Righteousness

Righteous. It means morally right. If you grew up in the church, you might get the idea that there’s a lot of heroes in the Bible that had it all together. You were told to be just like them. You might think, for example, of Abraham.

Abraham and his wife Sarah longed for a child. Their arms ached to hold their own flesh and blood. If you’ve ever struggled with infertility, you know that pain. They waited years. Decades. But now, they were old. Sarah was sixty-five. Past the age a woman can have a child. They gave up.

And then God appeared. “Abraham, you will be the father of many nations. Go where I tell you” (Genesis 12:2). And Abraham went. And he waited. Ten more years.

And then God appeared again. “Abraham. Do not be afraid. I am your shield and very great reward. Come. Count the stars. Do you see? That’s how many children you have. Just as countless” (Genesis 15:5). And Abraham trusted. He trusted what God told him. How? How could he trust after he’s already waited a decade? How could he trust a promise that’s been put off this long? It’s because for ten years, Abraham saw God protect him and his family. It’s because he  witnessed how powerful God is. He saw that God is big enough to trust. He has the power. When he says it is time, Sarah will be pregnant, and they will have a child, joy they could hold in their hands. And God is good enough to keep his promises. He’s not a powerful being who’s moody, but good enough to do what he says he will do. Abraham trusted… and it was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham was righteous.

Until.

Until Abraham didn’t trust. God said he was Abraham’s shield. That he would keep Abraham safe. But then they went to Egypt and Abraham was afraid the Egyptians would kill him and marry Sarah so they could get all his stuff. And so he said, “Sarah, just say you’re my sister. Then they won’t try to kill me” (Genesis 12:13)!

A while later, Abraham got tired of waiting. So, he pestered God to see if Abraham’s servant, Eliezer, should become the heir of Abraham’s family line (Genesis 15:2).

And later Abraham failed to trust again. He had waited long enough; God promised a son. So he was going to have a son! Sarah had an idea that they should have a foster child. If Abraham just slept with the servant girl, they could adopt that kid … and Abraham did (Genesis 16). Isn’t he nice, helping God keep his promises like that? But Abraham sinned. He failed to trust God, and so he sinned against his bride, too. And now there was a new family dynamic … and not a good one. The consequences of that ricocheted the rest of their lives, as this servant girl and Abraham’s son through her caused problems for centuries.

Abraham righteous?

And finally.

Twenty-five years later. After twenty-five years of waiting and aching since the promise was first given. After twenty-five years of watching and longing and hoping … God appears and tells Abraham that within a year, Sarah and he will have a child. And Sarah laughs (Genesis 18). She doesn’t believe. How could it be? And God calls her on it. “Why are you laughing? You don’t think I can keep my promise?”

But God did keep his promise. And a year later … after so long … at long last … the 90-year-old-woman held a crying baby in her arms. And she laughed. She laughed for joy. And Abraham laughed with her. And they named their child “Laughter,” which in Hebrew is “Isaac”.

Russian born artist, Slava Groshev, captures the joy of aged Sarah holding her baby, Isaac, in her lap. Groshev’s painting of “Sarah and Isaac” is unique. It is very lifelike. In fact, when I showed the image to my wife, she believed that the image was photo-shopped.

Much of Groshev’s work is so life-like that it appears like it was created digitally. However, all of his paintings are created with the old-fashioned paint brush.

Groshev creates his incredibly photo-like realism by imagining in his mind the scene that he wants to paint. Then he finds the model, clothing, and backdrop for the painting. When the perfect model is found, he takes photos to recreate the image. Groshev then creates a sketch on canvas. Before he finishes the project, he invites the model to return for another session. This is so he can capture what he feels to be the most important parts of the portrait – the face and hands. (As someone who dabbles with drawing, the eyes and nose either make or break the image.) Groshev says that photos never reproduce the real color of skin.

Later the main purpose of viagra side online here manufacturing and consuming it becomes the treatment of impotence. It is recommended to the patient to stand for 30 minutes lying on the right. generic pharmacy cialis Possible side effects include flushing, nasal congestion, back pain, muscle aches, or visual distortion. 50% of men that are found with the condition of diabetes have approx. 50% chance of also having symptoms of penile erection doesn’t allow the sufferer to perform in bed and keep them deprived from the lovemaking session. viagra professional australia Also many physical factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, arteriosclerosis and obesity that affects the functioning of lungs and it can also fight against cheapest price for viagra insomnia, which is stated as an important reason behind aging in men. God kept his promise to Abraham and Sarah. He gave them a son – even in their old age. Now, Abraham could become the father of many nations.

