GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION
The gospel isn’t about attaining right-standing with God through what we do … or what the Jewish people were attempting to do by the works of the law. Repentance involves a change of mind by realizing the more excellent ministry of the New Covenant—which ended a religious merit system—and to begin trusting in what Jesus did to bring us to a place of righteousness and perfection.
Many well-meaning believers in Christ are eating from the same tree today, perhaps having the same good intentions as Adam. Today, religion declares: “We should try to become more like Jesus!” This is the result when one fails to comprehend their identity acquired/inherited from the life of God. We’re celebrating over 800 podcasts, looking back at some of our key discussions from over the years.
Most church buildings are filled with believers who have assumed they are “sinners saved by grace,” when no such phrase is written within the pages. It’s a fake I.D.! We have inherited certain attributes from God as new creations in Christ and one of those is that we are now identified as righteous—the righteousness of God in Him.
This week we’re wrapping-up our series on Paul’s many exhortations about salvation as a gift by grace through faith, apart from works … and how it contrasted with what James and other Jewish leaders believed during many of those years in the early church. Paul puts the icing on the cake with the gospel in a nutshell when he reminds Titus:
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7).
Paul went on to say that foolish discussions about the law should be avoided because it was useless and unprofitable. Why? The law had been put aside and ended with Christ. So, while Paul exhorts believers to good works—which can be profitable—they are a byproduct of our new identity in Christ as righteous and justified people. They contribute nothing towards our justification. A legalistic mindset will suggest that faith without works is dead—but Paul was repeatedly trying to show it’s the other way around—works without faith is dead.
And yet, many Jewish believers struggled with grasping these truths, wrestling with letting go of a law which couldn’t bring life or righteousness, tempted to pursue the fleshly way of works through a stone tablet ministry which left them in condemnation. And what about Gentiles? How would these (formerly) unclean people fit into the message of Jesus … and would they be required to apply the law? Paul explains the Gentiles would receive righteousness without even pursuing it—because of faith. Whereas the Jews would fall short of righteousness because they were seeking it not by faith, but by works.
Are you a contented Christian? Or do you have a quiet unease that God is displeased with you and unhappy with your performance? Are you resting in his righteousness? Or are you striving to make yourself acceptable to God?
Many churchgoers are zealous for God with a zeal based on ignorance and unbelief. They are working like slaves but in God’s eyes their deeds are incomplete. Like the church in Sardis they have soiled their clothes through works of filthy self-righteousness.
What is the remedy?
Like the Sardisians, they need to remember what they heard (the gospel), heed it, and start making different choices. They need to stop banking on their own futile attempts at right living and submit to God’s righteousness.
I don’t think anyone gets out of bed planning to be self-righteous, but self-righteous is what you are if you are trying to impress the Lord with your offerings and sacrifices.
When we talk about self-righteousness we tend to think of the Judaizers stalking Paul around the Mediterranean with their circumcision knives. But Martha was self-righteous and she was literally serving the Lord. She was a one-woman ministry baking cakes for Jesus.
Martha’s problem was not that she was cooking; it’s that she wasn’t eating. The Chef of Heaven had come to visit and all she wanted to do was make sandwiches.
That’s not how it works. That’s back to front. We’re not saved or made righteous because we bless him but because he has blessed us. The lesser is blessed by the greater.
Jesus never condemns Martha; that’s not his way. But he does say her sister Mary made the better choice.
Do you see the significance of this? The one who made an impression was not the one who came with food but the one who came with an appetite.
We can get so caught up serving the Lord that we forget the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve (Matt. 20:28). And the main dish on his menu is a hefty helping of righteousness. Hear the words of the Heavenly Chef:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
The word for filled means gorged, indicating that the Chef of Heaven serves hearty dishes. He is not stingy with grace. When you partake of his righteousness you are filled to the point of satisfaction. When you eat the Bread of Life you get a meal that sustains and nourishes you for eternity. You will never hunger again.
He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)
When you have had a hearty meal, the last thing you feel like doing is cooking. You just want to sit and digest and heap praises on the chef. This is a very appropriate response to Jesus!
How can you tell when a Christian has submitted to God’s righteousness? They have a look of well-fed contentment. They are not sweating in the kitchen making sandwiches for Jesus. Neither are they singing discontented songs of hunger and thirst (“Oh feed me, Jesus”).
Instead, they are pointing hungry people to the Bread of Life by proclaiming the gospel of his satisfying righteousness.
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Extracted and adapted from Paul Ellis’s book, The Gospel in Ten Words
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