Vital Signs: Thursday, December 5, 2024

The Gift of Righteousness

In a prophecy found in Zechariah 9, God promised that the future King would come with salvation and bring His righteousness. This means that on Christmas, God brought us “His righteousness” to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. This is exactly what the world needed (and still needs). In Romans 3:10, the apostle Paul describes the sad condition of humanity: “None is righteous, no, not one.” We are all in the same situation, born with a sin nature and unable to make ourselves righteous. But in Romans 1:17, Paul says, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Christianity is not about earning righteousness; it’s about receiving the righteousness of Jesus “by faith.” It’s not about who we are; it’s about who He is.

Remember, God’s love for us is not based on anything we do or do not do. It’s based only on what Jesus has already done. The Righteous One was born on Christmas to show us God’s love in the most powerful way possible, by making us righteous in His sight.