The Righteousness of God?

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"Who can live according to God’s righteous, perfect standards and never fail? And since this brings His judgement upon us, who can escape His wrath? Only one person can live this way and that person is the world’s only hope. Jesus!"

Who is God? That is a big question. If someone were to ask you that, what would your answer be? Maybe you might say that He is love or the Creator of heaven and earth.

The Bible is known as God’s Word. It is the book He wrote to reveal Himself to us, so if anyone wants to know more about God; that is the first place to go. It contains many descriptions about Him. In 1 John 4:8 it says, “…God is love.” In Revelation 4:8 it is written, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty…” Psalm 47:7 declares, “…God is the King of all the earth…” But there is one quality of God I want to focus on. In Isaiah 45:21, God speaks of Himself this way, “And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God…” And in another place, the Bible says regarding God’s gospel, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed…” (Romans 1:17)

Righteousness is not a commonly used word in our everyday conversations. What does it mean? The root word “right,” helps with the definition. It refers to God’s rightness, perfection, guiltlessness, innocence, faultlessness and justice. Therefore, because God is righteous, He acts in righteous ways. The Bible reveals this through His commands. They lay out God’s expectations, not just for His followers, but all mankind.

Have you heard of the Sermon on the Mount? In it Jesus said, “…everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment…” (Matthew 5:22) He also spoke, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:27-28) And in another place He stated, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matt. 5:43-44)

Why is Jesus laying out these commands? In them He is revealing His own righteousness, but also stating the kind of life He expects from us. He wants us to be righteous, just as He is. Jesus is very clear about this when He says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48) This is His standard. We are to be morally perfect. Who can achieve this though? Can you? Your neighbor? Your Pastor, Rabi, Priest, or Cleric?

Why do we have to live up to this standard? We might say, “This is God’s standard, not mine. I do not have to burden myself with trying to live this way.” In response, the Bible says, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed…” (Acts 17:30-31) All of us, whether we believe in God or not, or live by His commands or not, will stand before Him at one point in the future to be judged by His righteousness. And what if we fail to live according to His ways? We will face His certain judgement and eternal death in the unquenchable flames of hell.

Where is our hope then? For who can live this way and never fail? Only one person. Jesus. He is our hope, and this is why He went to the cross. He died and rose again to become our righteousness. We can never live perfectly enough to be forgiven, but we do not have to. Why? Because Jesus already has. When a person meets the conditions of repentance and faith in Christ, then Jesus’ righteousness covers him.

A prayer for you. “Lord God, we have failed to live according to your ways. We are imperfect people. We repent, and call upon you in faith, that the righteousness of Christ would become our own, and that we would be made acceptable in your sight. In Jesus name. Amen.”

Centrality of the Cross

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“What if there never was a cross? What if Jesus never died? What if He never rose again? What would be different?”

All over the world there are signs of the cross of Christ. Churches prominently display it. Both the religious and non-religious drape it around their necks as a beautiful piece of jewelry. Homes have crosses hanging as pieces of art on their walls. May I ask, “What if there never was a cross? What if Jesus never died? What if He never rose again?” If that was the case, what would change as a result?

Let me boldly state, if there never was a cross, the world today would be completely different. There would be nothing but evil, darkness, emptiness and hopelessness in every home. Why? Because the cross of Christ is the centerpiece of our world. It is the foundational hope of all humanity. Praise God for the cross!

Peter, one of Jesus’ Apostles, gave a message at the home of Cornelius, a man who lived 70 miles outside of Jerusalem. There were several people gathered to hear what Peter had to say about Jesus’ and what was happening in Jerusalem following His death. In that brief message Peter stated the following about Christ, “They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day… (Acts 10:39-40) What was Peter communicating to his listeners? The centrality of the cross of Christ. If that one statement was removed from his talk, it would have changed everything.

What do I mean when I say, “the cross?” I am referring to the death and resurrection of Christ and the judgement and mercy of God shown through it.

Why was Peter talking about the cross, and why do people still talk about it, nearly 2,000 years after Jesus hung on a tree outside Jerusalem? Because their Lord commanded them to. It is written, “Then he [Jesus] opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.’” (Luke 24:45-47)

Why did Jesus command the message about Him and His cross be shared with the world? Because of the implications it has for every human being.

