Daily Bread - MAR/31/07

Romans 5:9 - Much more then being now made righteous by his blood we shall be saved by Him from the wrath.

The blood of Jesus has made us righteous because the blood has both erased the former life and its sin and imparted the life of God into us (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24). Paul said that if there had been a law that could have given life then righteousness would have been by the Law (Galatians 3:21). The blood of Jesus, which purifies us is also the blood that gives us life. The blood of Jesus produces a fellowship that results in our lives being knit together with the fabric of the life of Jesus insomuch that when we partake of His blood He dwells in us and we dwell in Him (John 6:56; John 15:4-5; 17:22; 2 Corinthians 6:16).

Righteousness was imparted to us because the life of Jesus was imparted to us by the activity of the blood and the Spirit (1 John 3:24; 4:12,15- 16). Of course the water of the word that was supplied to us by the announcement of the gift of God through the preaching of the Gospel produced within us the faith to respond to the miracle of the new birth (1 John 5:8; John 4:10; Romans 10:14-15). It may be argued that the translation of this Greek word (dikaiothentes- rt:dikaioo) should be 'declared to be righteous' or 'proven righteous'.

However, in the Septuagint 'dikaiousthai' normally translates the Hebrew word 'tzedek' which means 'be righteous, 'stand a righteous' and is used with respect to God (Ps 18:10; 50:6; Isa 42:21) and man (Isaiah 43:9,26; 45:25; Ps 142:2). It may be concluded then, that from a "legal sense a judicial exercise of justice reveals the uprightness of a person," The Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. "Thus dikaioo does not mean the mere declaration of innocence, but the liberation from sin which holds man a prisoner" (The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament- G1344).

Blessings,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org