Romans 3 - Alien Righteousness

Romans 3 - NIV


Righteousness Through Faith
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in[h] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

These are some of the most important verses written by Paul in all of scripture. Paul has shown why no person could hope to be made right with God by keeping the Law. In the book of Isaiah, the prophet says, "Our righteousness is like filthy rags in God's eyes." Isaish 64:6

But in order to be justified in God's sight we need a righteousness that is not our own. Martin Luther called it an "alien righteousness". Or, you could say a righteousness that comes from another source. Of course, we know that this kind of righteousness can only come from God, through HIs perfect Son.  

To be righteous means to do the right thing not just in the world's eyes, but in God's eyes. Since we are not righteous, we need someone to "justify us" or, "make us right with God". Paul says in a classic verse, "We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God!"

So often I hear the words so and so is a "good person"! The question is, "Whose standard are you using?" Mother Theresa is the epitome of a good person, yet she was quick to reject being a seen as a "good person".  

"Mother Teresa rejected praise by attributing her good deeds directly to God. She often described herself as a humble "pencil in the hand of a writing God," deflecting compliments to emphasize that her work and compassion were entirely guided by her faith rather than personal virtue."

The more someone understands and knows who God is, the more they realize they could never measure up to God's standard of perfection. In a way the person who realizes that they can never measure up to God's standards are at an advantage. Why? Because they realize they need help. They realize they are powerless over their sinful nature, and only a power greater than themselves make up their deficit before God.  

So how do we obtain this "alien righteousness?" By faith! It is only by faith in Jesus that a just God can declare us "not guilty" based on Jesus' righteousness. Jesus took our guilt on the cross and shed his blood as payment for our sin. This is where the term "redemption" comes in. To "redeem" means to "buy back". When people bought slaves, the slaves lost their status as free men. But they could find a redeemer to buy back their freedom. In the same way we were once slaves to sin, but Jesus redeemed us. He bought us back so that we could be freed from bondage to sin and become righteous in God's sight. 

When was the point in your life that you realized that no matter how much you tried, you would always fall short of God's standard of perfection, which Paul calls "His glory"? 

What do you think Paul means when he says, "The righteousness given by faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe?" If faith is a gift, how do we open it. Is that was Paul is referring to when he says, "to all who believe"? 

Jesus, thank you for going to the cross to be our sacrifice of atonement by the shedding of Your blood. You gave us a righteousness we could never earn by Your grace! Thank you for the gift of faith which leads us to believe in trust in Jesus as our only hope of salvation. Amen. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Matthew 18:6-9 Causing to Stumble

Causing to Stumble 6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. Reflection: Matthew reminds us today that we don't live only unto ourselves. Our actions have repercussions on others either directly or indirectly. This is especially true for children and youth, who are impressionable. I still remember when I was...
Read more

"Everything in Moderation" ...Is that in the Bible?

1 Corinthians 6 12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. You have heard the saying, "Everything in moderation". While that may be true in some sense, it really depends what that "everything" is. Crack cocaine in moderation? Sex with a prostitute in moderation? A glass of wine in moderation? A Big Mac a day in moderation? You see the point! While that may seem like an extreme argument, Paul is trying to snuff out a problem in Corinthians church. The problem was people were dabbling in sexual immorality and saying it was okay. Since they were forgiven what would it hurt to engage in a little bit of fun. But when you read the list of the things in the verses above...
Read more

Is the Baptism of Lydia's Household In Acts 16 A Biblical Example of Infant Baptism?

  Lydia of Philippi Believes in Jesus This is another huge story for our missiology as Christians. Paul and Silas went on the Sabbath down to the river out to see if there were any Jews meeting there. Sure enough they ran into Lydia, a wealthy woman, who dealt in expensive purple cloth. She was a God seeker, and when she heard Paul's message, she believed, and she and her WHOLE HOUSEHOLD were baptized.  Why is this story important?  1. A influential woman comes to faith and leads her whole household to Jesus. Later, the church of Philippi becomes a major and influential in the 1st century church. This is one of the first instances of a woman playing a leadership in the church. This gives credence to the idea of women being in leadership of the church. There are others instance of women playing key wrongs in the growth as well in Acts too.  Remember Galatians 2:20 "In Christ there is no Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male or female, but all are one in Christ Jesus!"...
Read more