Justice, Grace … and Our Marching Orders Devotional CCRDA Forum 2008

“Sermon On The Mount” (Matt.5) –“Blessed are they who hunger & thirst after Righteousness!” [5:6] –“Seek first the kingdom of God & His Righteousness.”

I discovered something very startling from an African Theologian: –“Blessed are those who hunger & thirst after JUSTICE !” (NL Translation) – Righteousness should mean JUSTICE … but it doesn’t a lot of the time!

We have pushed Righteousness [inner spiritual right-ness] to the point of extremity where everything else is excluded … almost! –If we are personally right before God … somehow the rest doesn’t matter … –However, the verse talks about Righteousness and that is a relationship between us and God! –But yet it’s more than that!

If you go back into Classical Greek you find the original root to mean ‘JUST’ ! –Not a spiritual but a moral thing! –The noun meant a person who “did the right things ­ who lived right.” –The verb meant “to put things right.”

Let’s roll it through backwards: –If we are not concerned about Justice, we are not Righteousness! –If we are not Righteousness, we are not Justified! –Therefore one could be tempted to put a question mark on our very salvation!

But this is not about beating ourselves up, as if to say: –Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps … and ‘be righteous’ … or else! The Gospel is Good News declaring we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 Jesus is the only one who can “live the Christian life” … and make us righteous [just] vessels

God’s intention for us was even signaled clearly under the Old Covenant: –“And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God.” James 2:23 Impute: “to reckon or charge an account” New Naves Topical Bible

More detail on Abraham in Romans: –“(as it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed — God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.’ And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.” Rom. 4:17-25

Can we be righteous [or just], in and of ourselves? –“There is none righteous, not even one” Rom. 3:10 Definition of Righteousness: –Righteousness: The state of being just or morally pure, whether in one’s own strength or on the basis of imputed virtue. The concise dictionary of Christian theology, M.J. Erickson

“…the righteous man shall live by faith.” Rom. 1:17 - also - Gal. 3:11 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Eph 2:8-9

Our marching orders for righteousness [justice]: –Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor. 5:17-21 Prayer

Justice, Grace … and Our Marching Orders Devotional CCRDA Forum 2008