From the earliest days of humanity, evil and lawlessness have reigned upon the earth. Amid this, was always a remnant of God-fearing men and women through the Jewish nation that worshipped and served the Lord God. This proved to be a restraint upon evil, when people were called to turn from their immoral ways and live according to the holy ways of God. When Christ died and rose again, God took what He was doing through the Jewish nation and expanded it to the whole world. As a result, this became good news for all. Salvation then became available to all humanity, regardless of gender, race, religion, or culture. And what does salvation refer to? The forgiveness of sins.

Every human being has the curse of sin within them. It is the cause of all immorality in the world. The death and resurrection of Christ means mankind can be delivered from this.

When someone engages in any form of disobedience against God, which often reveals itself in how we treat others, it exposes the sin that unknowingly is enslaving them.

The cross broke this curse! It provided a way for you to be set free. If you acknowledge your sins, turn from them and place your full faith in Christ alone, there is mercy. It waits for you at the foot of the cross. You can avoid the judgement of God, and become a new creation. Jesus has the authority and power to make this available to all who cry out to Him in faith. Come to the cross and be changed today.

A prayer for you. “Lord God, thank you for the cross. We praise you for all you have done for the whole world. We come to the cross this hour, and ask for our heart to be searched and changed by your grace. Make us new creations. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Exclusively Jesus

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“We live in an age of loud voices calling for tolerance and equality. The Jesus we celebrate at Christmas and Easter, strikes at the heart of this. What is the offense? The demands of His exclusivity.”

We live in an age of loud voices calling for tolerance and equality. The Jesus we celebrate at Christmas and Easter, strikes at the heart of this. What is the offense of Christ? The demands of His exclusivity.

Two of Jesus’ followers, Peter and John, were preaching before a large group of people following an astounding miracle. A paralyzed man was instantly healed. While they were speaking officials from the Sanhedrin came and arrested them. They sat in jail overnight before they were brought before the council to be questioned. The Sanhedrin was the highest and most powerful religious and political body in Israel. A couple months earlier they had sentenced Jesus to death.

After they were questioned about the miracle that happened, Peter gave a brief defense. Near the end of his remarks, he made this statement “…there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

These words were offensive to them. As a result, the council agreed and charged them to “…not speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 4:18) Why was Jesus so offensive? First, in their religion of Judaism, they were worshippers of the Lord God, who made heaven and earth. And they had their Jewish Bible, where they regularly read the writings of Moses and the prophets, which included the studying and following of the Torah. To tell the Sanhedrin that they can only find salvation in Jesus, was immensely divisive. Second, knowing what this council had done a couple months earlier, Peter confronted them. He directly addressed the evil they had done when they blatantly rejected Christ and crucified Him. Clearly, the council did not want Peter or anyone else speaking about Jesus, because of the guilt it brought on them for the evil they committed against the Son of God.

The same offenses surrounding Jesus, from centuries ago, are still offenses today. And the root of them is the exclusivity of Christ. Let me ask a question, “Can someone believe in God, but not Jesus?” That was an issue with the Jews Peter was addressing, and can still be a problem with some today. Jesus had an answer for that when He said, “I and the father are one.” (John 10:30) Jesus was communicating that because of the oneness of the Lord God and Him, the two cannot be separated. Therefore, if one truly believes in the Lord God, the evidence will also be his belief in Christ. To trust in Almighty God is to trust in Jesus.

Let me ask another question surrounding the exclusivity of Jesus, “Can a person believe in Jesus, and also other gods? That was an issue in Peter’s time, when the good news of Christ was shared among the Romans and Greeks, who had cultures filled with gods. In our day, the world is filled with multitudes of religions, and some religions themselves have numerous gods. Peter has a straight answer though when he says, “there is salvation in no one else.”

And another offense the Sanhedrin experienced, was how Jesus exposed their evil deeds. When the authentic good news of Jesus is shared, it will confront us with our own evil. It is naturally what the light of Jesus does. When a person turns to Christ, He wants them to be exclusively His. “Sin no more,” (John 8:11) Jesus once told a woman. Are you willing to trust in Jesus exclusively? What is keeping you from doing that today?

A prayer for you. “Lord God, we praise you for sending your beloved Son to die and rise again. He is worthy to be worshipped and followed with all our heart. Search us, O God, if we are trying to hold on to you and someone or something else. Right now, we give it to you. We declare our submission to you and you alone. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”