Romans chapter 4, and I want
to begin reading in verse 1. I'm going to look at this this
morning with one thought mainly in mind, and that is righteousness.
Righteousness. And I want to look at this this
morning, and I want to go back this afternoon with this same
thought of righteousness. In verse 1 of Romans chapter
4, what shall we say then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining
to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he has for of to glory, but not before God. But what
saith the scripture? Abraham believed God. And it
was counted to him, it was imputed to him, reckoned to him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describes
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without work, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessedness
then upon the circumcision only, upon the Jews? or upon the Gentiles,
the uncircumcision also. But we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned when
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. When we read the Bible, especially
here in the book of Romans, we see this word mentioned several
times, righteousness. Righteousness, and it pertains
to many things. You'll see it here in the 10th
chapter of Romans, and in the 1st chapter of Romans, it pertains
to the righteousness of God. Paul uses that phrase several
times. The Scripture uses that phrase,
the righteousness of God. Sometimes it means God's essential
righteousness. His nature, His character. God
is righteous, the prophet said. God is righteous, the righteous
Lord loveth righteousness. That means He's holy. In all
His person, in all His works, all His ways, the Lord is righteous. It's God's eternal character. What He is in and of Himself. And it's this essential righteousness
of God that Paul said the Jews were ignorant of. They'd been
ignorant of God's righteousness. Surely the Jews believed that
God was holy. They didn't believe God was as
holy as God said He was. If they had believed that God
was righteous as God said He was, they'd never stand in His
presence and say, I thank you that I'm not like other men.
They never stand in His presence and say, I've earned an entrance
into it. I don't commit adultery like
other men do. I'm not an extortioner. I fast
twice a week. I pay tithes of all that I possess. Surely, I've earned an entrance
into Your presence. A man doesn't talk that way.
A man doesn't think that way that knows anything about the
righteous character of the eternal God. He bows down. David said, Lord, don't come
into judgment with me. Don't dare enter into judgment
with me. Why? Because in Thy sight no
flesh living shall be justified. Why? Because God is of too pure
eyes to behold iniquity. He cannot look upon sin. When you and I think of the righteousness
of God, We love Him. We love Him in all His attributes. We give thanks at the remembrance
of His holiness. But you know His righteous character
can do poor sinners no good. You consider God in all His holiness
and all His eternality. What good can such a God do such
sinners as we are? He charged His own angels with
folly. The planets are not pure in His
sight. The Lord is righteous. He's in
His holy temple. Let the earth tremble. But you
know that righteousness can do us no good. Somebody said, well,
is not God merciful? Yes, He is. But He's righteous.
Is not God loved? Yes, He is. But He's righteous.
Is not God gracious? Yes, He is. But He's righteous.
He's eternally righteous. The righteousness of God. Paul
talks about that in the book of Romans, and the prophets refer
to it often. Paul also talks here in the 10th
chapter about another righteousness, and he says this in the 10th
chapter in verse 5, Moses describeth the righteousness which is of
the law. There is another righteousness
that the Scripture talks much about, And it's called the righteousness
of the law, and Moses describes it like this. The man that doeth
these things shall live by them. The man that expects to live
and be accepted of God and be righteous by the deeds of the
law, he must do what the law commands him to do. And what
does the law command? Perfect obedience. No sin in our imagination. No
sin in our thoughts. No sin in our motives. No sin
in our words. No sin in our works. From the cradle to the grave,
no sin. And not only no sin, not the
admittance of what God commands, but a positive righteousness.
The man that doeth these things shall live in them. Have you
ever seen anybody, do you have any neighbors that goes down
to the religious bookstore and buys them these little signs
that's got the Ten Commandments wrote on them? And they take
them out and stick them in the front yard and say, we stand
by the Ten Commandments. Have you ever seen anybody do
that? I'll tell you this, those commandments
are spiritual. Those commandments are holy,
and they reach the heart. They don't begin with what we
do with our hands, or where we go with our feet, or how we wear
our hair, or what clothes we put on. They begin the heart,
in the heart. And Paul said, Cursed is every
man. I don't care who he is. I don't care what position he
may have in the church. I don't care if he's the Pope
of Rome or the local Baptist pastor. Paul said, Cursed is
every man who continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do him. That's the righteousness of the
law. And Paul said, I had that righteousness one time. I labored
to have that righteousness. And he said, I was convinced
I had it. I thought I was alive. And all I had was this law. It's a self-righteousness. He
said, I was a Pharisee. Concerning the law, I was blameless.
