The Righteousness and Power of God

We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church.

This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication,

redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church.

Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org.

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.

I'm under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

So I'm eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

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.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed for faith.

As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Father, your Son said that blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

And I just pray that you would give us that hunger.

You would give us that thirst.

Not for a righteousness of our own, but for a better one.

A righteousness that comes from you.

And would we know the wonderful truth of the gospel that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied and filled in Christ.

Would we experience that deeply and truly in the preaching of your word today, I pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

All right.

So we're continuing our series in the gospel.

Not the gospel.

We're done with the gospel.

Sorry.

In the epistle of the Romans.

All right.

This is Apostle Paul's letter to that first century church in Rome.

And if you're new here, don't worry.

We've only been two sermons into this series.

And today we're arriving at really the thesis of this letter.

The thesis of this letter, which you can find in verses 16 and 17.

But we're just going to jump right in, okay?

No fun intro today.

We're just going to jump right in, starting with verses 14 and 15.

And what I want to do is I want to take a second to give us some of the background context for this letter to the Roman church.

You see, I think a temptation for many of us is to approach the book of Romans like a systematic theology textbook.

And the tendency of many interpreters of Romans can be to, like, dehistoricize this letter.

To kind of ignore the specific context Paul is writing to in the first century.

And while, yes, Paul is super theological in this letter, I think it's important to humanize this situation, this letter,

and not see it as some kind of impersonal theological statement of faith.

We have to listen for not just Paul the theologian, but Paul the pastor.

Because, see, what Paul is doing here is not primarily writing up a doctrinal statement,

defining, like, what the gospel is with systematic clarity.

But as with all his letters, he is at least equally interested in applying the gospel.

So I want to take that lens to the book of Romans as we're going through it.

This is Paul applying the good news about Jesus to a particular people in a particular place in this thriving church at the heart of the Roman Empire,

at this church that he has not yet visited.

All right, so let's turn now to verse 14.

Look what Paul writes.

Paul writes,

I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

And what we have to understand here is that the concern in this letter is not just the question of,

how can I be right with God?

But also, how can we be right with one another?

So you see, the gospel, the Christian faith, though it, of course, is about the vertical relationship we have with our Creator,

we must never forget that it is also about our horizontal relationship with the rest of creation and with one another.

And it's super important that we always hold both the vertical and the horizontal.

Because see, throughout church history, the church has gone wrong when we've emphasized one and neglected the other.

When the church has upheld the vertical dimension of the gospel while neglecting the horizontal dimension of the gospel,

we have tended to turn a blind eye toward injustice, toward prejudice, toward bias against our neighbors,

and we've easily gotten into the trap of othering different kinds of people that are easy to other.

But when the church has emphasized the horizontal dimension of the gospel and neglected the vertical aspect of the gospel,

well, this has resulted in us forgetting the divine and transcendent foundation on which we believe in human equality

and the love for our neighbors that we owe, right?

So again, we have to hold both, and that's what Paul is doing here in verses 14 through 17.

He's holding both, the vertical and the horizontal.

Now, in verse 14, he's basically saying this.

He's saying that the gospel, the good news about Jesus, obligates him to be an equal opportunity preacher, all right?

This gospel is for everyone.

That's what he's saying.

To barbarians, to the foolish, to the wise, to the Greeks, all right?

And this might sound super basic and just super commonsensical to us, right?

It sounds pretty standard to our modern Western ears, but the very reason that this sounds so commonsensical to us

is actually because of the way that Christianity has shaped modern Western thought.

Really, if you're of the mind that Christianity is about imperialism and uniformity,

and it's maybe this, like, white man's religion,

I mean, sure, people have done terrible things in the name of Christianity,

but historic, orthodox, spirit-led Christianity, according to the Scriptures, is anything but that.

See, the early church is actually the very first institution in history to truly unite a diversity of people,

a diversity of cultures, without the use of force, without the use of the sword,

or without dangling, you know, self-interest, like dangling money or consumeristic preferences in front of people.

This is the only institution that's ever been able to do that, without dangling a carrot or without using force.

And you have to understand, in the ancient world, even equality and the dignity of every human being,

that was a radical idea.

That was an incredibly radical idea in the ancient world.

In the ancient world, yes, they had all kinds of gospels, all kinds of good news,

but no one had good news that was good news for literally everyone, right?

No one had good news that was good news for everyone.

