How often do you think of God as the "God of my righteousness!"? I don't very often. Righteousness is a poorly used word these days. If someone were to say something is "righteous" they generally mean it's cool, entertaining, exciting, or somehow intriguing. But to call God, the "God of my righteousness" is not to recognize Him as the God who makes you cool. We are recognizing that there was something UNrighteous about us. We had stepped away from God, we were lost in trespasses and sins, there was something fundamentally wrong with us.
Then God intervened.
He makes us right with Himself. We become righteous in His forgiveness, and as He works through the Word and Sacraments to shape our lives. He delivers the salvation we didn't order (but we desperately need) by Jesus' death on the cross. He gives the life that we don't deserve (but was the one He planned for us, both eternal and abundant) through Jesus' empty tomb. He declares and makes us righteous through faith in Jesus.
So now we can call out to God and ask Him to answer when we call. He hears our prayers! We can have relief in our distress. As we live in a world that rejects God's people and grinds us down we can know that the Lord has chosen us and set us apart for Himself and confidently face the world. We can be angry in this world without sinning as we encounter the wrongs that are committed with love and compassion.
How? Through the joy of salvation God places in our hearts. Through the immense peace we have knowing we do not save ourselves, but God has saved us in Christ.
Then God intervened.
He makes us right with Himself. We become righteous in His forgiveness, and as He works through the Word and Sacraments to shape our lives. He delivers the salvation we didn't order (but we desperately need) by Jesus' death on the cross. He gives the life that we don't deserve (but was the one He planned for us, both eternal and abundant) through Jesus' empty tomb. He declares and makes us righteous through faith in Jesus.
So now we can call out to God and ask Him to answer when we call. He hears our prayers! We can have relief in our distress. As we live in a world that rejects God's people and grinds us down we can know that the Lord has chosen us and set us apart for Himself and confidently face the world. We can be angry in this world without sinning as we encounter the wrongs that are committed with love and compassion.
How? Through the joy of salvation God places in our hearts. Through the immense peace we have knowing we do not save ourselves, but God has saved us in Christ.
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