I kept all the outward ordinances of the law. But he said, the
Lord Jesus taught me one day. He taught me the spirituality
of this law, the strictness of this law. And He opened my heart,
and I saw I was cursed. I saw sin was mixed with everything
that I did. And you know what He did? He said, I began to seek a righteousness
apart from this law. I found out I was cursed. I was
cast out. I had no hope. I deceived myself. This law that I sought to life
by pronounced the death upon me. This law that I sought to
keep and be blessed by, now it cursed me. It cursed me. We stand behind the Ten Commandments.
I tell you, if you break them, it won't stand behind you. It
will crush you. It will crush you. But that's a righteousness. The Scripture talks about that
being a righteousness. The righteousness of the law. It's a self-righteousness. It's
a righteousness which men seek to attain by what they do. Here's another righteousness,
and this is the righteousness we want to look at today. The
Scripture says so much about it. Paul found it. And David calls it here in the
fourth chapter of Romans in verse 6, he calls it imputed righteousness. And he makes this wonderful statement,
without works. It's a righteousness that's given
to a man without works. And Paul in the third chapter,
he calls it the righteousness of God without the law. One of the most blessed verses
to my heart is in Romans chapter 3 where Paul made this statement.
But now the righteousness of God without the law. Meaning the righteousness of
God without my obedience to the law. The righteousness of God
without us being required to keep the law. That is such a
blessed verse to me. Because all through my early
teenage years and adult years, I sought to keep the law. That's
all I knew, to be accepted with God. My conscience tormented
me and I lived in fear and darkness. And then I heard about a righteousness
where I wasn't required to attempt to keep the law anymore. I thought,
what a blessed righteousness. And David calls it an imputed
righteousness. And he says here in verses 6
through 8, he says, those that have this righteousness, their
sins have been forgiven them, their iniquities have been covered,
neither will God impute sin to them. What a blessed righteousness
that is. And look here, look over here
in the third chapter. I've tried to quote a little bit, but look
at it. Look here what He says about this righteousness. Before
we see what it is, just look what a blessed thing it is. I've
often said to you, and I'll say to you again, you here this morning
who know the Lord and you who hear and don't know it, what
would it mean to leave here this morning with all your iniquities
forgiven you? And all your sins covered from
His eyes? What would that mean to you?
You say, oh Bruce, that's the most blessed thing between the
eternities. That's all I fear is my sins
will be charged to me. If I could leave here with all
my sins forgiven, I'd be the happiest man in the world. Well,
here's a righteousness that is given to an individual which
takes away all of his sins. And God says, I'll never impute
sin to you. I'll never impute sin to you.
Ain't that a merciful thing? Ain't that a wonderful righteousness?
I'm interested in that, aren't you? I can't stand before God
in His essential righteousness. I can't look at the law and say,
I'm going to work up a righteousness. But here's a righteousness that
forgives, that refuses to impute sin to those who have it. And
look here what the Apostle says in the third chapter in verse
21. He's been talking here about, in verse 19, that by the deeds
of the law no flesh shall be justified in his sight, but by
the law is the knowledge of sin, and all the world is guilty before
God. In verse 21, but now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, it's revealed, being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. Moses talked about it, David
talked about it, and we'll see that tonight. even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all. It comes unto all. And it comes
upon all them that believe. For there is no difference. For
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, atoning
victim, through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness
for the remissions of sins that have passed, through the forbearance
of God to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness, that
He might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."
This righteousness, when it's given to an individual, it justifies
him from everything. Justification is a legal term.