In that day, how they understood this word gospel, good news,

was usually in the context of these people called heralds, right?

They would go from city to city, heralding the good news.

Rome has won.

They would say, hear ye, hear ye, let us celebrate, dun-dun-dun-dun,

that Rome is victorious, right?

Rome is victorious.

They would say that in Athens, in Corinth, all over the empire.

We have conquered yet another barbarian people, and this is the gospel.

We've subjected others to our utopian empire.

But don't you see what that is?

It's good news, yes, for the conqueror, but is it good news for the conquered?

No.

But what Paul is saying is that he has a better kind of good news.

He has an announcement that can be good news for both the sophisticated and wise Greeks

and the supposedly foolish barbarians.

The gospel of God, Paul is saying, is good news for truly everyone.

The gospel of the Creator is good news for all God's creatures,

and this was absolutely radical in the ancient world.

And the reason Paul was writing this to the church in Rome

was because of a specific historical context that was going on in this church.

You see, the church in Rome was made up mostly of the Jewish people who were there in Rome

and also the Greco-Romans, all right?

Two very different cultures.

And what you should also know is that not long before Paul wrote this letter,

under the reign of Emperor Claudius, for at least five years,

the whole Jewish community was expelled from Rome.

They had to leave, all right?

They had to leave.

And what that meant was that for a significant amount of time,

at least for five years, this multi-ethnic church of Jewish people

and Greco-Roman people being together in the same church,

it had become a monocultural church.

Just Greco-Romans for at least five years, all right?

Now, in the time that Paul is writing to them, this has changed.

Claudius has died, and the Jewish community has started to move back home, back into Rome.

You have people like Paul's ministry partners, Priscilla and Aquila,

moving back into Rome.

But becoming a multicultural church, once again,

would not be a super easy thing to navigate, right?

You can imagine, right?

Like even here at Christ Church, you know,

some of us come from the African-American church tradition.

I come from the Asian-American church tradition.

Others here grew up in more of a predominantly white church tradition.

We all have a sense of nostalgia, right?

We all have certain preferences, certain things that we just love,

that really formed us, but that maybe we don't practice here at Christ Church.

Musical style, preaching style, what night of the week to have youth group on, right?

Or like what our kids address others as in this church, right?

Very different things.

And that's what they were up against in the Church of Rome.

Paul is addressing this church in Rome,

and he's not just wanting to define the gospel for them

so that they can have their theological ducks in a row.

He's wanting to apply the gospel to this church

so they can live as the beautiful community,

the beautiful community, the radically diverse community that God wants them to be.

And not only does he want the Jewish people and the Greco-Roman people in Rome

to get together and get along united in Christ,

but we also know in chapter 15 of this letter

that he's hoping that this multi-ethnic church

will also support him as he goes to even more barbarians west in Spain.

So that's the big historical context behind this letter to the Romans.

He's challenging them to believe the whole gospel

and the vast implications for how Christians of various cultures

ought to relate to people of other cultures,

even when to our culture they might seem barbaric and foolish.

And see, Paul's strategy for unity, it's not just saying,

hey, you've got to be more progressive.

You've got to be more open-minded.

Stop being racist.

Be more tolerant.

No, his strategy is to point this church

to the gospel of God concerning the crucified and risen Christ.

Like, remember, there's this place in Galatians chapter 2

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

where Paul tells this story about his interaction with another apostle, Peter.

This guy who actually walked with Jesus Peter,

Paul says when he met up with Peter,

they were there at the very first multi-ethnic church in Antioch.

They're meeting up and he's like,

hey, what's up, Peter?

Hey, what's up, Paul?

But he noticed something different about Peter.

Peter initially was cool just hanging with his Gentile friends in the church,

eating meals with them.

And then all of a sudden,

there was this Jewish party that came to visit their church

and this particular group of Jewish people

believed that you have to become culturally Jewish

to have a right relationship with God.

And then all of a sudden,

Peter stopped eating with his Gentile friends in the church.

And so Paul says,

and I opposed Peter to his face on this.

Now, what did Paul say to Peter, though?

Did he say,

yo, Peter, you're not being woke enough?

No.

He didn't say,

you're breaking the no racism rule?

No, he didn't say,

you're being a Jewish supremacist right now?

No, he says to Peter,

just as he's saying to the church in Rome,

you're walking out of accord with the gospel.

He says,

you need to live in line with the gospel.

Because at the ground,

at the foot level of the cross,

it's all level.

