Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Salvation, Rightousness & Judgment

Psalm 98:7-9
Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy;
let them sing before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.

One would have to be very confident in his own righteousness to sing such a psalm. The writer of Psalm 98 notes at the beginning, "the Lord has made known His salvation, His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations" (98:2) It is no mystery that God chose Israel through and to whom He would reveal His power and salvation. By the law and the prophets God has spoken of His redeemer, His righteous One who would judge righteously and bring salvation (Rom. 10:1-4). In Christ, the righteousness of God has been made known. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (Rom. 3:21-23). To him who believes, who has seen and received the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ - to him the day of judgment is a day of celebration. The day of judgment is a day to celebrate God's final triumph, the full redemption of His creation and recreation (2 cor. 5:17-18).
Am I confident of this truth? Is my confidence in His righteousness applied to my life or have I misplaced my confidence in my self, my works or my efforts?

Father, make me confident in Your righteousness alone. Teach me to long for your judgment, the final day of Your salvation and redemption of all that is Yours. Amen.

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