It means before the court, you stand there innocent. You stand
there guiltless. You stand there justified. It
means the judge accepts you. He doesn't impute any crime to
your account. You are just before that court. When you're given this righteousness,
the court of heaven holds nothing against you. You are justified. Now what in the world is this
righteousness? What is it? I want to know. If there is a
righteousness that is called the righteousness of God, that
He can give me, declare me of all my guilt, clothe my nakedness,
and justify me freely, and receive me into His presence, I want
this righteousness. What is it? What is it? Well, look in Romans chapter
5, and here it is, brothers and sisters, in a nutshell. This
is as simple as the Holy Spirit Himself could make it. Look at
it in chapter 5 and verse 19. Here is this righteousness of
God in a nutshell. Here's what it is. Look in verse
19. For as by one man's disobedience,
Adam, our first father, many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one man, Jesus Christ, shall many be made righteous."
What is this righteousness that's called the righteousness of God?
It's the obedience of one man. The Lord Jesus Christ. One man's
obedience. Now when he says you're one man's
obedience, what the Apostle Paul means, it takes in the person
and the whole life's work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Him first
coming into this world and living in this world and Him dying upon
Calvary's tree. It includes the whole realm of
who He is and His doing and dying in the days of His flesh. Listen
to this, Lo, I come to do Thy will, O my God. That's His obedience. He is even agreeing to come to
this world in time from all eternity. Lo, I come, He says. What do
you come for, Lord Jesus? To do His will. Yea, He said, your law is within
My heart. What did He do when He came to
this earth? I tell you, the first thing He began to do was magnify
the law of God. He began to keep it and exalt
it. He loved it. He demanded obedience. He supplied obedience. He demanded
holiness. He supplied holiness to it. God
looked upon him as the lawgiver. And you remember what he said,
My son, my son. Oh, he said, My son, my heart
is wrapped up in you. My son, I love you. Look at what
you're doing. You're holy. You're obedient.
You've honored my law. I love you, my son. Ain't that
what he said? My son, I love you. Why? He wasn't like us. Oh, he looked
like us. He was in our humanity. He was
nothing like us. The law looked upon us and he
said, you cursed humanity. Look how you've trampled me under
your feet. Look how you've dishonored me. The law looked upon Him and
says, oh, look at the Son of God. Look at the Son of Mary.
I glory in Him. Look how He loves me. Look how
He honors me. That's what humanity should be. What does God require? Perfect
obedience. What did Jesus Christ render?
Perfect obedience. By His obedience, many shall
be made righteous. Oh, He said, I come to do my
Father's will, and this is my meat, to do the will of Him that
sent me, and to finish His work. Don't you just love to watch
Him? There at 12 years old, all the other kids playing mumbly-pack,
out into something no good. Where is the Master? Where is
the Son of Mary? Where is the Son of God? He's
down at the temple already teaching them the things of the Lord.
His heart was burning in Him to do the will of His Father.
That's my meat, He said. That's my glory. It's my honor. I want to obey my Father. And there's a good reason He
said I should do it. I'm going to save my people.
by my obedience. I'm going to bring in an everlasting
righteousness to justify my people with. To give to them. And the Apostle Paul said not
only was he obedient in his life, but he said he was obedient until
the death of the cross. Therefore, he's satisfied for
our sins. What did it take to put our sins
away? The blood of Jesus Christ. Obedience
unto death. The death of the cross. And he
said, Herein does my Father love me, because I lay down my life,
that I might take it up again. No man takes it from me. I lay
it down unto myself, and I have power to take it up again. This
commandment have I received of my Father. See, the Father gave
him a commandment. And he obeyed it perfectly. And
in that obedience, we have this wonderful righteousness. We have
this glorious righteousness. Apart from your obedience, apart
from my obedience, one man's obedience removes the sin, justifies
the believer, and gives them perfect standing before heaven's
court. You know, when Paul saw this,
When the Apostle Paul saw this, I mean, he was happy. Oh, it
thrilled his soul. At first, he couldn't believe
it. He just couldn't believe it. This is too good to be true,
he said. Then when Ananias told him to rise and be baptized,
Ananias said, why are you turning for? Why turnest thou? Arise
and be baptized. I just wonder if he thought,
oh, I'm not worthy of this. This is such glorious news. Could
it be that my Savior has brought in a righteousness to justify
me? And here I am in my ignorance
and deception. I've been going around trying
to establish my own righteousness all of this time. And lo and
behold, all the time I was doing that, He had already worked out
a righteousness to give me, to save me by. Oh, what a wonderful
thing this is. the righteousness of God. And
Paul says here, we receive it by faith. We receive it by faith. I want you to turn to some Scriptures
with me. I want you to turn over to Isaiah chapter 45 to begin
with. Isaiah chapter 45. This righteousness
is everywhere spoken of in the Word of God. You just don't find
it in the New Testament. But it's all through the Old
Testament. It don't matter if you see it in pictures, in types. You may see it in a prophecy.
