The rightousness of God
"But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ to all and on all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:21-23)
Many people today wonder: "What do I need to do in order to go to heaven?". The most popular answer would be to keep the 10 commandments, be faithful to your wife/husband, live a moral life, and a number of other things. You need to realize that in order to be in God's presence you need to have a rightousness that equals God's rightousness and only one man had such rightousness, and that is Jesus Christ! None of us in our own selves have ever kept the Law or the commantments perfectly (Rom 3:23).
You need to understand that the Law was not given to produce justification but to give us the knowledge that we were sinners and needed salvation (Rom 3:20). We can not be the saviors of ourselves. The only way to obtain salvation is to put faith in Jesus and what He did for us as our savior. We are justified by faith without the deeds of the Law (Romans 3:28)
There are two kind of rightousness. The rightousness of man and the rightousness of God. The rightousness of man is a person's best behaviour and the good works they do. The religious Jews have come to think that the only way for God to grant them forgiveness was through them fulfilling the Law as much as possible and then offering the appropriate sacrifice prescribed in the Law for any sins. Paul here is not putting forth a new doctrine but expounds the true doctrine that the Old Testament Law and prophets had advocated all along. Justification through the Law was never God's intent. They had misunderstood and misapplied the Law in this area.
The only difference between Jew and Gentile, or the moral and immoral, is in the sight of people. From God's point of view there is no difference. Being a liar doesn't make you better than a thief, and being an adulterer doesn't make you better than a murderer. Sin is sin and all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23)
A rightousness according to the Law is a rightousness of doing, earning and achieving in order to be accepted before God. All the world religions today think you have to earn your acceptance by God by your own performance. The word "gospel" in Greek means "good news" and the good news is that God is offering His rightousness as a gift to those who believe in what Jesus Christ has already provided on the cross, which is the restoration of our broken relationship with God, and our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins which is a by-product of this restored relationship.
A common mistake that people make is comparing themselves with other people. According to 2 Cor 10:12 this is foolisness. Everyone is going to be compared to Jesus, who is the glory of God, and therefore everyone will come up short (Rom 3:23). We all need a savior.
God is offering you the gift of rightousness (Rom 5:17), a gift of right standing with Him. A gift does cost something, but not to the person that receives it. If you paid to receive something, then it wouldn't be a gift. God is offering that gift for free and the only thing you have to do is to receive it by putting your faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for you.
Don't waste time. Make Jesus your Lord and savior today! (Rom 10:9)
BY Argie Simonis
Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ to all and on all them that believe: for there is no difference:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:21-23)
Many people today wonder: "What do I need to do in order to go to heaven?". The most popular answer would be to keep the 10 commandments, be faithful to your wife/husband, live a moral life, and a number of other things. You need to realize that in order to be in God's presence you need to have a rightousness that equals God's rightousness and only one man had such rightousness, and that is Jesus Christ! None of us in our own selves have ever kept the Law or the commantments perfectly (Rom 3:23).
You need to understand that the Law was not given to produce justification but to give us the knowledge that we were sinners and needed salvation (Rom 3:20). We can not be the saviors of ourselves. The only way to obtain salvation is to put faith in Jesus and what He did for us as our savior. We are justified by faith without the deeds of the Law (Romans 3:28)
There are two kind of rightousness. The rightousness of man and the rightousness of God. The rightousness of man is a person's best behaviour and the good works they do. The religious Jews have come to think that the only way for God to grant them forgiveness was through them fulfilling the Law as much as possible and then offering the appropriate sacrifice prescribed in the Law for any sins. Paul here is not putting forth a new doctrine but expounds the true doctrine that the Old Testament Law and prophets had advocated all along. Justification through the Law was never God's intent. They had misunderstood and misapplied the Law in this area.
The only difference between Jew and Gentile, or the moral and immoral, is in the sight of people. From God's point of view there is no difference. Being a liar doesn't make you better than a thief, and being an adulterer doesn't make you better than a murderer. Sin is sin and all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23)
A rightousness according to the Law is a rightousness of doing, earning and achieving in order to be accepted before God. All the world religions today think you have to earn your acceptance by God by your own performance. The word "gospel" in Greek means "good news" and the good news is that God is offering His rightousness as a gift to those who believe in what Jesus Christ has already provided on the cross, which is the restoration of our broken relationship with God, and our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins which is a by-product of this restored relationship.
A common mistake that people make is comparing themselves with other people. According to 2 Cor 10:12 this is foolisness. Everyone is going to be compared to Jesus, who is the glory of God, and therefore everyone will come up short (Rom 3:23). We all need a savior.
God is offering you the gift of rightousness (Rom 5:17), a gift of right standing with Him. A gift does cost something, but not to the person that receives it. If you paid to receive something, then it wouldn't be a gift. God is offering that gift for free and the only thing you have to do is to receive it by putting your faith in Jesus Christ and what He did for you.
Don't waste time. Make Jesus your Lord and savior today! (Rom 10:9)
No comments:
Post a Comment