Freed

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

What does the righteousness of God mean to you? Not how do you would describe it, or what it means theologically, but what it means you today in the actual life you live?

The good news of a righteousness from God is the good news of a whole new reality in Christ. Not merely a theological reality but a practical one; not something that is observed merely intellectually or spiritually but that is owned deep within and expressed in tangible ways.

Freed to Move Toward the Margins

An we live into the reality that our righteousness (our goodness) comes from God and not from the things we do, we will be freed to move with compassion and mercy wherever God leads us. We will be freed to move in love toward the very person, cause or concern from which we would normally pause due the judgementalism and prejudice that exist in each of us. We will be freed to  truly love our enemy because we recognize that the qualities which make them our enemy are qualities that but for the grace of God we share.

Freed to Live Beyond My Limitations

Conversely, as we live into this reality, we are freed to move into areas that in ourself we believe are off limits -- to high, too lofty, too big. Each of us engages, on some level, in negative talk: “I’m not good enough for that,” “I don’t know enough do do that,” “I could not really make a difference there.” As we internalize the reality that goodness comes from God, we are freed into the reality that there is no good that we cannot strive towards.

In a word, the gospel sets us free. Free to live into the reality where we can say, “I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but, through Jesus, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope.”

Peace, hope and love


Doug