Tag: righteous

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Genesis Devotions

Righteous and blameless

Genesis

When the LORD saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved…

Noah, however, found favor with the LORD…Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:5-6, 8-9)

We live in a world much like Noah’s, with wickedness widespread, and the inclination of the mind seemingly evil all the time. And our Lord grieves.

But as I was reflecting on these verses, I put in my name in place of Noah’s.

“Bruce, however, found favor with the Lord. Bruce was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Bruce walked with God.”

Honestly, when I look at my life, and all my sins and failings, it’s hard to see God looking at me with favor and calling me a righteous man, blameless among my contemporaries.

But God reminded me this morning that I am righteous and blameless, not because I am perfect, but simply because I walk with him, trusting him, following him, honoring him as my Creator and Lord, believing that he is good.

And though I may not be perfect, because Jesus died on the cross, washing away my sins and clothing me with his righteousness, God can call me righteous and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 1:22)

That’s a pretty incredible thing to ponder.

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Ecclesiastes Devotionals

Why is this happening to me?

Ecclesiastes

Let’s be honest. This passage has some difficult things to understand in it. I have read different commentators talk about this passage, and many times, they are saying completely different things.

Take for example,

Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

Don’t be excessively wicked, and don’t be foolish. Why should you die before your time?

It is good that you grasp the one and do not let the other slip from your hand. For the one who fears God will end up with both of them. (Ecclesiastes 7:16-18)

What does it mean, “Don’t be excessively righteous”?

And what does it mean, “Don’t be excessively wicked”?

Is Solomon saying that as long as we don’t sin too much, it’s okay to sin from time to time?

Probably not, considering that he talks about the one who “fears God” holding to both truths.

So what does Solomon mean then?

In verse 12, he talks about how wisdom is a protection for us.

But then he says this does not mean that if we are wise, nothing bad will happen to us.

God of course does bless us. But there are times when he allows us to go through trials too. There are times when good people perish. And there are times when bad people prosper. (13-15)

That said, Solomon points out in verse 20 that no one is truly righteous. All of us sin.

So there is no one that can honestly say, “Why is this happening? I’ve never done anything wrong.”

How often, for example, do we point out others’ sins while failing to see we’re guilty of the exact same things? (21-22)

What Solomon probably means then is, “Don’t see yourself as so righteous that you think you should never go through trials or suffering.”

There is no one that righteous.

On the other hand, just because you sometimes see good people suffer and evil people prosper is no reason to start sinning wildly. That will certainly lead to death. (Romans 6:23)

What does it mean not to be overly wise? Solomon probably means that we shouldn’t think we are wise enough to figure out all the reasons for evil in this world.

Solomon was the wisest person who ever lived apart from Jesus and he couldn’t figure it out.

He studied people both men and women. He never did find a woman he could completely figure out. And he didn’t have much more success with men. The only thing he ever did conclude is that we are all people tainted by sin. (23-29)

We can break our brain and potentially destroy our faith trying to figure out all the reasons for evil in the world.

Job’s friends thought they had all the answers. And all they earned for their “wisdom” was God’s rebuke.

So let us avoid both those ways of thinking. Instead, let us humble ourselves before God, trusting he is good, and continuing to follow him no matter what.

And if we do, like Job, we will find out that he is indeed good. (Job 42)

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1 John Devotionals

Faithful…and just?

1 John

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

I have read this verse hundreds of times, and taught on it multiple times, but something struck me as I read this verse this time.

John tells us that if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive our sins.

Or as Paul told Timothy,

if we are faithless, he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2:13)

I have no problem with that concept.

But that second half of the verse, “He is righteous to forgive us our sins,” caught me short.

He is “righteous” (or “just” as many translations put it) to forgive us? Just because we confess our sins to him, God can be considered “righteous” or “just” in forgiving us? How does that work?

I can see calling him “merciful.” Or “gracious,” perhaps.

