Not my righteousness, but God’s righteousness

Not my righteousness, but God’s righteousness

Rom 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (17) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Verse 16 is a well-known verse, but verse 17 contains a very important statement which tells us that within the gospel, God’s righteousness is made manifest.

The righteousness of God without the law has been made known, Rom 3:21. So, this is not a question of your righteousness, it's a question of God's righteous. The gospel tells us that God freely justifies the one who believes in Jesus, because, without this grace of God, there is NOTHING that we can do to save ourselves. If it was up to us, God could not justify us, because we're guilty in his sight!! So, now it's up to God, and the question is, will God justify ungodly men?

Yes, He would. But how can He do that and still be just and righteous? Through what Christ did! God's righteousness has been declared. Do we have a say in it? No! Can we choose another way? No! What we need to do is give up trying to save ourselves and simply trust in God.

The Bible teaches us that God's righteousness has been declared through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through the work of the cross and the debt settled by blood, God can remain just and also be the justifier of ungodly men, Rom 3:26.

When a man puts trust in the cross of Christ, it is not his own righteousness that secures his salvation. It is the righteousness of God that saves. This is by God’s decree and our salvation is secured by His righteousness which has fully paid the sin debt.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. … 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.