Romans 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
From somewhere in my growing up years I still remember a TV commercial for some kind of soap where the tag line was, “It’s 99 and 44/100 % pure!”
Do you remember that one? I think it was for Ivory brand soap.
I remember thinking even then, “How can something be only 99 and 44/100 % pure? Doesn’t “pure” mean 100% pure?”
It seems to me even today that while 99 and 44/100 % pure is pretty good – it’s not totally pure!
I think about that commercial sometimes when I hear the way some people talk about God and salvation.
“Well, I just try to be the best person I can be... that’s all God can expect right?”
“I’m a pretty good person, I mean, I haven’t killed anybody or anything.”
“I’ve done way more good than bad in my life – that’s got to count for something!”
In other words, “I’m 99 44/100 % good – that’s good enough.”
Paul writes:
For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Three times Paul uses the word “righteous,” or “righteousness.” What does this word mean?
We’ll get to that in a moment; but before we talk about “the righteousness of God” we must talk about the holiness of God.
The holiness of God is the absolute purity of God. To say God is holy is to say he is “set apart” from all else in creation and in our experience by his absolute goodness, perfection, authority and power. God is 100% pure; God is holy.
And therein lies the human problem because we are not holy! We are sinful, imperfect and flawed creatures. And, by definition therefore, we cannot make ourselves holy enough to approach a holy God!
Now we can talk about the righteousness of God!
Throughout the Bible the “righteousness of God” is understood as God’s holiness and love in action. That is, God’s righteousness is his authority and desire to make that which is wrong right again. So God’s righteousness is both that which delivers the one wronged and judges the one who does wrong.
Another way to say it might be: since God is holy, it is his nature, therefore, to act in righteous ways.
So where does that leave us, who are not holy, and probably not even 99 44/100% pure? If God is righteous, will we not be judged?
This is where the gospel comes into play.
We are not holy; we are sinful, and therefore must be made right again.
We cannot make ourselves holy and so righteousness must be imparted to us as a gift.
We receive this gift of righteousness through faith in Christ.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21
This is the great “gospel transaction.” The gospel says that Jesus took my “impurities”; my sin, onto himself and put them to death on the cross, and, in exchange, he gives me his own righteousness by faith.
I don’t know if I’ve ever known a human being who is 99 44/100% pure; I know I’m not even close to being that pure. But the good news is that my purity is not what makes me righteous before God; Jesus does that!
And, because he does that for me, I want to live righteously for him. This is the good news of the gospel!
Pastor Brian Coffey
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1 comment:
It is Ivory soap!
I love today's message. It is certainly one that non-believers (and unfortunately some believers!) just don't get. Christians are not perfect, but are trying (or should be) to live righteously in response to Christ's gift to us. All fall short.
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