The Righteousness Of God

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith.  

Romans 1:16-17 

The gospel reveals the righteousness of God. If we consider Paul’s articulation of the gospel in I Corinthians, it helps us to understand his remark about how in it the righteousness of God is revealed. He says, ‘For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.’ This statement refers to several things relating to the righteousness of God. If Christ died for our sins, then we understand that the penalty for unrighteousness is death. It also implies that God is righteous and we are unrighteous. Beyond that, He has done by Christ what is necessary to deal with our unrighteousness. As Christ puts it ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’ Thus, God, being righteous, has dealt with our unrighteousness by providing Christ to be the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins which are the manifestation of our unrighteousness. This is how Paul can say of the gospel, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed. Therefore, we come to the conclusion that the only possible way for us, the unrighteous, to be just before God is by Christ. His Person and work reveal the righteousness of God. The good news for us is that God has done through Christ what is necessary to address the issue of our unrighteousness. ‘Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.’  

Our Great and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that the gospel reveals Your righteousness. 
We praise You that Christ is the key to our righteousness.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning