"Complete In Christ" -2

Not to beat a dead horse, nor to seem as though I am spiritulizing a text, but I feel lead to share on something from a post that I did at the first of May, 2010; and it has to do with a rather odd story in 2 Kings 6:1-7. In this story we see Elisha use a piece of wood to cause an axe head to float to the surface of a river. The young man's axe head that flew off was from an axe that he had borrowed in order to help with the work that they were doing. With this story I hope to relate two very popular Scriptures to the righteousness that we have been given in Christ. The two Scriptures are Ephesians 2:8 & 9 and James 2:26; one speaks about being saved by grace, and not of works; while the other speaks that faith without works is dead. Okay; let's just say that this axe head was to represent man's righteousness, which has been broken off the handle because of sin. And then, let's say that the river that it flew into represented the holiness of God; indicating that the axe head stood no chance to float in that environment, and consequently sunk to the bottom. Now let's say that the piece of wood which was used to bring the axe head to the surface was to represent Jesus Christ, and the death that He suffered on the cross for our sins; giving His righteousness as a sacrifice for the righteousness which we did not have, that we might attain righteousness. By this we can see, that it is His righteousness that makes that axe head float to the surface in the holiness of God. Now the second part of this equation involves that which we must do; which we can see, as did that young man, is just to put forth our hand to retrieve that which was lost; which was proclaimed to that young man by Elisha saying, "Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it." This is what I believe illustrates the righteousness that we have in Christ; and it is only by His righteousness that we are able to reclaim, obtain, and proclaim any righteousness that was lost... "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." (Colossians 2:11-15)