THE GIFT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS #3

When the gospel of Jesus Christ speaks of the 'gift of righteousness' it is referring to God's declaration of legal acquittal. This 'not guilty' declaration is given 'to all who believe'; it is 'by faith from first to last'.

It is easy to wrongly infer from this that believing, or faith, on our part, is actually what earns, merits or deserves this 'not guilty' declaration; it is easy to wrongly infer that the command to believe has become another law which must be obeyed, and that obeying it earns us this declaration of 'righteousness' in the presence of God.

Such a perception is totally contrary to the mindset of the gospel: the gospel is good news ' a message of peace, joy and salvation, not a message promoting an alternative set of legal criteria by which a person can find reunion with God.

The legal criteria for acceptance with God remain the same: that the law of God must be fully kept, and that any infringement of that law incurs the penalty of separation from God, which the Bible calls 'death'. God's law, rather than qualifying us for acceptance in the presence of God actually exposes our disqualification.

But there is One who fully kept the law of God on our behalf ' One who was actually 'not guilty'. He also stood in our place and, having no guilt of his own, incurring no penalty of his own, bore our guilt, taking the penalty legally due to us. On our behalf he fully kept the law in his living; on our behalf he fully met the just demands of the law in his dying.

Because of this life, because of this death, the righteousness of which the gospel speaks is made available to us.

But to whom is it credited? To whom is it given? Who receives this amazing and unexpected gift? The gospel says 'those who believe'.

Believing, in itself, has no significance. A person can believe in this, that or the other thing, and still not have this gift of righteousness. It is the focus or object of faith that gives significance to the faith.

The object or focus of Gospel faith is Jesus Christ. This faith, this believing in Jesus Christ, is essentially a reversal of the Genesis 3 rejection of God. This faith is not the means by which a person is reunited with God, it is reunion with God.

Scriptures: Romans 1:16,17; 3:19-20; Luke 2:10-14; Romans 4:3; John 12:44; 8:24.