But “just?” “Righteous?”

Of course, the answer is found in the cross.

You see, it is simply not enough that we say, “I’m sorry,” when we sin.

A price, a penalty had to be paid. And that’s what Jesus did on the cross. He paid our penalty for us. He took all of God’s wrath upon himself, shedding his blood for us.

And John tells us that because of this,

the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (I John 1:7)

It is the missing point in many religions that preach “forgiveness” today.

They may preach the mercifulness of Allah or Amida Buddha. But justice is never truly served. These gods may forgive, but they never truly deal with our sin. And because of that, it’s impossible to truly call them righteous or just.

The same thing can be said of the view Orthodox Jews hold of God as well. In their view, God forgives, but the truth is, God never truly deals with their sin. He just forgives.

But because of Jesus, when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

And for that, we can be grateful.

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Galatians

That we might be made righteous

Galatians

We talked yesterday about how the Judaizers were basically accusing Paul of preaching a gospel that would make Christ out to be a promoter of sin.

That whenever they saw Paul or any other Christian fall in any way small or great, they would be quick to say, “See, this is the result of your gospel of grace. You’ve become just like the sinners of this world.”

But Paul pointed out that even if he brought back the law and preached that people must keep it in order to be saved, it wouldn’t stop people from sinning.

The law has never produced any perfect people, aside from Christ. All the law can do is point out that we are sinners in need of a Savior.

How then can we be made righteous before God, if not by the law? Paul tells us in these next two verses.

For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:19-20)

What is Paul saying here? What does it mean that through the law, I died to the law? And why is that important?

In Romans 7, Paul talks about how the law has power over a person only as long as that person is alive (Romans 7:1).

As long as I live, for example, I have to pay taxes. I am under tax law. But the moment I die, I am dead to that law.

Now I’m sure the government will come after my wife to get any taxes I owe from her. But the government can’t come to my corpse and demand taxes to me. I am dead to that law. It has no power over me.

Paul then says in verse 4 of Romans 7, that we died to the law through the body of Christ. This is parallel to what Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ.”

What does this mean, though?

The law required a penalty for our sin: death. But when Jesus came to this earth, he lived as a man under the law and he fulfilled it perfectly, never doing anything wrong.

And then he did something more. Though he did nothing wrong, he paid the penalty for our sin on the cross. When he died there, God put all of our sins on him. (Isaiah 53:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:21)

When God saw Jesus on that cross then, he saw everyone that Jesus was dying for.

When he saw Jesus on the cross, he saw me there, and said, “That’s Bruce. He is now dead. The law has put him to death for his sin.”

When he saw Jesus, he saw my wife and said, “That’s Satoko. She is now dead. The law has put her to death for her sin.”

That’s what it means by “I have been crucified with Christ.”

But what happened once we died there with Christ? The law lost power over us. We are dead to it.

We no longer have to worry, “I have to keep the law or God will nail me to the wall.”

We no longer have to strain under our own efforts to keep God’s law, only to fail time and again, coming under its condemnation.

Rather, we start to see Christ living his life in us. As the days go by, we start to see him directing our steps, whispering through the Holy Spirit the way to go, and not only that, but also giving us the power to do so.

And so living each day is no longer a matter of us changing ourselves, but rather learning to hear his voice and trusting him day by day.

And as we do, we start to find that we’re living lives pleasing to God. We in short, start to actually live the righteous lives the law requires.

How about you? Are you still trying to become righteous before God by keeping a bunch of rules? Are you getting discouraged because you keep failing?

Or do you know the love of Jesus who gave his life for you? Are you able to relax before God, enjoying his company, and learning each day to walk in relationship with him, trusting and loving him?

That’s the Christian life. Is it yours?

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Romans

Not one sentence of condemnation

God’s Judgement

One of my favorite films is A Few Good Men.

And one of the most striking scenes to me is the one where sentence is handed down to the defendants.

