Righteousness: The Gift
Romans 1:16-17 (NIV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed — a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Romans 1:17 (NIV) For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed…
“God is always right.”
“God is not defined by the term ‘righteous,’ as much as the term ‘righteous’ is defined by God. He is not measured by the standard of righteousness; He sets the standard of righteousness.”
Lamentations 1:18 (NKJV) The Lord IS righteous…
Isaiah 6:1-5 (NLT) It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of His robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending Him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with His glory!” 4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. 5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
Luke 5:8 (NKJV) …fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
We have an encounter with the Lord, His rightness, exposes our wrongness.
Isaiah 64:6 (NIV) All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…
Romans 3:10 (NLT) “No one is righteous — not even one.”
Romans 3:19-20 (NLT) Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.
The purpose of the Law was to show us:
-We can’t make ourselves righteous through good works.
-We are sinners.
-We can’t save ourselves
-We need a Savior.
Luke 5:32 (NKJV) ”I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.
Romans 3:23-30 (NLT) For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair… 26 …God did this to demonstrate His righteousness, for He Himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. 29 After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t He also the God of the Gentiles? Of course He is. 30 There is only one God, and He makes people right with Himself only by faith…
DIVINE EXCHANGE!
2 Corinthians 5:21 (TPT) For God made the only one who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with him.
Isaiah 61:10 (NKJV) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness…
We receive the gift of righteousness by faith.
Romans 4:1-5 (NLT) Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. 3 For the Scripture tells us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. 4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. 5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Zechariah 3:1-4 (NLT) Then the angel showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Joshua. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “I, the Lord reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.” 3 Joshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. 4 So the angel said to the others standing there, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And to Joshua he said, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.”