THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS #24

God's gift of righteousness is an incredible gift ' something that we would never have imagined. It cuts right across our performance-oriented mindset and our ego-centric pride, and tells us that 'righteousness' ' God's declaration of legal acquittal ' is a gift. It is not something that we earn, deserve or merit.

Rather, this gift of righteousness from God is grounded solely in the substitutionary, sin-bearing death of Jesus Christ. In his death he took the legal penalty imposed by God on sin, and bore our guilt and condemnation for us.

Not only does he bear our guilt and condemnation; in addition, his perfect righteousness, his total absence of guilt is credited to us.

But the question arises: how does all of this become ours? If the Bible teaches that God gives us this amazing gift, that God declares us 'not guilty' because of Christ, at what point, and by what means, does it become ours? Does it apply to everyone indiscriminately? Or is there some criteria that must be fulfilled for this incredible and total salvation to be received?

In Romans 9:30 to 10:21 Paul teaches how this gift of righteousness can be obtained and how it can not be obtained: it is obtained 'by faith' not by works.

But this raises another question: what is this 'faith' by which this incredible 'not guilty' declaration is obtained? Is it 'faith' in anything at all, or is there a specific object or focus of this saving, liberating faith?

The focus or object of this faith is Jesus Christ ' the Lord. Paul states: 'If you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved', and 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' 

Earlier Paul identified Jesus as 'God over all'. This belief, this confession that Jesus is God is the faith upon which the gift of righteousness is obtained. As Jesus himself clearly stated: 'Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son? and 'If you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.'

Scriptures: Romans 9:30 ' 10:31; 9:5; John 3:18; 8:24