Jesus’ death and resurrection carry no weight apart from his righteous life; always faithful, always trusting in the promises of God. Verses like Romans 8:29 make little sense without it,“For those whom God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.”
Those 40 days in the dessert without food, facing temptation from the devil, are a microcosm of Jesus’ entire life, for it is not as if these were the only times he faced temptation as a man, much less directly from the devil, or that somehow the rest of his life was a cakewalk. They are also a microcosm of the righteous life that would be given to us so that we could conform to the image of the Son. We have no righteousness of our own apart from the righteous life of Jesus.
Israel was rebellious and faithless for 40 years in the desert; Jesus was faithful and righteous for 40 days (a true picture of His righteousness)! We rejoice in His righteousness for in it we not only are afforded forgiveness(by way of the cross) but also His holiness.
Over the last several years, I keenly asked these two questions: 1) How can we get right with God, be forgiven of our sin, and be counted as righteous in His presence rather than sinful and ungodly?, and 2) How can we have a firm unshakable Christian foundation for our life journey and eternity? The answer has been by trusting in the One who justifies the ungodly.
Being righteous has a dramatic effect on others and on our lives and is an important theological concept in Christianity, in Buddhism as well as in some other religions. Righteousness has long been debated in all walks of life. There are evil people who think they are being righteous. A terrorist may believe he or she is being righteous when we see him or her an evil person. Righteousness, in this sense, is “in the eye of the beholder.”
Great reminder, “We have no righteousness of our own apart from the righteous life of Jesus.” Jesus died on the cross for our sin so that we can get right with God and be counted as righteous in His presence.
I don’t know about you all but I believe that by trusting God with all our hearts, by putting God first in our lives before anything else, by learning God’s truth and following Jesus’ examples, we shall be considered righteous in God’s eyes!
Happy New Year to you all!