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What, Me Righteous?

Is it fair to say that “righteous” is not the way we would describe ourselves?
“How are you today, Paul?”
“Pretty darned righteous, thanks. And you?”
No, “righteous” is not how we feel about ourselves and certainly not the way we describe ourselves to others. For we know our hearts, and what we show of ourselves outwardly can belie what we know of ourselves inwardly. In my book, Christ in Me, we defined New Testament righteousness in relatable terms: “Inside, we want to be as we ought to be; we want to be acceptable before God; we want to be guiltless before Him who knows everything about us. Which is to say we want to be righteous, but we are not, not on our own, anyway.”1 And you know what? That’s a great place for us to start.

Earning God’s approval through our own moralistic achievements is a common temptation to which we easily succumb. As a legalistic Pharisee, Paul strained to gain God’s acceptance through religious rigor, yet ultimately found himself “not having a righteousness of my own.”2 Likewise, he observed that the nation of Israel itself “did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own.”3 We can relate, can’t we? For we know the shortcomings of our soul and the wrongdoings that arise from them, and we are inclined to compensate through our own attempts at goodness. But true righteousness, like salvation, is not seized through our merit; it is received as God’s grace. “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are,”4 wrote Paul, continuing, “God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus . . .”5 And how He did so is an amazing display of wisdom and power.

Of the Messiah, Jeremiah foretold, “And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord Our Righteousness’”6 The Messiah, said the prophet, would be righteousness for us, and indeed He is, for Paul wrote, “It is because of [God] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”7 Jesus didn’t merely deem us to be right in His sight from afar, He made us one with Himself; His righteousness is ours. Live and thrive in the truth of this grace—you are blameless and welcome in the presence of God. Jesus makes it so.

Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. —1 Peter 3:18.

Father, how amazing it is that, in Christ, we are made pure and acceptable in Your sight. Remind us of this grace and lead us in it, that we would bring this truth to a world that longs for You. In the name of Christ, our righteousness, we pray. Amen.

1 Paul Nordman, Christ in Me, (Maitland, Florida: Xulon Press), 89.
2 Philippians 3:9
3 Romans 10:2
4 Romans 3:22 NLT
5 Romans 3:24 NLT
6 Jeremiah 23:6 NASB
7 1 Corinthians 1:30


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Grace: Why Would We Be without It?

My father-in-law was a quiet, contemplative man—one who measured his words carefully and uttered them purposefully. Being fairly reserved myself, I enjoyed his presence, whether conversing easily together or sitting comfortably in silence. One day as we relaxed in his family room, my father-in-law broke the quietude, giving voice to the private ponderings of his heart: “Where would we be without the forgiveness of sins?” In one simple sentence, he profoundly articulated both the gravity of our sin and his gratitude for God’s grace.

We primarily think of grace in the context of salvation—our rescue from sin and its ultimate consequences of death and separation from God—as well we should, for the familiar Bible verse declares, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”1 Yet the umbrella of grace extends much farther than salvation; Peter exhorts us to be “faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”2 Indeed, grace shines through the gift of righteousness, our right standing before a holy God based on Jesus’ sacrificial death and life-giving resurrection. It is through grace that the Holy Spirit resides in us, and in grace are we transformed into the image of Christ. And perhaps surprisingly to some, the grace we receive through faith finds its expression through the works we pour out in obedience, for as a people made new by grace, “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”3

Over the next several weeks, we will examine grace in at least some of its forms—what it is and what it is not, and the various ways in which it expresses itself. But let’s always start here: God’s gift of grace arises from His nature of grace. He is “full of grace and truth”4 and “from his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace.”5 It is from His character of loving-kindness that God pours out His favor on us, not as our due, but as His gift. Why would we be without it? Receive it, rest in it, and extend it today.

Father, You are good, Your heart is kind, and You lavishly pour out Your favor on us. Each new day as it dawns, may we receive Your favor and trust Your character. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Ephesians 2:8-9
2 1 Peter 4:10
3 Ephesians 2:10
4 John 1:14 ESV
5 John 1:16 ESV

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Vibrant Faith, Hope, and Love

My friend James is hospitalized with COVID, his medical history perhaps heightening his susceptibility to the virus. His pain level upon coughing has been a 7 to 9 on a scale of 10; fortunately, this is improving a bit. But to all the medical professionals who tend to him (including caregivers from Thailand, Philippines, Morocco, Nigeria, and, of course, the US), James’ top priority is to honor them for who they are and to affirm them for what they do. “I tell them that, in [my hospital room], you are a person first.” For James has come to realize that, while the staff is there to help him, he also must “be ready when called upon to offer encouragement to [them, even if] through . . . suffering.”

Where does such a heart—this others-first focus—come from? I believe it is the outward overflow of an inner freedom that pours forth in joy when we accept and rest in the fact that God knows us individually, loves us personally, and cleanses us from all our sin. This is “truth that sets [us] free.”1 The apostle James stated it most simply: “We love because [God] first loved us.”2 Such love is not an obligatory burden to bear impossibly in our flesh, but a joyful emancipation to live out fruitfully in the Spirit. It is that for which Paul commended the Thessalonian church: “We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.3 Faith, hope and love—spiritual growth and meaningful impact are rooted in these.

Yet if we affirm this triumvirate merely in the abstract, as if nodding academically to tenets of a creed, we miss the point. For vibrant faith, hope, and love are more than conceptual; they are relational. Exhorted the writer of Hebrews, “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience . . . Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”4 By God’s grace, no matter where we are, even if in a hospital bed, we can “be ready when called upon” to reach others in faith, hope, and love.

Father, draw me close to You today, that You would speak and I would hear. Lead me to where You want me to share the faith, hope, and love that are found in You. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 John 8:32
2 1 John 4:19
3 1 Thessalonians 1:3
4 Hebrews 10:22-24