Day by Day with Martin Luther
Read: Zechariah 7-9 Revelation 14:1-16:21
“Two Kinds of Righteousness”
“In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.”
[Jeremiah 23:6]
There are two kinds of righteousness: mine and Christ’s. The Gospel proclaims that we must be out into the righteousness of Christ and must be translated from our righteousness into the righteousness of Christ. Thus Paul says in Romans 3:24 that we are “justified by His grace as a free gift”; and in 1st Corinthians 1:30 he says that Christ was made by God “our Wisdom, our Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption” When Moses lifted up the bronze serpent [Numbers 21:9], no one could be healed by his own effort until he looked upon that serpent. Thus if sin bites us, we cannot be freed either, until we look at Christ crucified. Therefore, you must cling to the wounds and the blood of Jesus Christ if you do not want to be lost forever.