This is such an important and foundational truth. This must be settled in us once and for all. If we cannot reconcile this, then nothing else will make Kingdom sense. We live in a performance driven society. The question seems to be, “What have you done for me lately?” The Old Testament was a Covenant of Law. It is a performance driven paradigm. It was comprised of a list of behaviors where one was judged by the outward manifestations. Then Jesus arrives and he does not speak about performance as much as He encourages relationship. He did not talk about religion, rather a love and a faith that produces good works. He deals with the condition of the heart. In 2nd Corinthians 5:21 tells us that Jesus was perfect, but He chose to be made sin. In exchange we were made righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. Jesus took our place so that He could go to prepare a place for us. Where He is, we will one day be as well. We could not get to Him, so He came to us. Jesus came and made Himself of no reputation so that He could take our place.