No One Righteous

December 21

(Psalm 143:1-12 NIV) "O Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. {2} Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. {3} The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead. {4} So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. {5} I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done. {6} I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah {7} Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. {8} Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. {9} Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in you. {10} Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. {11} For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. {12} In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant."

(Romans 3:10-24 NIV)  "As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; {11} there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. {12} All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." {13} "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." {14} "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." {15} "Their feet are swift to shed blood; {16} ruin and misery mark their ways, {17} and the way of peace they do not know." {18} "There is no fear of God before their eyes." {19} Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. {20} Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. {21} But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. {22} This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, {23} for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, {24} and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."

Most of us tend to think we are pretty good people. At least we’re not as bad as those others that we hear about on the news. At least we don’t do all of the bad things they do. And if we’re not careful we can begin to think that we have a shot at heaven based on our relative goodness in comparison with others. The bad news is that God doesn’t grade on a curve. The good news is that even though we flunk the test, we can still receive a passing grade because of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. The bad news is that in light of God’s holiness, there is no one righteous enough to make it to heaven on their own merit -- not a single one of us. The good news is that because of God’s unfailing love we can be acquitted of our sin when we put our faith in His Son. By grace we are saved -- through faith. Merry Christmas! Lift your soul to God. Put your trust in Jesus. He is our salvation. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day