My righteousness is to be revealed. You may see it in a promise.
But it's all through the Old Testament. And look here in Isaiah
chapter 45, and look in verse 21. You see here there is no
doubt who is being spoken of. Isaiah 45, verse 21. Tell ye
and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
times? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? There is no God else besides
me, a just God and a Savior. There is none besides me. Look
unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I
am God. And there is none else. Now look in verse 23. We know
who this is talking about. When you read this, you'll say,
I know who that's talking about. I have sworn by myself, the word
is gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return, that unto
me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear. Who's that
talking about? That's Christ saying it. Jesus
Christ. That's Him saying that. Philippians
chapter 2. God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name that
is above every name. At the name of Jesus, every knee
should bow and confess that He is Lord of all. He came, He was
obedient, He died upon Calvary's tree, He put away sin, He brought
in this everlasting righteousness, He is seated at God's right hand,
and He said, I promise you, I swear by myself, there is coming a
day that everybody is going to come to Me. And they're going
to bow and say, He's Lord. But I tell you, there's some
people right now, this day, that's saying something else about Him
too. And look what it is in verse 24. Look at this. Surely shall
one say in the Lord, in the Lord Jesus Christ have I righteousness
and strength. Who's saying that? I'm saying
it. I've been saying it for 35 years. Some of you are saying
it, aren't you? You have righteousness? Yes.
Is it based on what you've done? No. Is it based on what you are? No. Where is your righteousness?
It's in heaven. Who is it? It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's my profession. That's
your profession. That's the profession of the
church. Who is your righteousness? You
have righteousness? Can you say and have God to bear
witness to it? Christ is all my righteousness.
He's all my righteousness. You've got to have it. You've
got to have it. You can't stand before God and
be justified and have your sins washed and be accepted of Him
and Him enter into communion with you and be your Father if
you don't have perfect righteousness. And where are we going to get
it? It has already been established. Who did that? The Son of God
by His obedience in the days of His flesh. And I confess it,
brothers and sisters. The Lord has made it real to
my heart and He has made it real to some of your hearts. And you
are saying just like I do, I have righteousness. The Lord is my
righteousness. Look here in another place. Look
in chapter 61 of Isaiah. You see this all through the
Old Testament Scriptures, talking about this righteousness. And
you can always trace it to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see this
in verses 1 and verse 2. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me. He's anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek. That's
Christ saying that. You go over to the New Testament
and begin to read and you'll find that's Him. And in the light
of that, look down in verse 10. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God. Why? For He hath clothed me with
the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. As a bridegroom, decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels. He hath clothed me." Isn't that
a wonderful thing? He hath covered me with a robe
of His righteousness. He did that. He did that. He covered me. What righteousness
is Isaiah talking about? The righteousness of Jesus Christ.
His own obedience. He's covered me. He's covered
me. You remember when that prodigal
returned from his fleeing down in the far country, wasted all
of his substance, and he came back to his father's house. Remember
what the father did to him. He put on him the best robe. Put on him the best robe. Don't get any one that somebody
else has worn. Don't get the old robe that he
left behind that he bought himself. Bring hither the best robe, and
don't even let him put it on. You put it on. And here, what
is that robe? Righteousness. Righteousness. Look here in Jeremiah chapter
23. In verse 5 and 6. Look in verse 5 and 6 of Jeremiah
chapter 23. This is a wonderful statement
concerning this righteousness of Jesus Christ which is given
to all those who believe on Him for it. Look at this. In verse
5 of Jeremiah chapter 23. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a king
shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice
in the earth. I wonder who that is. No doubt
it is. I don't have to stop and tell
you who that is. You know who that is. In his days shall Judah be
saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is his name
whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Jesus Christ is the Lord, and
He is our righteousness. And it's amazing, but just look
right on in chapter 33 at this. In verse 14 through verse 16.