Seated in the high places at the right hand of God,

it's all level.

The gospel is where we get our notion of human equality

and diversity and unity.

And so the application for us is

to have such an understanding of the gospel,

such an understanding of this amazing thing

that Jesus has done to save the world

and to make disciples of all the nations

that we cannot help but feel the same obligation

as the word Paul uses in verse 14.

For every kind of person,

every kind of people,

that we cannot help but have the same eagerness,

it says in verse 15,

to announce this good news

that is good news for everyone.

For those of us who are here today

who claim to follow Jesus,

who claim to believe the good news of God,

this is not a recommendation.

This is an obligation.

And if we don't also see this duty as a delight,

if we don't also have an eagerness

to share this good news,

the question for us is,

do we even believe it?

Do we even believe that this is the gospel,

that this is good news,

or are we ashamed of the gospel?

Verse 16, that's why he says in verse 16,

for I am not ashamed of the gospel, Paul says.

For it is the power of God for salvation

to everyone who believes,

to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

To this now probably very Greco-Roman-led church in Rome,

Paul reminds them that this gospel,

this salvation is to everyone.

Everyone who believes,

everyone who has faith and trust in the promises of God,

he's reminding them that because God has opened up access

to the Greeks to enter into the covenant family of Abraham,

Greco-Romans have every reason

to accept their Jewish brothers and sisters

back into the church in Rome,

and also to support his missionary work

to those barbarians over in Spain.

And in fact, to not welcome them,

to not pursue the barbarians of Spain,

would be to be ashamed of the gospel,

to be ashamed of the very power of God for salvation.

Now how so, you may be wondering.

We see, if we insist on privileging one culture,

one people group over another,

what we are basically saying is that the good news

of this beautiful humanity

that Jesus is bringing into existence,

this beautiful unity and equality

with others in the eyes of God,

we're saying that that is shameful.

Or maybe it'd help if we asked this,

like why did Paul put it this way,

that I am not ashamed of the gospel?

Why did he put it that way?

Why didn't he just say, I'm proud of the gospel?

Well, I think he said it this way

because the gospel really is a scandalous thing.

It really is a shameful thing

to many of our sensibilities.

You know, this reminds me of the parable

of the prodigal son that Jesus told,

where the younger son basically says to his father,

I wish you were dead, just give me your money, dad,

give me my inheritance,

and he goes and he spends it extravagantly

on like worthless things, right?

Only to return home penniless

and having squandered all the wealth.

And yet, what does his father do?

He throws a party for him.

He slaughters the prized, fattened calf.

He puts a ring and a robe on his son

who had just come out of a pig pen.

And the older brother is so ashamed, right?

He is so ashamed.

He's so scandalized.

He refuses to go and celebrate with his father.

He refuses to go and celebrate the return of his brother.

He hates his father's prodigal treatment

of his prodigal son.

The love of the father is too scandalous for him,

too foolish, too dishonorable,

so, so shameful, right?

And I remember sharing this story with our youth,

with our high schoolers in January,

and they agreed.

They agreed, like maybe you can let him back

into your house,

but don't throw a party for this guy.

Don't give him a ring.

Don't give him a robe.

Don't broadcast it everywhere.

Don't be a fool.

What kind of example is that going to set?

And how is this younger son

ever going to learn a lesson?

And like the older brother,

they couldn't help but be incredulous

about the father's treatment of the son.

And they weren't sure that that was the kind of parent

that they wanted to be.

And they weren't sure that that's the kind of parent

that they wanted to even have.

Or that they could even respect.

Because in their eyes,

what the younger son had done,

disrespecting his father,

wishing he were dead,

running away,

spending it all on worthless things,

in their eyes,

he didn't deserve this measure of love

from the father.

Far too scandalous.

Far too shameful.

This notion that everyone can be loved

and accepted and even celebrated back

into the family of God

if they just turned to him in faith.

Or to use the language here in verse 16,

this notion that everyone can be saved.

I mean, it sounds good at first,

but when you think about the whole swath

of corrupted humanity throughout history,

doesn't it make you wonder at least a little bit?

Right?

This scandalous and shameful truth

that all you have to do is have faith

and believe and trust in God's promises

offered to us in Jesus

and you can be saved.

You can have the same status as Mother Teresa

or fill-in-the-blank holy person.

Like, really?

What about Larry Nassar,

the convicted child molester

who was involved in sports medicine

with young gymnasts?

