Clothed in Christ: The Gift of Righteousness

We've been tricked into believing that we can try to manage this whole unrighteousness situation when we don't realize the depth of our offenses to our holy, holy, holy God. [00:02:29] (15 seconds)

The first reason we've got to turn to Jehovah Tzidkanu is some bad news, but I've got to share it with you. Our unrighteousness extends farther than we can imagine. The things that we've done wrong are more serious than you've probably ever realized. [00:06:23] (22 seconds)

Romans 3 .23, as we already heard this morning, thank you, Abby, says this, says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We've all done things that are wrong. And even one thing that we've done wrong, as sometimes I've explained to my kids, even one thing that we do wrong, because that sin is against an infinitely holy, infinitely awesome and righteous God, that is a sin that earns for us eternal judgment. [00:07:36] (38 seconds)

The ethical moralist and the sexual voyeur both fall short. Paul reduces the best that any man can do to zero. There is no distinction between the people who are trying to do good and the people who are not. [00:08:41] (20 seconds)

The paycheck that you have earned, that paycheck that is showing up whether you want it or not, is physical death at the end of this life, and spiritual death starting from the moment of our conception, spiritual death, separation from God, the author of life. [00:09:22] (21 seconds)

It's not other people that is the standard of righteousness. It's God Himself. We need to compare ourselves with God. And when we do that, we discover a tremendous chasm that we can't overcome on our own. [00:10:32] (18 seconds)

But don't worry, there is hope. Because the Bible tells us that Jehovah Tzidkanu's righteousness extends farther than we can imagine. Jehovah Tzidkanu, the Lord is our righteousness, His goodness and perfection, that's the second point for us today, His perfection extends farther than we could ever imagine. God is so good. He's better than we could imagine. He is holy, holy, holy. [00:14:42] (30 seconds)

God Himself sent Jesus into our pain to be with us, to experience the challenges of life, of living in a broken and evil world, corrupted by sin. And He sent Jesus not only to experience what we experience, but to die in our place. Because He loves us. Despite our sin, God loves us. If you are a Christian here today, if you have received His free gift of salvation, God loves you. And He likes you too. It's a beautiful thing. [00:22:52] (49 seconds)

The Old Testament law helped everyone to see that they are sinful, that they fall short time and time again. And Paul declares that the only hope is for each one of us to turn to Jesus, the Lord who gives us His righteousness. [00:28:57] (19 seconds)

We've all done things wrong. And no matter the number of how many sins we've committed, even one sin against God means that we fall short of His glory. We can't be in His presence. We fall short of what we need to have to be with Him. But then we've got some good news. Because in verse 24 we discover that people who have placed their faith in Jesus are justified by His grace as a gift. Something that we don't have to produce any payment for because God did it Himself. We are declared righteous. [00:29:35] (41 seconds)