St. Paul writes about Abraham in Romans 4:18-25: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²² This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” ²³ The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, ²⁴ but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

How could St. Paul call Abraham “righteous?” Did Paul forget about Abraham in Egypt? Or Abraham’s impatience in trying to name his servant his son? Or how Abraham interfered with God’s plan by getting wife’s servant pregnant?

How could any of that be classified as righteous?

Look closely at the words St. Paul wrote. He didn’t say that Abraham was righteous. He says that Abraham was “credited with righteousness” (Romans 4:22). St. Paul is remembering exactly what the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to write about Abraham: “Abram believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). God counted Abraham’s faith as righteousness. Because that faith linked him with someone who was coming – it linked him with Jesus. That faith connected him with everything Jesus did.

See, Abraham hadn’t trusted God 100%. But Jesus did. And when Jesus died, he traded places with Abraham. Jesus was punished for Abraham, and Abraham got Jesus’ record of righteousness. Abraham wasn’t righteous because of Abraham … but because of Jesus. His trust simply connected him to what Jesus would do for him. And God even sees Abraham as having perfect faith now, even though he didn’t have perfect faith. And if you look, even that’s a gift from God – Abraham was strengthened by God in his faith. How amazing is that? Abraham is righteous … not because of what he did, but because God is big enough to trust, good enough to trust, because God keeps his promises – because God gave Abraham Jesus’ righteousness.

This isn’t just Abraham’s story. It’s yours.

You? You think you’re righteous? You can probably think of times where you were so connected to God that you shone. You can think of those good things, right? But … can you remember your failures, too? Are you morally perfect?

Think about it: Do you like faking it? Because if I ask you directly, my guess is that none of you would claim to be perfect. But if I called you on something you did – would you burst into tears and confess your sin? Or would you defend yourself? Would you give excuses? Do you do that even when you’re not sure you did the right thing? I do. All the time.

And you know what we’re doing? We’re trying to be righteous by what we do. We’re trying to say we’re not that bad. We’re defending our actions. We’re trying to declare ourselves righteous.

And it doesn’t work, does it? Let’s be honest. Let’s be serious. And let’s struggle. I don’t want anyone to look at what I do as bad. So I constantly try to justify my actions. But I know. I know that what I have done is not right. But if I’m not as good as I like to portray myself as, then what am I? I am a sinner. Period. That is what I am. And I am not righteous.

But there’s a righteousness that doesn’t come from you. It comes from Jesus. Jesus was righteous. He always did what was right. Those things you struggle with? Those times you try to justify yourself? Those times you wrestle because you don’t know what was right? Jesus always knew what was right, and he always did it. Always. And when he died, he died for you. And he didn’t just take away your sins. He didn’t just take away all the times you were unrighteous. He didn’t give you a clean slate. He declared you righteous. He gave you his record.

And that righteousness comes by faith. By trusting that God is big enough and good enough to do exactly what he promises. St. Paul puts it so eloquently: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (Romans 4:25). Jesus died for your sins. He took your punishment. And then he was raised to life for your justification. “Justified” means “declared not guilty.” God looked at all your sins and said, “Not guilty!” – because you have Jesus’ righteousness. You’re not guilty anymore!

And it doesn’t come by behaving. It doesn’t come by trying hard. It doesn’t come by anything you do. It comes by faith. It comes by trusting that yes, Jesus has done what he said he did. He really died. For you. He really rose. For you. He declares you righteous.

And this faith? God strengthens it. He is the one who increases your faith. So praise God that all that you need to do? It’s done. It’s over. It’s complete.

You can learn a lot from Abraham. You certainly can learn how not to be righteous. But, then you can learn how great our God is that he credits both you and Abraham with his Son’s righteousness.

Much of this article was rewritten, by permission, from a recent sermon by Pastor Luke Italiano of Amazing Grace Lutheran Church, Florence, KY.