I had an awful look at my old nature one day. We had house guests. That meant that I had to give up the conveniences and privacy of my study,
which seconds as guest room. The guests had three little children, ages three through twelve, who were up at 6 a.m. making a racket. I gasped as
the five year-old grabbed an expensive Chinese tea set to play house with, and as the three year-old spilled juice on the white carpet. One of the
guests left the car door unlocked in our carport, and our snorkling equipment was stolen during the night. Never a dull moment.
Now that might not sound like much to some people. But, you see, I’m not the most organized man in the world. I establish and sustain system in my
personal life only with great effort. All of a sudden, I found my order disintegrating, falling apart, and I was demoralized. I had been feeling so good
about the new start I was making in disciplined living. Maybe even a little proud. Perhaps even somewhat righteous.
But now I felt distant from God and, yes, a bit resentful. My morning “quiet time” with Him was ruined by a mind tied up in knots and unable to be
“quiet” at all. I realized afresh that my own righteousness is such a thin veneer! With great effort, I go about setting up the disciplines of piety that
are proper responses to His grace. But after years of working at it, it takes but a few less-than-ideal circumstances to restore the primeval chaos!
Isaiah put it bluntly: “All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isa.64:6). It drove me back to the good news in that old hymn:
Jesus, Your blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head!
Should I live to be a hundred, I shall have added nothing to the righteousness credited to me in the perfect life and atoning death of my Savior! My
right standing with God is pure gift; it is an “alien” righteousness, as Luther called it. Or as Paul put it, “…not having a righteousness of my own that
comes from keeping the Law, but…the righteousness that comes from God” (Philippians 3:9). Or, as the hymnist puts it: “Dressed in His
righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the Throne.” At the great Wedding Feast, I shall wear, not my own polluted garment, but the special
garment presented by the Host Himself.
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall exult in my God;
For He has clothed me in the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”
Isaiah 61:10
Pastor Don Baron
which seconds as guest room. The guests had three little children, ages three through twelve, who were up at 6 a.m. making a racket. I gasped as
the five year-old grabbed an expensive Chinese tea set to play house with, and as the three year-old spilled juice on the white carpet. One of the
guests left the car door unlocked in our carport, and our snorkling equipment was stolen during the night. Never a dull moment.
Now that might not sound like much to some people. But, you see, I’m not the most organized man in the world. I establish and sustain system in my
personal life only with great effort. All of a sudden, I found my order disintegrating, falling apart, and I was demoralized. I had been feeling so good
about the new start I was making in disciplined living. Maybe even a little proud. Perhaps even somewhat righteous.
But now I felt distant from God and, yes, a bit resentful. My morning “quiet time” with Him was ruined by a mind tied up in knots and unable to be
“quiet” at all. I realized afresh that my own righteousness is such a thin veneer! With great effort, I go about setting up the disciplines of piety that
are proper responses to His grace. But after years of working at it, it takes but a few less-than-ideal circumstances to restore the primeval chaos!
Isaiah put it bluntly: “All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isa.64:6). It drove me back to the good news in that old hymn:
Jesus, Your blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head!
Should I live to be a hundred, I shall have added nothing to the righteousness credited to me in the perfect life and atoning death of my Savior! My
right standing with God is pure gift; it is an “alien” righteousness, as Luther called it. Or as Paul put it, “…not having a righteousness of my own that
comes from keeping the Law, but…the righteousness that comes from God” (Philippians 3:9). Or, as the hymnist puts it: “Dressed in His
righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the Throne.” At the great Wedding Feast, I shall wear, not my own polluted garment, but the special
garment presented by the Host Himself.
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall exult in my God;
For He has clothed me in the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.”
Isaiah 61:10
Pastor Don Baron
| Christian Writings: Written by or Recommended by Christian Friends |
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| AN ALIEN RIGHTEOUSNESS Some thoughts for Reformation Day received from Pastor Don Baron |
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