Just prior to this, a colonel had just incriminated himself as the one who had given an order to two marines who, because of the order, had unintentionally caused another marine’s death.

Now the two marines stood before the judge who read the jury’s verdict concerning their actions.

On the charge of murder, the members find the defendants, “Not guilty.”

On the charge of conspiracy to commit murder, the members find the defendants, “Not guilty.”

At this point everyone is expecting the defendants to be cleared of all charges.

But then the judge said,

On the charge of conduct unbecoming a United States Marine, the members find the defendants, “Guilty as charged.”

And their sentence was handed down.

But unlike these marines, Paul says of us,

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

I like how John Gill translates it: “There is not one condemnation” or “There is not one sentence of condemnation” toward us.

It’s not that God looks down the list of our sins, and says, “Not guilty,” “Not guilty,” “Not guilty,”….”Guilty as charged.”

Rather he looks at us, and says “Not guilty…on all charges.”

Why?

Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

What is the law of sin and death? It’s the simple principal that if you sin, you will die. If you break the commands of God, you will be judged for it.

And because of all of us have sinned, all of us stand condemned.

But the law of the Spirit of life sets us free from the law of sin and death.

What is the law of the Spirit? It’s that through God’s grace, we are made righteous before God. That through his Spirit living in us, we now have a new life.

Paul explains further.

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.

And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

What was the law powerless to do? It was powerless to make us righteous in God’s eyes.

Why? Because all it could do was show us what righteousness is. It did not have the power to make us righteous, because all of us had a nature that rebelled against God.

So what did God do? He sent his Son to deal with our sin.

Jesus led a perfect life, and when he went to the cross, God put all our sins upon him. And he put all of the condemnation we deserved on Jesus.

The law said sin must be punished. And all the sins we committed were punished when Jesus died on the cross. So in that sense, the righteous requirements of the law were met in us.

But it doesn’t stop there. God sent his Spirit into our hearts when we became Christians. And like I said before, through his leading, we actually start to become righteous.

Though our bodies and minds still feel the residual effects our sinful nature left on us before it died, the Holy Spirit helps us fight through them so that we can live the kind of life God originally intended us to live.

And during those times when we feel condemned, and unworthy of God’s love and grace, the Spirit whispers to our souls, “But you are God’s children. You do belong to him now. There is no condemnation.”

How about you? Do you feel like God’s just stringing you along, making you feel like you’re okay just to lay down the hammer at the last minute?

He’s not. If you belong to him, not one charge will be laid against you.

So Paul says,

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.

And by him we cry, “‘Abba,’ Father.” (Romans 8:15)

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Romans

Good infection (aka, the Walking Living)

Romans

I’d love to take the credit for the phrase “good infection,” but I must give credit to C.S. Lewis.

I can’t even remember how he used it, but I did read Mere Christianity, and somehow, that term must have floated back up to my head as I was writing yesterday’s blog.

Yesterday, we talked about “bad infection.” That through Adam, we all have been infected with sin. We’re not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners.

Fortunately, there is also a “good infection” that comes through Jesus Christ. Paul writes,

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:15-19)

In other words, so many have died because of the bad infection of sin they received from Adam.

But through the good infection of grace and righteousness we have received from Jesus, we receive life.

And just as we were condemned through this bad infection we received from Adam, we have now been justified through the good infection we received from Jesus.

More, through this good infection, we become something totally different. And thankfully, we don’t become zombies.

Rather, we become someone with a totally new nature, a righteous nature. And we become righteous not because we do righteous acts. Rather we start to do righteous things because we actually are already made righteous in Christ.

We’ll see this later in 2 Corinthians 5:17 where Paul writes,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Maybe I should have named this post, “The Walking Living.” Because that’s what we become in Christ. People who are truly alive.

(In fact, I think I’ll rename this post right now. Hold on a bit…Great! Done!) 🙂

So let us pass on this “good infection” we have received in Christ, that they might become the “Walking Living” too.