lives and having the impact to develop them into mature, theologically grounded disciple-makers in local churches all over the world.

What advice do you have for someone considering doing Summer LINK or the Generation LINK residency program?

For those considering Summer LINK- there’s only three summers most college students will have (possibly in their entire lives!) to invest 6-10 weeks serving a local church and being developed as a believer. Summer LINK is an incredible investment for your own personal discipleship and a great opportunity to advance God’s kingdom. You will also be placed in an environment where you will cultivate sweet friendships as you live and work with other believers in community.

For those considering our one year residency- I would love to challenge every post-graduate to tithe a year or two to serve in the local church before going into the marketplace. In addition, the residency program is truly an incredible opportunity for future pastors and missionaries to combine ministry and theological training in the context of the local church. It just doesn’t get better than this! And, you might even meet your spouse!

What are your favorite things to do in your free time? Spend time with family, hunt, fish, lift weights, run, and anything that involves Clemson sports. 

What is your typical coffee shop order? Black and strong. I’m cheap and too old to waste all those calories on a fancy coffee drink!

Follow Jeremy on twitter, facebook, and instagram

Me and my wife Liz and our four children: Lydia, Carson, Bryn, and Spencer

Generation LINK Clemson: Student Ministry Fall Retreat

This past weekend, Crosspoint's student ministry took its annual fall retreat to Camp McCall in Sunset, South Carolina. This is one of the best parts of the fall semester, as we get hours and hours of face time with our students in a very intentional setting. From the drive up there, to sharing meals and cabins, to small groups and worship, to recreational games; every minute we spent away was an opportunity to connect with our students and to deepen our relationships with them. I'm always so blessed by weekend getaways, and it was great to see our students excited about being away in the mountains together.

Several of our students in their morning devos.

While our "rec" time was certainly exciting (we played through a pretty heavy rain for at least an hour) the highlight for me on Fall Retreat is always getting to hear the Word taught, and then getting to spend time discussing it with students in a small group setting. Our theme this year was "GO", as we wanted to challenge our students to be on mission for the Lord in their homes, schools, and wherever they go in the future. Rather than assuming that a missional life is something to be saved for the future, for adulthood, we hoped to encourage our students that ALL believers are called to be on mission with the Gospel wherever they are and wherever they go.

Chad Ferrell, our Generation LINK Church Planting Resident, did a great job teaching each of our 3 sessions- we spent time in Ephesians 2, Matthew 28, Acts 1 and Isaiah 6. I really enjoyed spending time in my small group (Junior and Senior guys) because I think several of the students were really encouraged in thinking about what it meant to be God's "workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). It was such a blessing to see these guys begin to realize that they were made- and saved- for a purpose. They're not saved because of their good works, but by grace for good works. We then spent a lot of time discussing what those "good works" might look like in their lives, and what it meant practically to be Christ's witnesses in our circles of influence. I was really encouraged by our conversation, and it really challenged me to be intentional to be on mission myself, and to continue to challenge these guys to do the same.

On a personal note, as a first year "GLinker" it was interesting to come to Fall Retreat with a different role than I had last year. As staff, we have much more responsibility in the planning and coordinating of the weekend, and don't necessarily get all the face time with students that we would like. In some ways, we had to die to self in order to enable other leaders to get that time with students while we did much of the set up and execution in the background. This was challenging for me because I think that at times I can sinfully glorify or desire certain ministry roles over others; particularly the roles that get more attention or the ones I "really enjoy". The Lord has graciously used Generation LINK to change my heart in this area. On staff at Crosspoint we often must perform tasks or roles that aren't necessarily the most glorious or first on our own lists of priorities. By His grace, I have seen (slow) growth in a desire to serve out of a pure heart, and to value ALL of the parts of the body, which work together to carry out the mission of Christ. The Father certainly used this weekend to continue that work in my heart.

It is a privilege to serve the Lord in student ministry, and I am thankful that the Lord has placed me where He has. One plants, another waters... God gives the growth, and gets the glory!


Joey Evans

A New Generation LINK Year!

A new Generation LINK year has begun! It has been incredible to see the Lord provide staff in Boston, Clemson, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, and Raleigh this year. We are looking forward to seeing how the Lord uses the 2013-2014 staff to impact nations for the kingdom now and in the future. Please join us in praying for Generation LINK staff members serving around the country.

To view all of our Generation LINK staff, please visit http://generation-link.org/#/staff/staff. Pictured below is Crosspoint Church's staff team in Clemson, SC.