1 Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. 4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. 5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. 6 For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. 7 He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. 8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. 9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor. 10 The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish! Psalms 112:1-10 (ESV)
Reading through the psalm above, it is easy to read it from a wrong perspective as a Christian, and be left with no comfort or assurance at all. After all, which one of us can read such bold statements as this, boasting in such faithfulness, thankfulness and fear towards God, and can sincerely apply it to themselves? We may well agree with all the blessings poured out on such faithfulness, and the esteem shown to such a one as this. But what portion do we rightfully possess as a result of our own righteousness? If we are honest enough to admit it to ourselves and others, the answer is quite simple really, and can be echoed in the apostle Paul’s own words “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” [Romans 3:10-12]
When we come to God’s Word for our sustenance, we must be mindful to keep a clear distinction between the Righteousness of God and the Grace of God. On the one hand, the perfection, holiness and righteousness of God are revealed through that which is recognised as the Law. And on the other, the love, grace and mercy of God are revealed through that which we recognise as the Gospel. If we make the gross error of some and try to suggest these two characteristics of God do anything but run side by side through the entirety of the Bible, we risk immense damage to our faith. We do so because the Law of God exposes our sinfulness and the weakness of our flesh, and utterly condemns us to death. This is not so that God may simply destroy us like some maniacal tyrant, but that His Law may be to us as “our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” [Gal 3:24]
The reason we find nothing in common with such passages as the Psalm above, is that in the entire history of the world, there has only ever been One who can be truly described in such a manner. He is the Messiah, the Incarnate Son of God, fully Man yet fully God, and willing to be struck with the very Wrath of God the Father in the place of those who should rightly perish under its dreaded power. He is the perfect sinless Lamb, the only acceptable sacrifice that takes away the sins of the world once for all. “He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” [Heb 9:12]
Many Christians can be left in a place of only believing part of the Gospel message, especially when having a wrong understanding of the way in which the Law and Gospel run side by side constantly through the Word of God. In that place of error, and I speak from personal experience, we may come to believe in Christ for our justification before a Holy and Wrathful God, but that is where we are left. We can be left in a place of believing that the Law of God is left behind in the pages of the Old Testament, and now we are solely under the grace of His Gospel. In that place God is loving and compassionate, and no place is given for His righteous indignation against sin. Quite often, we can be left in a place of desiring to separate ourselves from the truth of His Word, and instead seek to know Him by other routes, for we His truth makes us feel unworthy of being called a Christian. At least I can testify to this being my own experience for a large part of my Christian life.
What we often fail to realise is that God not only has the power to wash away our sins by the blood of His Son, but also to complete the work that He has begun in us, until the completion of our journey into glory. In the theology of Calvin, this is what is known as the perseverence of the saints, and is much opposed by those with a wrong view of Law and Gospel I mentioned previously. If we are of a correct understanding of these matters, we realise that from Genesis through to Revelation, the Law of God and the Gospel of God run side by side. The Law breaking down pride and arrogance in sinful man in order to see himself in the wretched state he is, and in turn casting him upon the Mercy and Grace of God ready to bear him up through the truth of the Gospel. Just as was the call of Jesus to those who were recognised as the people of God under the Old Covenant, so the same call goes out to those who are recognised as His people under the New Covenant: “Repent and believe the Gospel!” [Mark 1:15]
Although most Christians recognise and believe that Christ died for our sins, which is absolutely and wonderfully true, it was “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” [2 Cor 5:21] In other words, the perfect righteousness, obedience, and faithfulness spoken of in Psalm 112 above, that by rights can only be accredited to Christ alone; by faith God the Father credits them to us simply for believing upon His Son. This may sound ridiculous to some, but the same was previously said about Abraham, who is considered the father of those who have faith in Christ. [Gal 3:29] Therefore as Christian believers, we can read such a Psalm as above and rejoice! Rather than feeling condemned by the perfect standard the Law of God commands of us, we can proclaim boldly that even though we are yet undeserving sinners awaiting the redemption of our bodies, in the sight of the Almighty God Himself, we are considered holy, spotless and blameless, just as His own Son.
May we walk each day in the faithfulness of our Lord and Saviour, never shying away from embracing His perfect righteousness revealed to us through His Word. May we seek to walk in it, and eminate it in our own lives, out of sincere thankfulness, and without any condemnation drawing near to us as we undoubtedly fail. But let us continue to serve Him with all our strength, gladly, confidently and joyfully, knowing that all is well with our soul, even in the face of death itself. Let our confidence be found in all that He has done, and may we eagerly look up for our redemption draws near!
Maranatha.
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