We are now in a devotional journey focused around portions of Carl E. Braaten’s book “Justification.”
Faith is the way that an individual person receives the righteousness of God in Christ, and therefore not on the basis of law and merit. The state of being righteous in the sight of God is radically a free gift of grace, never the result of human achievement. Faith itself comes of the Spirit of God. To say that faith is reckoned as righteousness apart from the works of the laws underscores the absolute gratuitousness of God’s generosity. God gives what (God) demand, both the righteousness and the faith by which it is grasped.
If faith is the way…that is if trusting what God has done and what God says about our lives…then, the whole story is a gift to us for as, Braaten notes, “faith itself comes of the Spirit of God.” To be a follower of Jesus and to walk within the domain of the Reign of God is to be who God calls us – beloved, in good standing before God. I used that last phrase because when we use the word righteous or righteousness I think many people become confused. We are righteous before our God is depicted as standing before God within the good graces of God. We stand before God, as if; we were indeed in good standing in God’s eyes. That position…that reality…is a gift. Not just a gift to come, but one that is today. The reality of such a gift bestowed on us today is the power for a new life…a God given and blessed life…a way to begin again – be born again…a saving power for life that takes the shape of God’s blessed reign…now!
Connection: With such Good News to proclaim and to proclaim in, with and under our lives, it is odd that we waste so much of our time playing the games of who is good and who isn’t…as though that is our life. Trust what our God has done for us once and for all and see how it can indeed direct our deeds and our days.
Lord by your gracious actions you bring to your children life beyond our expectations. Abide with us and free us from the many ways we resist the righteousness you have handed to us through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Praise to you Merciful God. Amen.
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