Is the gospel the power of salvation for him too?

If he just repents and believes, that's all.

Really?

He can have a seat next to me

at my father's table.

Really?

Really?

I want to read the words of one of his victims,

Rachel Denhollander.

She is a Christian

who testified against Nassar for his crimes

and asked the judge to give him a just sentence,

but also who prays for Nassar

to know the sweetness of the gospel

and the forgiveness of God.

At a hearing, she said to him,

in our early hearings,

you brought your Bible into the court.

She's speaking to Nassar.

And you have spoken of praying for forgiveness.

So it is on that basis that I appeal to you.

The Bible you carry speaks of a final judgment

where all of God's wrath

in all its eternal terror

is poured out on men like you.

Should you ever reach the point

of truly facing what you have done,

the weight of guilt in the face of the horrific evil

you committed will be crushing.

And that is what makes the gospel of Christ so sweet.

Because it gives hope and grace

where none should be found.

And I pray, she says to him,

you experience the soul-crushing weight of guilt someday

so that it can be followed by true repentance

and forgiveness from God.

What other kind of faith

can lead people to say things like that?

Righteousness and mercy together.

And that's the gospel.

The gospel is scandalous.

The gospel is shameful.

And yet the Apostle Paul,

who says elsewhere in the New Testament,

you know, as a murderer,

a former murderer,

the chief of all sinners,

Apostle Paul,

he is not ashamed of this shameful gospel.

Precisely because it is the power of God

for salvation for everyone who believes.

Paul recognizes that as shameful as it is,

the gospel is his only hope.

And it's your only hope,

and it's my only hope,

the only hope for the world.

Salvation from the wrath of God

reserved not just for Larry Nassar

and his sins of child molestation,

but for all of us

who've introduced way more pain

and way more poison into this world

than we even know.

Through our selfishness,

through our disregard for God

and our neighbors every single day,

honestly, the difference between Larry Nassar

and us is almost indistinguishable

compared to the difference in righteousness

between us and our holy God.

And that's why we need the gospel,

the power of God,

the only kind of power that can save us.

And notice how Paul says that the gospel

is the power of God,

not that it just leads to the power of God

or tells us about the power of God,

but that this news itself about Jesus

and what he's done,

it is itself the very power of God.

It doesn't say do more,

it says it's done.

It's not advice,

it's not a command to help us attain

to God's power and salvation,

nor is it just the means

to the power of God unto salvation.

It is the power of God unto salvation.

And how so you may ask,

verse 17,

for in it,

for in the gospel,

the righteousness of God

is revealed from faith to faith

as it is written,

the righteous shall live by faith.

And this right here,

this is the key to the whole letter,

the whole letter to Rome.

Righteousness is by faith,

from faith to faith,

from first to last,

from the beginning to the end.

It's always by faith

and by nothing else.

What makes the gospel,

the power of God unto salvation

for all who believe

is that it is a revelation

of this thing

called the righteousness of God

that is from faith.

Now please bear with me,

I need to take a second

to explain this.

And let me start by

making sure we notice

how Paul says,

for in the gospel,

the righteousness of God

is revealed.

He doesn't say

the love of God is revealed,

he doesn't say

the mercy of God is revealed,

he doesn't say

the grace of God is revealed.

He says the righteousness of God

is revealed from faith to faith.

What's he saying here?

Well, Paul will talk about this more

in chapter 3,

we're going to look at that

in a couple weeks,

but absolutely key

to understanding the gospel

is not merely understanding

the love, grace,

and mercy of God,

but maybe even more importantly,

the righteousness of God.

And let me draw your attention

to another passage

outside of Romans

from Philippians

to help us understand

what Paul means

by talking about

this revealed righteousness

of God from faith.

If you want to open up

your Bibles,

your pew Bibles,

to page 952.

In his letter,

Paul's letter to Philippian,

to the Philippian church

in chapter 3, verse 8,

Paul says that he considers

everything,

all his good works,

his whole spiritual,

social,

and academic resume

as lost,

as garbage,

as trash compared

to knowing and gaining Jesus.

That he desires

only to be united to Jesus.

Then in verse 9,

he says,

not having a righteousness,

what?

Of my own

that comes from the law,

or like from his own

record of obedience,

but that which is through

faith in Christ.

Listen,

the righteousness

that comes from God.

From who?

From God.

On what basis?

On the basis of faith.

