Trinity 6 God defines 'righteousness'.

[msethsmile]

"Righteousness" is being approved and accepted by God. All religious thought in the world is concerned with some form of this question, "How does an imperfect (sinful) person gain righteousness, approval, from a perfect God?"

Christianity is the only religion where we contribute nothing to our salvation.--It is Jesus Christ who saves us. He does everything needed to deliver us from the condemnation of our sins. All other religious groups teach that you must do something (if even only a small part) to get right with God.

Rom 3, "No one will be declared righteous by observing the law. Rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin."

The assigned Old Testament lesson for Trinity 6 is Exodus 20--the Ten Commandments. Ouch. We see an unflattering reflection of ourselves. Having broken these laws, we are spiritual outlaws. We deserve temporal and eternal punishment from God. But don't jump off the bridge just yet, there's good news. Knowing our sin makes the Gospel all the sweeter. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no need (and no room) for a contribution from us, toward our salvation.

Rom 6,"There is a remnant, chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace."

Psalm 143 teaches us how we get right standing before God by looking to Jesus as our Savior for something we could never earn ourselves.

Psalm 143

1Hear my prayer, O LORD,
Give ear to my supplications!
Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!
2And do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no man living is righteous.
5I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your doings;
I muse on the work of Your hands.
10Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

V1&2. We don't ask the LORD to judge us based on the works we have done. Total disaster. Every "good" work by us has been tainted by sin (Isaiah 64:6). Instead, we ask the LORD for undeserved pity. We trust in God's compassion, earned by the holy life and innocent suffering and death of Jesus Christ, in our place, for our rescue.

David admits in verse 2, "I am not righteous. I need a Savior." We should speak that confession every day.

V5. David knew about "the days of old" the same way we do: from Holy Scripture. We have the completed Scripture. We see all the creation work of God and the fulfillment of all the prophecies, culminating in Christ's sacrificial death on our behalf. Our thankfulness for God grows and so does our desire to love, serve, and obey Him.

V10. Faith in Jesus follows God's way, in order to give glory to our Savior. Deep down, there is a part of each of us that wants to be his own person (our own god, really). If we follow that track, we will be lost forever. Your Christian spirit allows you to see the worthlessness of your righteousness...and the surpassing value of the righteousness earned by Jesus thru faith. God sustains that faith in you in His Word.

May God grant you the eyes of faith to see yourself and your God clearly. Abandon self righteousness and cling to the righteousness only God can give.

excerpts sermon 7/19/20

[msethsmile]

The assigned Gospel lesson for Trinity 6 is Matthew 5:20-26 (sermon on the mount). "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

The Pharisees would count their steps taken on the sabbath. They trusted in their works to be righteous with God. They failed. Heads up--there's a little Pharisee in all of us. Shun him and trust in Christ's work.