MEDITATION:
Written by Tim Challies, a contemporary Christian author.
First and foremost, righteousness is an attribute of God. The fact that God is righteous means that he “always acts in accordance with what is right and is himself the final standard of what is right” (Wayne Grudem). Righteousness is a statement about God’s moral nature and it means that he never does wrong. More than that, God’s righteousness means that he cannot do wrong.
For man, righteousness is a measure of morality just as it is for God, but man has no part in defining what is right. Man is righteous only as much as his morality, expressed in desires, thoughts, and deeds, conforms to that of God’s. Where he differs with God, he is unrighteous. Scripture is clear that because Adam’s sin has corrupted every man, “none is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10; cf. Psalm 14:1-3). But it is also clear that Jesus Christ lived a perfectly righteous life and died for our sins in order to free us from our punishment and credit us with his own righteousness–the righteousness of God. This is the gospel.
PRAYER:
Written by Clement of Alexandria (150-215), a Christian theologian and philosopher.
O Educator, be gracious to your children, O Educator, Father, Guide of Israel, Son and Father, both one, Lord. Give to us, who follow your command, to fulfill the likeness of your image, and to see, according to our strength, the God who is both a good God and a Judge who is not harsh. Bestow all things on us who dwell in your peace, who have been placed in your city, who sail the sea of sin unruffled, that we may be made tranquil and supported by the Holy Spirit, the unutterable Wisdom, by night and day, unto the perfect day, to sing eternal thanksgiving to the one only Father and Son, Son and Father, Educator and Teacher with the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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