Understanding Righteousness
ICS Daily Devotions

John 3:16 (NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

What makes the atonement and redemptive work of Jesus Christ unique among all other religions, and why is the gospel called the Good News? It has to do with righteousness, which means being in a right standing before God. If we truly grasp what righteousness is, we will be assured of our salvation, passionate and eager to share the gospel, and confident in prayer.

The Bible says that God loves the world, not a select group of people. Genesis 12:3 reveals that God wants all the families of the earth to be blessed, even though He chose the Jews to be His covenant people to bring forth the Messiah. That’s God’s love, His plan for the salvation of mankind, and to restore our relationship with Him. The blessedness mentioned in Genesis 12:3 refers to the restoration of a right standing before God through faith in Him, achieved through the atonement carried out by Jesus.

God is loving, but He is also a just, righteous, and holy God who must judge sin. God respects our decision as free moral agents. Therefore, those who reject the only way back to God will perish, enter an eternity without Him, and be tormented in the lake of fire. Hell exists for the unrepentant who choose not to accept the gospel because there is a penalty for sin and consequences for wilfully rejecting the gospel. When we come before the Lord to acknowledge Him as our Lord and Saviour, we are declaring that we are spiritually bankrupt and cannot earn a right standing before God with our own strength.

We all need to respond by trusting in Jesus for our salvation, and since we have discovered a great treasure in Jesus, we also want to share the Good News with those around us. We have been entrusted with the ministry and the word of reconciliation. Nobody can call upon the name of the Lord unless they hear the gospel through us.

Romans 1:16-17 (NKJV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

The righteous live by faith in the living God. Understanding how God has justified us will have a powerful impact on our walk with Him. Because God wants to do great exploits through every disciple of Jesus Christ, we are all unique and have a specific calling on our lives.

The gospel is God’s power to save. We can only receive a revelation of God’s righteousness through His Word.

Sermon Series: Righteousness: Religion or Reality