DEVOTION// The righteousness of faith
In Philippians 3:7–11 Paul clearly explains the righteousness of faith and what it consists of. [This righteousness means] that God looks at his Son and for his sake permits us not to suffer for our sins. Instead,
- He regards us as righteous, as if we were neither sinners nor corrupted by nature.
- He looks at the power of Christ’s resurrection and our sharing of his suffering,
- for Christ’s suffering and death are our death, and
- we become like him through faith;
- we enjoy the power of his resurrection.
[Also compare Romans 4:25, Galatians 3:27, and Colossians 2:12–14.]
From all this it is plain and clear that when Holy Scripture speaks of the righteousness of faith and of our justification in God’s sight, nothing else can be understood but this:
- how we are declared utterly free in God’s sight of our sins, which we have committed, which still cling to our flesh, which we cannot completely lay aside as long as we live in this world; and
- what God looks upon and why he will not regard us as sinners and does not cast us away and condemn us eternally as sinful, disobedient children. [He does this] because of the obedience of Christ, which he rendered to his Father even unto death as the satisfaction and payment for our sins and as our righteousness.
Source: Jakob Andreae (March 25, 1528 – January 7, 1590) was a significant German Lutheran theologian in the generation following Martin Luther.