Jehovah-tsidkenu: The Lord Our Righteousness

It seems to me that people fall onto one end or another of a continuum.  Either they struggle to see their own unrighteousness or they struggle to see the righteousness of Christ.  Here’s what I mean.  The first group of people are the ones who, when confronted with their own unrighteousness, say these things: “Well I do my best to be a good person” or “I am better than most people I know”, “I am not doing too badly” or “I could be a whole lot worse, you know”.  But what does God’s Word say about our righteousness?

• There is no one who does good.  The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.  They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. (Ps 14:1-3)
• And All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)
• And for whoever keeps the whole Law and yet offends in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10).

Pride must be defeated in order to acknowledge there is only One who is worthy…Jehovah-tsidkenu. If you fall into this group, watch out — being  a “good person” can keep you out of heaven!  Placing confidence in your own goodness denies a need for any Savior at all.  If your goodness is enough, why did Jesus die for your sins?  “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).  It is impossible for us to please God with our own righteousness…Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)  Jesus is our only hope.

Then there are the people on the other side of the continuum.  These people do not trust in the righteousness of Jesus, but they are unlikely to realize it.  There are Christians who are so weighed down by the memory of their sin — it’s like trying to drive with four flat tires.  They are constantly worrying – are they pleasing to God?   They always have some sin they are working on…and often are discouraged when they slip.  They are overwhelmed by the thought of how they have disappointed God.  I can fall into this group.

We tend to rationalize our feelings of unworthiness as “being humble” or maybe just having a little “low self-esteem” — surely it is a good thing to be aware of your unworthiness?  Well, this is a sort of twisted pride as well; it is a self-absorption that keeps our eyes on ourselves rather than on Jesus.  But most importantly, it can de-value to sacrifice of Christ.  In prayer about this one day I realized that my sin was not greater than His death.  How dare I spend so much time thinking about my unworthiness!  I remembered Paul’s experience, “He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Cor 12:19). It is okay to be aware of our own weakness as long as we stay forcused on Christ’s strength.  When I fall into the unworthiness trap, I remember His sacrifice:

Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:4-5).

 We have become the “righteousness of God”(2 Cor 5:21). All of this because of Jehovah-tsidkenu: The Lord Our Righteousness.  We are the righteousness of God not for our own glory, but for His.  He has called us into His service.  We must keep a balanced view which remembers both that we are lost without Him and that we are precious to Him since we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.