So when Paul is talking

about the power of God

or the power of the gospel

unto salvation,

what that power is

is the way that God

has revealed

how he's going to

credit righteousness

to those who don't

deserve it.

To his beloved

people of faith.

Theologians call this

the imputation

of righteousness

or the great exchange.

Just as Paul says

in 2 Corinthians chapter 5,

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

he says,

God made him

who knew no sin

to be sin

on the cross

in our place

for us

so that in him

by faith

we might become

what?

The righteousness

of God.

So you see,

the power of God

unto salvation,

the gospel

is that the salvation

of sinners

and the righteousness

of God

are not at odds,

but that they are met

and satisfied

in the crucified

and risen Christ.

Revealing to us

a God

who is willing

to credit to us

his own

perfect righteousness.

The righteousness

of his perfectly

obedient son

at his expense.

Not ours.

We'll just unite

ourselves to him

by faith.

And I'm sorry

if that got a little

heady,

if that got a little

theological,

but this matters.

Why?

Because we're all

seeking some kind

of righteousness.

If not before God,

before someone else.

But we're all seeking

some kind of status

before God

or some kind of

highest court

of opinion.

Some kind of

honorable,

elevated,

exalted status.

A status we can

count on

and fall back on

and brag about

and trust that we are

fine and secure

and lovable

and lovely

and delightful

in the highest court

of opinion.

But the thing is,

if we're honest

with ourselves,

none of us

actually measures up.

None of us

actually arrives

at the righteous

standard we all

try to live by.

Or is it just me

that's insecure?

We're all trying

to attain that

righteous status

by all manner

of efforts

or by following

this or that

constructed tradition.

For me,

it's be a good

Christian,

be a good husband,

be a good dad,

be a good basketball

player, right?

Be a good preacher.

Those are my

righteousness.

And I fail at all

of them except

for basketball.

No, I failed

that one too.

And it's exhausting.

It's exhausting.

I've fallen way

short, right?

And the distance

between me

and my standard

only increases

every single day.

I'll never be enough

no matter how hard

I try,

at least not for long.

And this is a

universal human

experience.

This is why

Romans chapter 1

Romans 1:17

verse 17

changed the world

and launched

the Protestant

Reformation

and it did so

because this monk

in the 16th century

named Martin,

he felt all

these things too.

Like he could never

measure up before God.

Even as a monk

in one of the strictest

monastic orders

in all of Europe,

he devoted his whole life

to following God.

Even as that kind

of a monk,

peace and assurance

of God's love

and forgiveness

and pardon

would always elude him.

And he went all in.

Like all night

prayer vigils,

long periods

of fasting.

He was known

to spend six hours

at a time

in the confessional booth

just trying to get

everything off of his chest

and yet still wondered,

have I really confessed

every sin?

Have I been righteous

enough to escape

the judgment of God?

Luther wrote,

I went to confession

frequently

and I performed

the assigned penances

faithfully.

Nevertheless,

my conscience

could never achieve

certainty

but was always in doubt

and said,

you have not done

this correctly.

You were not contrite enough.

You omitted this

in your confession.

No matter what,

Luther did.

Even as he ascended

into the ranks

of the church,

he joined the theology

faculty at the

University of Wittenberg.

Every standard

of righteousness

he tried to abide by,

he never felt secure

before the judge

of the universe.

There was even this

carving out at Wittenberg.

It was carving

a thing of Jesus

and this Jesus,

I don't know why,

but had some swords

coming out of its mouth

trying to indicate

that Jesus is the judge

of the universe.

And Luther said,

I couldn't look at that thing.

He had to walk by it

every single day

to daily prayer

and every single day

he would walk by

and cover his eyes

because he could not gaze

upon the judge

of the universe.

He was never sure

if he was enough.

He was never sure

if he was worthy.

Actually,

he was quite certain

that he wasn't

and he was plagued

with guilt

and fear

and dread

and shame

over that reality.

And this wasn't

just Martin's experience.

Isn't it yours too?

It's mine.

Sensing our need

to be righteous

in the sight of God

or even

for those of us

who aren't sure

we even believe in God,

we all sense

this need to be righteous

in the highest

of high halls

of judgment, right?

And yet we also sense

how far short

we all fall

of that standard.

Do you feel that today?

Like you can't wipe out

the stains of your past,

the stains of your present,

that resentment

and that malice

that you feel

towards those people

at work,

those people

in your family,

the greed

and the selfishness

and the covetousness

that no one else

knows about

but that is surely

there in your heart

and that controls

your life

way more than you'd like.