Look in chapter 33 of Jeremiah. And look at 14 and 16. It says
almost the same thing with just a slight variation in one thing. I want you to look in verse 14,
chapter 33. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, I will
perform that good thing that good thing which I have promised
unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. And in
those days and at that time I will cause the branch of righteousness
to grow unto David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness
in the earth and the land. And in those days Judah shall
be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is the name
wherewith she shall be called." Who is that? That's the bride. That's the church. That's His
people. That's the believer. She shall
be called the Lord of Righteousness. Why doesn't the Holy Spirit make
any distinction between Christ and the church when it comes
to righteousness? Because she is as righteous as He is. And
her righteousness is His righteousness. And Paul said, when you are found
in Him, you don't have your own righteousness anymore. You have
the righteousness of Christ. Jesus Christ is the righteousness
of God, and you being in Him because of this union with Him,
you are the righteousness of God. God hath made Him to be
sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God. We are the righteousness of God
in Him. in Him. What a wonderful thing. There's some people come in here
and you can see their faces. They come in here to visit and
you start talking about this and they say, I never heard of
this. I just never heard of this. No. No, you haven't. But let me warn you, dear soul,
you can't be saved without knowing it and believing it. You say, well, I've got a little
bit of works I've got to add to my righteousness. then you
can't have this. I told you about my dear dad. Years I talked to him about this
righteousness. And probably two years before
he died, I was talking to him about David was talking about
the righteousness of Christ. It seemed like the lights just
turned on for a little bit. And he said, what righteousness
are you talking about? And I told him about this righteousness
that justified Abraham and justified David. And he said, whose righteousness
is that? And I said, that's the righteousness
of the Son of God. It's His obedience. He said,
how do I get that righteousness? I said, you've got to believe
on Him for it. He said, well, I believe on Him. Don't most
people say that? I believe on Him. You ask your
neighbors. Ask the neighbors around here.
I challenge you sometime to go out through this neighborhood
and ask them, do you believe in Jesus Christ? I bet you there's
not a one that says, no, I don't. All of them will say, I believe
in Him. My dad said, I believe in Christ. I said, there's one thing left.
One thing left. You've got to count your own
righteousness as filthy rags. You've got to count it as done.
You've got to be finished with that. You know what he said to
me? Oh, he said, I could never do
that. I could never stand before God without something of my own. I'll be happy to add mine with
his. I'll be happy to sew my rotten
rags on his white linen. No, you can't have it. You can't
have it. Ain't but one way to get it.
Has to count your own as dumb. Has to be finished with self.
Has to put self in the dust and say, I need a righteousness that
will accept me in heaven. And that's the one that worked
it out in the days of His flesh. Lord Jesus, this is the righteousness
I want. I want You. I want You. Look here in one more place.
Look in Ezekiel chapter 16. Just over to your right. Ezekiel
chapter 16. And look in verse 6 and 9. This
is a beautiful picture. Look here what he says. This
is a picture of that righteousness. Look here what he says. Chapter
16 of Ezekiel. And here in verse 6 and verse
9, he was speaking of this little baby. When it was born, it was
cast out into the open field. likeness to the sinner. The sinner,
when he's barned, he's cast out into an open field, has no protection. The beasts are going to eat him
up. Nobody's cleaned him up or cut his navel. Still joined his
fallen mother. And here's what the Lord says
about this little infant in verse 6. And when I passed by thee,
I saw you polluted in your own blood. And I said unto you, when
you were in your blood, Yea, I said unto you, when you were
in your blood, live. And I called you to multiply
as the bud of the field, and you have increased and waxen
great. You are come to excellent ultimates,
thy breast are fashioned, and thy hair is grown whereas you
were naked in birth. And when I passed by thee and
looked upon thee, Thy time was a time of love, and I spread
My skirt over Thee, and covered Thy nakedness. Yea, I swore unto
Thee, and entered into a covenant with Thee, saith the Lord God,
and Thou becomest Mine. And look in verse 14, And Thy
renown went forth among the heathen for Thy beauty, for it was perfect
through My splendor. Through my obedience, through
my righteousness, which I had put upon Thee, said the Lord."
