-And so as Paul has left behind his pursuit of high standing within the Jewish religious system he has placed his hope for right standing with God entirely on faith in Christ, on being found in Christ, trusting in and following Him. He wants more to be right in the sight of God than however he may be perceived by man. And he is fully aware that the only way to be right with God is through faith in Christ, not through any attempt at obeying the law (Romans 3.28, Romans 4.5). Of course the one who has put their faith in Christ in seeking to be right with God will as a result manifest a growing desire and ability to observe God’s law as found in His Word (cf Philippians 2.13). But the more transformational truth here is that, having now put his trust in Christ and in Christ’s payment for his sins, he is now totally right in the sight of Almighty God having technically done not one iota of that law. In God’s eyes, he has done everything right, justified by faith (Isaiah 53.11, Romans 5.1). That’s what it means to be justified - declared right with God, just as if I’ve never sinned. To be sure, if I haven’t done everything right in God’s eyes, I’m not ever gonna stand in the presence of thrice-holy Almighty God.
-But try saying that - "in God’s eyes I’ve done everything right". The degree to which I have difficulty saying that is the degree to which I am still trusting in works, still enslaved to the law. I am holding on to the guilt and shame of my past and present sins, perhaps under the mistaken impression that there is something I must do to redeem myself. And/or I am uncertain of my future performance, not fully confident that there is nothing I can ever do that will separate me from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ. Or perhaps I am keenly aware that in order to be able to affirm that I have done everything right in God’s eyes, I must not only have avoided the sins of commission, esp the big ones, but I must also have not missed the mark vis a vis the sins of omission - thing like rejoicing always and praying without ceasing and giving thanks in everything and loving my neighbor as myself and loving the Lord with all my heart and soul. Even the most minimally-aware spiritually-minded person will know that in our flesh we all whiff big-time on these sins of omission. So to be able to say that in God’s eyes I’ve done everything right takes a huge leap of faith in this promise of being justified through faith. Which is precisely the point.
-This idea of righteousness, having done everything right in God's eyes, means I am fully at peace with God and can rest, I can relax and breathe a huge sigh of relief. I am free from having to work in order to satisfy the requirements of law, which really only results in sin and death. "He who has died is freed from sin...having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness...the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death...for the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace...therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...'It is finished'...For the one who has entered God's rest has himself rested from all his works, as God did from His..." Romans 6.7, Romans 6.18, Romans 8.2, Romans 8.6, Romans 5.1, John 19.30, Hebrews 4.10
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