The Righteous Shall Live by Faith 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”-- 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. The first question that comes to my mind when I read the heading of this passage (not inspired) is "Who is this righteous person?" Why do I ask that? Because of verses like thise:
Psalm 53:3 English Standard Version3 They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. Isaiah 64:6 English Standard Version6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Yet at the same time I know that this is an exact quote from Habakkuk 2:4 that is quoted by Paul in Romans 1 and Galatians 3 and by the author of the book of Hebrews (we really are not sure of the authorship) in Hebrews 10:38 So how do we fit this square peg in this round hole? How is it that "the righteous live by faith" if "there is none righteous, no not even one."? Let's see if Paul helps us clear up that question at all here (and maybe we go to some other places to help out as well). Paul starts off to say that anyone who tries to depend on their self-righteousness through works of the Law is cursed (he quotes from the Old Testament (Deut. 27:26, Jer. 11:3, and Ezek 18:4) to make this point so that if people don't like what's being said, their issue is not with him and is with the Word of God). So Paul makes the exact point that I did with my original question--no one is declared "righteous" under the Law as we all stand guilty and condemned by the Law. Paul then points to the phrase "by faith" from Habakkuk 2 to say that this verse is telling us that the Law does not make us clean because the Law in and of itself is not of faith, but those who make the Law about "being" and not just "doing" are the ones who live and walk by faith (Paul quotes Leviticus 18:5 here which he also quotes in Romans 10:5). So then, who is that person who is able to make the Law his nature and identity? Again, who is the one who is righteous? It is certainly not you or me. Paul then answers that questions to say that the only one who ever hit this mark is Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:21 English Standard Version21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. and Paul says here that Jesus took on the curse of the Law that all of us deserved (if you are familiar with the book of Deuteronomy, think about the blessings and curses from Deuteronomy 27-28, but also the curse of sin from Genesis 3 and all the other curses we read about associated with sin and rebellion. Jesus took all those curses upon Himself that we deserved so that we might receive all the blessings the He deserved because He was the one who was righteous and it is not by our own acts that we are declared righteous, but through His finished work on the cross that He is able to impute (give) His righteousness to us as we give our unrighteousness to Him. So this then answers our question about who is the "righteous" man. It is not one who makes themselves righteous by good works, but it is the one who has been declared righteous by the good news of the gospel. We have been redeemed (bought with a price) and Christ died the death we all deserved because "cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree" (this is what was done to the wicked people who were executed in the Old Testament as a sign to people that this person was cursed and to never try to imitate such a person or your end would be the same as theirs--yet Jesus did nothing wrong to deserve such a curse). So the very thing that should be the object of scorn (the cross) and seen by Jews as a curse has become the symbol of healing and grace that Christians cling to. 1 Corinthians 1:18 English Standard Version Christ the Wisdom and Power of God 18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Paul then wraps up by talking about Christ as the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant that we've been studying since Genesis (and maybe before since we talked about it a bit in Hebrews and some of the gospels and epistles). Do you remember that Abraham was promised descendants that were going to be so numerous that they would be like the stars of heaven or like the grains of sand or like the dust of the earth--no one could count them? While it is true that Abraham has had a lot of physical descendents through both Ishmael and Isaac, Abraham also has a lot of spiritual children through Jesus that are all children by adoption and part of the one true Israel (the sons of God). Do you also remember the part of the Abrahamic Covenant which says "Through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed."? What greater fulfillment of this promise is there than the cross of Christ which is a blessing to all who believe, both Jew and Gentile (and Samaritan for that matter) who believe? I can think of no greater fulfillment. Like Abraham, we took receive this promise by faith.
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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