That that porn

or substance habit

that you can't put

behind you

for more than a week

at a time

falling again

and again

to this or that

sinful habit

or maybe you've been able

to kick these habits

for years,

maybe for decades

but your past

still haunts you

and your record

of unrighteousness

just seems so

insurmountable

that you feel

nothing but shame

and guilt

in the presence

of God.

Well,

if that's you,

God has a word

for you today,

a gospel,

good news

for your weary soul

just as he did

for Luther

500 years ago

and it's this thesis

statement right here

in Romans 1,

Romans 1:17

verse 17,

this passage

that changed

Martin Luther's life

and altered the course

of world history

as we know it

that he would not live

by his own righteousness

but by someone else's

righteousness,

righteousness,

that the righteous

will live not by

their own efforts,

not by their own

striving or their own

merits but as it says

in verse 17,

quoting the Hebrew

prophet Habakkuk,

the righteous shall

live by faith.

This is the scandal.

This is the shamefulness

of the gospel of God

that no matter what

you've done,

that no matter who

you are,

we can be righteous

in the eyes of the

holy God of the

universe and we can

live eternally in his

presence just by faith,

just by faith.

And you see,

this is what the whole

letter of Romans is

about, all right?

This is the gospel,

the good news of God

about how one can be

seen as righteous

in the eyes of God,

the eyes that matter

the most,

how one can be vindicated

in his presence or to

use a theological word

that we want everyone

here to know,

how one can be justified

before God,

justified by faith

and seen by God

just as the prodigal

father saw his beloved

son, right?

Clothed in his robe,

just as the prodigal

son was seen by his

father wearing that

robe, so does God see

us clothed in the

righteousness of Christ

and that is what

justification by faith

is about.

And what God is

calling us to today

is to have this kind

of faith,

to believe what he

says about us,

just to believe what he

says about us,

to believe what he

believes about those

who trust in him,

that we really are

the righteousness of

God in Christ.

And I know that that

can be hard to believe

with all the voices

all around us telling

us who we are and

how much we suck,

and maybe those voices

are inside your own

head, coming from your

own heart,

but God has a better

word for us,

not a word of shame,

but a word of honor,

and not because of

our merits,

but because of Christ.

So will we listen to

his voice?

Will we celebrate his

love for us?

And for the countless

others around us who

once felt unlovable and

forever stuck in

unrighteousness and

shame, can we celebrate

that God has a word for

them too?

I want to close by

reading this extended

quote from a biblical

counselor, a really good

friend of mine, her name

is Esther, about

listening to the

justifying voice of God

and paying attention

to his verdict over

us.

She writes this,

with shame, we tend

to hear only one

voice, the self-condemning,

self-hating voice, all

day, every day, not

good enough, ugly,

outcast, dirty,

unworthy, disposable,

failure.

If the voice of shame

is a soloist in our

hearts, we must work

hard to listen to the

voice of truth, God's

voice.

We may not completely

eradicate the voice of

shame in this lifetime,

but even if the voice of

shame continues to

clamor at the highest

volume and the voice of

God sings only one

faint, barely perceptible

note, the solo has

officially become a duet

when belief has begun to

break into unbelief.

And over time, one note

of God's voice in your

heart becomes two notes.

Then 50, you can hear

hints of a beautiful

melody now, even if

still frequently interrupted

by the voice of shame.

And rest assured, there

will be a day when this

clashing duet will end.

The duet will become a

solo again.

But this time, you will

stand face to face with

your God, and he will be

the soloist of your heart

and your soul.

No more shame.

No more self-condemnation.

Only favor, acceptance,

honor, and love forevermore.

The righteousness of God

declared from his lips over

us.

The righteous will live by

faith.

Will you pray with me?

Father, we are hungry, so

hungry for righteousness, so

thirsty for righteousness.

And you know that.

And we thank you that you

call us blessed.

Would we look nowhere else

but to Christ, our Savior,

and to his righteousness, the

righteousness of God that

comes through faith in

Christ.

And would we wear his

righteousness by faith with

incredible humility because

it is not ours, but also

with incredible boldness

because it is ours forevermore

by your promise, by the word

you've spoken over us.

Make us that kind of people,

so satisfied in the

righteousness of Christ, and

transform us with that truth.

I pray in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.