Prayer Service 8-30-23

Righteousness

Lexham Survey of Theology

The righteousness of God speaks to God’s character, specifically in regard to the coherence between his revealed will and his actions on behalf of his people.

Lexham Survey of Theology (God’s Righteousness)

In the Bible, God’s righteous standards (the law) serve as revelatory expressions of his character, nature, and, subsequently, his will (Deut 4:7–8; Ps 19:7–9; Isa 45:19).

Matthew 5:48 (ESV)

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Psalm 19:7–9 (ESV)

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;

9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.

Isaiah 45:18–19 (ESV)

18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the Lord, and there is no other.

19 I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right.

Deuteronomy 4:7–8 (ESV)

7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?

8 And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

Lexham Survey of Theology

When God’s righteousness is spoken of in the Bible, it occurs in the context of his rule and reign as king and judge over his creation (Ps 97:2; Acts 17:31).

Psalm 97:1–2 (ESV)

1 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!

Why?

2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Acts 17:30–31 (ESV)

30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

As judge, God not only acts according to what is considered right; his revealed will also serves as the highest standard for what is right (Gen 18:25; Deut 32:4).

Moses sang this:

Deuteronomy 32:3–4 (ESV)

3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!

4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

A Case Study:

Genesis 18:20–21 (ESV)

20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave,

21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”

Genesis 18:23–25 (ESV)

23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?

25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

God’s initial judgment was proven to be righteous by the end:

Genesis 19:4–5 (ESV)

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.

5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.”

Genesis 19:11 (ESV)

11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

The Righteousness of God was vindicated!

Lexham Survey of Theology (God’s Righteousness)

Taken together, God’s revealed will and God’s actions on behalf of his people are internally coherent and never in contradiction with each other.

Here is where we encounter a great mystery:

Exodus 34:1–2 (ESV)

1 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.

Exodus 34:4–7 (ESV)

4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.

5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

How can those align?

Romans 1:16–17 (ESV)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed...

Romans 10:1–4 (ESV)

1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.

2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Romans 3:21–26 (ESV)

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—

22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Supplications

Layce’s Dad: Hugh Webster

Healing For the Body

Deliverance for the Heart, Mind, and Soul.

Barb Cutrara: (Jackie’s Mom)

Upcoming Ultrasound for mammogram follow up

Pam Rogers’ Granddaughter:

Upcoming Surgery

Ongoing Health Needs in our Bulletin

Ask for Righteousness...

In our Homes

In our Nation

In “our” church