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Romans 8
Life Through the Spirit
 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to …

 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.  

 11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of …

Recall these verses from Romans 5: ”12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.”  Paul is drawing a distinction between legality and morality.  This is an important distinction for those who lived before the law, because even without a law to break, there was still sin.  There may have been no law upon which to base punishment, but sin was still in the world.  After all, “14 …death reigned from the time of Adam …

The other day, I finally hit on what Paul was talking about in earlier Romans chapters when he said “a new righteousness”.  He was talking about “redeeming” righteousness.  That is, righteousness that redeems your soul, as opposed to righteousness that does not, I suppose?  Well, in Chapter 5 of Romans, Paul finally goes into detail about exactly what he is talking about.
 1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
On the surface, it doesn’t seem too much …

As I try and work out the different perspectives on righteousness between the Old and New Testaments, something occurs to me. I read (and wrote on) book after book about how the righteous are saved and the unrighteous are condemned, that the wicked can become righteous and the good can become wicked, and finally it is how you end up without regard to duration that determines whether you go to Heaven.  And the point is made in terms of how well Israel and Judah seek the Lord, how often and to what degree God disperses them, punishes them, or lets them die, and the conditions under which He lovingly returns them to their home, and welcomes them into His house.  …

In teaching of a new righteousness and calling it justification, what is Paul really doing?  He is teaching of a new delivery system for righteousness… Christ’s sacrifice.  Before then, belief and obedience toward God meant believing the Law of Moses and living it.  However, God never actually said to believe the Moses per se, but to believe God; and obedience was never meant to be to the Law per se either, but to God who is the Law’s source.  Paul realizes this and spends chapter 4 of Romans making this clarification:
  1What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2If, in fact, Abraham was justified by …

Yesterday, I posted on a new righteousness found in Romans… justification.  Justification is being free from a charge, whether it be through evidence or punishment.  However, Jesus Himself is our justification, and our belief in Him is credited to us as our “justification”.

The word justification (dikaioo) and justice (dikaiosume) have the same root… “just”, and we have seen over and over throughout the Old Testament that where God is righteous, God is just.  God’s just-ness and righteousness are inseparable.  We on the other hand are not inherently just; being righteous for us does not make us “just”… but now we see that it makes us “justified”, or free from sin. 

Justification is not actually new.  That is, Paul is not making …

 Acts 24
25As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” 26At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him.

 27When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

Acts 25
22Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.” He replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”

Acts 26
5They have known me for a long …

7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
I find this passage very interesting, if cryptic.

Because men do …

Well, I have finally gotten through every verse in the NIS translation on Righteousness.  Now, I turn to the New Testament, and am pleasantly (and only a little) surprised to find Jesus picking right up where our study left off.  However, let me first set the stage.
 1In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
   ”A voice of one calling in the desert,
   ’Prepare the way for the Lord,
      make straight paths for him.’ ”
Matthew is quoting Isaiah 40:3, a prophecy that would usher in the ministry of Jesus’ 1st …