Rise from Despair and Rejoice
“There
is not a just man upon the earth, that doeth good and sinneth not.”
-ECCLESIASTES
7:20 [KJV]
The word “just” means righteous. We know that the Lord’s people are righteous in Christ, and yet, the inspired writer says that not even a justified person “doeth good and sinneth not.” Every believer is aware of our sinfulness; we know that “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” [ISAIAH 64:6], therefore we petition the Lord for fresh supplies of pardoning grace [I JOHN 1:9].
While the reality of our wretchedness is ever before us, let us rejoice in the deliverance from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and ultimately the very presence of sin by the sacrificial obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ which is the sole basis upon which God remains just and justifies the ungodly. It is true that, “in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing” [ROMANS 7:18], consequently nothing good can come forth from me. However, it is also true that I am accepted in Christ and declared to be the righteousness of God in Him [II CORINTHIANS 5:21].
He who put me in Christ before the world was formed, has made Him to be my “Wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” [I CORINTHIANS 1:30-31]. As my sins were imputed to Him so His righteousness has been imputed to me. While I still mourn over my sins, yet I must not sink into deep depression as though there were no hope for me.
Let me rise from the despair of remorse to rejoice in my Substitute and Savior for He paid my debt and satisfied all the requirements necessary for my salvation. He has not only given me salvation, but like Simeon of old, “Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.” Christ is my salvation! I praise the One Who “loved me and gave Himself for me” [GALATIANS 2:20]. The Father is well pleased with Him and with me because of Him.
-Gospel
report by preacher Jim Byrd
Thirteenth
Street Baptist church of Ashland, Kentucky USA
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