Oct 13 – The Righteousness of Faith!

“He believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)

Righteousness comes through faith (Romans 10:6). The more a person trusts in the Lord and depends upon Him, the more he will inherit the righteousness of God. The Lord Himself clothes him with the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10).

Before a person is saved, he tends to depend upon his own righteousness. But Scripture describes such righteousness as being like filthy rags. When he lays aside those filthy rags and puts on the righteousness of Christ, he enters into the blessed position of being counted righteous before God.

There is an old story about a poor beggar boy who had fashioned a simple piece of coconut shell into something resembling a violin and was producing beautiful music from it. One day, the son of a wealthy man saw the boy and invited him into his magnificent mansion. He listened with delight to the boy’s music and played with him. Before long, the two became close friends.

Suddenly, the wealthy father entered the room. When he saw the poor boy sitting on one of the expensive sofas in his house, he became very angry. “Who is this boy?” he demanded. With tears in his eyes, his son replied, “Father, please do not be angry. He is my friend. Father, I love him.”

When the father saw his son’s tears, his anger subsided. He said, “My son, if he is your friend, have him bathed and cleansed, and give him your clothes. If he is dressed as beautifully as you are, I will gladly welcome him into my home.”

What a beautiful picture of what Christ has done for us! The Son clothes you with His righteousness so that you may come into the presence of the Father. When you are baptized, you put on Christ: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27)

Christ the Son has washed you with His blood, sanctified you, and made you righteous, clothing you with His robe of righteousness. He comes to you with the garment of salvation and says, in effect, “My friend, this garment has been prepared especially for you.”

In the Garden of Eden, God replaced Adam and Eve’s garments of their own making and clothed them with tunics of skin. In the same way, today He removes the filthy rags of our old self-righteousness and clothes us with the righteousness of Christ.

Christ has accomplished for us, what we could never accomplish through our own goodness, religious efforts, or self-righteousness,

Children of God, after putting on the righteousness of the Lord, guard your holiness. You are children of the King of kings. Walk with your head held high, knowing that you have been received into God’s family as His adopted sons and daughters.

Verse for further meditation: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4)