I want to dig into a thought of Luther’s on the three ways we commend God’s righteousness. Now just to be clear, this is not Luther Vandross, but Martin Luther.
“Our righteousness commends God’s righteousness in three ways.”
Obviously, if you have read these chapters in Romans, you will already know that we are NOT righteous. So, we are talking about the good things we do, our attempts at righteousness. These things bring attention and glory to God’s righteousness in three ways.
1) God is proved righteous when He punishes our unrighteousness.
So, when we fall short, God’s discipline of us points to His righteousness. He is perfectly just, not according to what we think is fair, but according to His standard of perfect holiness. Therefore, He is righteous when He punishes the unrighteous, and He can only be righteous by punishing them. A God who lets sin go could not be considered righteous..
2) Our righteousness commends God’s righteousness by comparison.
The greater His righteousness shines forth, the more wicked our righteousness appears. When compared to each other, the lowliness of our righteousness draws attention to the heights of His. A skyscraper may look tall, but directly compared to an ant next to it, its height is even more distinct.
3) God’s righteousness is commended by His work in us.
When we, who have no capactiy for righteousness, are righteous, it is revealed to be His righteousness active in us. Every good act I commit is God working through me. He gets credit for all of it.
God will be shown righteous by our lives, either at work in them, in comparison to them, or in punishing them. All three ways reveal His righteousness. I’d prefer to be a part of the first.
Thoughts?
Todd
Yeah…my only thought is “AMEN! I especially appreciate the comments on comparison. In such a fallen world, it is easy to have but a whiff of righteousness, pat oneself on the back and become the Pharisee. My righteousness on my very best day is but a filthy rag. Until He is my righteousness, I am nothing.
In the first chapters of Romans, Paul goes to great lengths to undermine any claim that anyone–Jew or Gentile–might have to rightness before God outside of the righteousness given to us BY God through Christ. No religion stands before his holiness. No self-righteousness stands before his holiness…only His holiness can stand before his holiness. That being said, the righteous are justified by faith in Christ so that we might live the kind of righteous lives that honor the One who makes us righteous! Wow! Imagine Paul’s joy–and Martin Luther’s joy–in getting to share this incredible message with those whose hearts hadn’t ever heard he fullness of this truth! Imagine our joy at getting to live out this truth in our generation before both the self-righteous and unrighteousness.
This concept of God really blows my mind! For God, the righteous judge, to rightfully declare me guilty and then take my punishment upon himself is unheard of among any religion. But my God goes a step further to declare me righteous–not because I have cleaned up my act, not because of anything I have done or will do, but because He has poured out His goodness on my behalf. The righteous Judge then declares me to be righteous! No one but God has that authority. But He doesn’t stop there . . . it’s a continuous action–always pouring out His goodness on my behalf, working in me and through me, changing me into His likeness. I’m amazed at this truth, and yet confused by its many distortions being taught that keep people in bondage by relentlessly teaching them to please God by being “good” or by people lording it over others, acting as if they have achieved goodness by their own efforts. Sometimes I hear people use their belief in God to boast about their goodness and belittle others who lack their level of faith. When we catch a glimpse of our depravity and brokenness in contrast to His beauty, we will agree with Paul that our only glory is in the cross of Jesus. Yes, He gets the credit for all of it.
Well said Todd. Many
people say that God makes us righteous, but I’m not sure that’s the best way to
look at it. I don’t see it as God making
me righteous, but rather that when I abide in Him, or walk in surrender to Him (both
work), His righteousness lives in and through me. I don’t think it’s ever me being righteous. There is that verse that says “the righteous
shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17; Hab 2:4). But this could still be God’s
righteous living in and through me as I walk in surrender.
Another subject….. I still don’t have a great handle on the
concept of living by faith either. My faith has a tendency to falter. That’s
probably evidence that I need to abide in Him more consistently, and make it more
of a habit to walk in surrender to Him.
(Who knows, I might just compose a concise “Concert Response”
and post it in one your blogs. That
might be a little unruly of me though…..)
my wife and i saw you at hills alive in rapid city s.d. your music and message was an absolute blessing , we tried to find a cd there of you , we had no luck . could you please write me and let me know where to purchase one . keep the music & message going . we”ll see you again my friend … thank you bob jack .
Bob, you should be able to purchase any of Todd’s CDs here on his website: https://missinginkshop.com/toddagnew/store . If you live in Rapid City, you can usually find some of his music at WalMart. Blessings, Tess
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