God the Righteous

1) Understanding Justice

Because of our guilt, we tend to distort justice by lowering the standards or lessening the penalty. For example, we think that God makes exceptions for ‘not so bad’ sins. Although we may think God will not judge certain things or just overlook some sins, He will carry out judgment according to His standards on Judgment Day. In fact, God is responsible to exact a perfect justice. Every sin must be judged.

2) Good works

It is God’s perfect holiness that demands perfect justice. “God is light and in Him there is no darkness whatsoever” (1 John 1:5). If God was a bit grey, we might be able to squeeze out enough good works to avoid God’s holy stare, but God is all light. This means that unless we reach His perfect standard, we stand condemned. Underline the standard mentioned in the following verse.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

From the above verse, circle the true statement from the three choices below:

No one is guilty. Some are guilty. Everyone is guilty.

The practice of doing good, like giving to the poor and helping people is excellent, but that doesn’t take away our guilt for our sin. Besides, we have failed to do a great many good works. This is why those who trust religion, morality or charity to get them to heaven are gravely mistaken.

3) Our unrighteousness

If we are going to get to know God, it is imperative that we understand His righteousness as much as His love. God created man to live in perfect harmony with God’s thoughts and ways. When man chose to reject God’s ways, he went his own way. This is called transgression or sin. Mankind is unrighteous in two ways:

(1) He does what he shouldn’t.
(2) He doesn’t do what he should.

God declares our situation so bad that, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isaiah 64:6).

4) A Rebellious Heart

At the heart of our unrighteousness is our stubborn and rebellious hearts. When a person does things that displease God, it reveals that his heart is defiled. “There is no one who calls on Thy name, who arouses himself to take hold of Thee” (Isaiah 64:7). This is why true salvation comes through the door of repentance. Unless we have a new heart, we will not have a genuine love for the things of God.

Application: Humble yourself before God and admit your guilt. You have fallen far from Him. You might take pride of some ‘good works’ but in fact your life reveals how unrighteous you are. You deserve judgment before God’s righteous throne. Confess your unworthiness in order to receive His goodness.

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