Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Romans 10:4

"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." ~Romans 4:10

It is such a basic truth that Christ fulfilled the law so that our righteousness could be based on him and not our own works. Yet in the midst of the simplicity of His righteousness being placed on us there is overwhelming mystery and even complexity. I tend to get lost in the complexity and miss out on the simple, profound, and life-changing truth that is found in a verse like this.
Simply put: Christ satisfied perfect law following (righteousness) and then placed that on me. Once and for all I am found to be righteous in the sight of God. Many have heard this before, myself included, and are quite flippant in their handling of this truth. Do we truly realize how magnificent this is? I have no clue, honestly. It is so beyond me. But oh, how my heart yearns to know. I long to know the depth of this truth that I might fall on my face and worship a God who sent His Son to die and rise again so that He might be the "just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Ro. 3:26)
Cling to this truth brothers and sisters and when the Devil tempts you to despair, preach this truth to him. "I am righteous in the sight of my Father through Christ. His righteousness covers me!" Stand firmly on this hope and may it be the foundation that you live.
But many pervert this truth and give themselves license to sin. The whole, "I'll ask for forgiveness later". Father forgive us for such wicked thinking. Our condemnation is just. We must not forget that though we are justified (seen as righteous) in the sight of God that doesn't mean that our sinning against God is ignored or simply swept under the rug. God hates our sin and if we refuse to be genuinely repentant when we break the commands of God we are proving in ourselves that we never truly knew Him. (1 Jn. 3:4-9) Be wary of this attitude brothers and sisters. Don't be found wanting when you stand before Christ and He says, "Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness, I never KNEW you."(Matt. 7:23)
I will spend my whole life chewing on this simple yet complex truth and rightly so. I admonish you to do the same. This is my earnest prayer, that our minds and hearts will not become "used to" the reality that we am justified through Christ's fulfillment of the law, His righteousness. May it move us to worship with greater passion day by day as the Spirit reveals more of the Father's glory in this truth.

May the word of Christ dwell in you richly....

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