What a covering! A covering of beauty. A covering
of splendor. A covering of perfect obedience. Everything that God requires
has been done by somebody else. And He imputes it to all those
who believe in Him for it. One more Scripture. One more
Scripture and we'll close. I want you to look over in Genesis
chapter 3. When our first mother and dad
had fallen, they sewed fig leaves together
and made themselves aprons. The Lord had come searching them
out, and they found out they were still naked. Those fig leaves
that they had sowed together didn't cover their nakedness.
They didn't know it until the Lord came close and searched
it. Then they found out we're naked. The Lord rebuked them,
reproved them, and just before He sent them out of the garden,
He taught them the gospel. And here's the way He taught
them the gospel. Look in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 21. Unto Adam also and to his wife
did the Lord God make coats of skin and clothed them." That's
the gospel. There's the gospel in a beautiful
picture. You notice everything here that
had to be done? He made coats of skin. Animals had to be found. They didn't find them. This is
God's work. He did this. He found two lambs
and God skinned them. God killed them. He slaughtered
them Himself. And He took these skins and dried
them. And He fitted them. He tailored
them. And He put one on Adam and He put one on his line. And you know something? They
never done anything but stood there. They didn't say, we know
where you can get a couple of nice lambs. We'll help you skin
them. We'll give you a hand. I mean,
we want to cooperate." No, they stood there in their utter nakedness.
Either they had stripped the fig leaves off themselves or
God had stripped them off of them. But they stood there naked
and they submitted themselves to be clothed with skin that
God had prepared for them. And God says, now I can see your
shame. Now I can see your shame. Brothers and sisters, this is
a wonderful righteousness. It's an essential righteousness
if you're not going to be saved. But you don't get it by putting
one single hand to it. You come to God just like our
first parents did, and you stand there passive. And you submit
yourself to Him who worked out this righteousness. Well, He
clothes you with it. That's all you do. And then you look down at it
in amazement and wonder and joy. And you say, now I see. Now I'm
accepted. Now I'm saved. Now God will be
a Father to me. Now I can enter His presence.
Now I don't fear to face life and face death and face the judgment,
because look at me. Look what a clothing God Himself
has put on me, the righteousness of His own dear Son. One more verse of Scripture.
I just thought, look over here, one more, and I promise, I'll
read this, and I'll quit. Romans chapter 9. This is my
life. Look at this. Here's what Paul
is saying about this righteous. This is an amazing thing. The
more I stop and look up these words, the more amazed I am at
the definition of some words in our Bible. In Romans chapter
9, Look at this. Paul is talking
about the Gentiles and the Jews. What shall we say then? That
the Gentiles, those dead dog Gentiles, idolaters, which followed
not after righteousness, look at this, they have attained to
righteousness. That word attained means to take,
to grasp, to apprehend, Possess. To possess. They've taken it. They've taken it by faith. They
couldn't live without it. They now possess it. They've
obtained it. Even this righteousness which is of faith. They heard
about it and they said, I've got to have that. I've got to
have it. Verse 31, But Israel which followed
after the law of righteousness, they said, we're going to keep
the law. We're going to stand by the Ten Commandments. Look
at this. They have not attained. Do you
know what that word means there? These words are the same word
in our English language, but they mean two different things.
It means they've not caught up with. The first attain means
they possess it. They possess it. They grasp it. This word here means they've
not caught up to. They're following after a law
of righteousness, but they'll never catch up to it. They'll never be able to reach
out and grasp it and say, I've attained it. It's mine. I'm righteous
by what I do. No, you can't, can you? Oh, if
I can just be a little bit more holy. Oh, if I can just be a
little bit more committed. Or maybe I can start fasting
every once in a while. Maybe if I start paying more
tithes. Maybe if I start reading my Bible more. Maybe if I start
doing that and doing this. But it's always out of your grasp,
you see. You can't never attain it. But
this is a righteousness of Christ that's already been worked out.
It's already been accomplished. It's finished. Reach out by the
arms of faith and say, I've got to have it. We've got to have
Him. Let's pray.