Week 8- Tuesday

Through Faith in Jesus Christ

being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ ... (Romans 3:21b-3:22a)

The requirement for entering heaven is that a person be perfectly righteous. This presents a problem because people are not capable of producing true righteousness. The Bible says that no one is righteous (Psalm 14:3), not even the best person is. We tend to think of people as being good when they do good deeds. However even the good things people do are not truly righteous because they are contaminated by the sinful desires of their hearts. Even if a person could be righteous for a while, there is no way they could stay that way forever. The only one who is perfectly righteous is God Himself. Consequently the only way a person can be perfectly righteous is for God to give His righteousness to them. This is what the gospel offers to man, the righteousness of God. It just simply isn't possible for a person to live up to God's standard of righteousness on their own. This was hard for the Jews to accept. They liked to think that they could be righteous through their own efforts, by keeping the Law.

The word Law (nomos in the Greek) refers to the laws and rules of God. It can also mean the Old Testament Scriptures or more specifically those parts of the Old Testament which contain God's Law delivered through Moses. By referring to both the Law and the Prophets, Paul is speaking not just about God's laws and rules but about the entire Old Testament Scriptures. The Jews had great reverence for the Scriptures. Paul is trying to convince the Jews that righteousness is not atttained through keeping the Law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. He supports his claim by telling them the Old Testament Scriptures they were so zealous for, predicted the coming of Jesus Christ and that He would be their Savior. When Jesus was on earth He told the Jews the very same thing (John 5:39). The Old Testament writings were designed to show a person the impossibility of pleasing God on their own, so that they would realize they needed a Savior. When a person humbly admits their sin and receives Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, trusting in Him alone to make them right with God, all their sins are forgiven and they receive the righteousness of God. The only way you can be right with God is by putting your faith in Jesus Christ. If you have never done that, or if you're not sure if you have, open your heart to Jesus now. Confess your sins to Him, ask Him to forgive you, and receive Him as your Lord and Savior.

Readings for today: Psalm 118:20; Matt. 5:48; Isa. 64:6; John 6:28-29; Acts 10:43