that I did choose thee, Lord,
for, Lord, that could not be. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nider. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now, here's our pastor, Todd Nyvert. I'm going to read a scripture
from Jeremiah, chapter 23. I've entitled this message, The
Lord, Our Righteousness. Jehovah Tsidkenu, The Lord, Our
Righteousness. The superlative is a word that
expresses the highest degree of something, like the greatest.
the most profound, the most stupendous, the most glorious, the most awe-inspiring. And there are no superlatives
adequate to describe our subject for this morning, the Lord, our
righteousness. Would to God, that we might understand
just what this means, the Lord, our righteousness. Do you remember
when the Lord said to His disciples, seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added
to you? He's speaking of the Lord, our righteousness. Jehovah Tzikinu. Let me read
from Jeremiah chapter 23, beginning in verse 5. And behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I'll raise unto David a righteous
branch, and a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth. In his days, Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name. Wherewith
he shall be called this king, this righteous branch that will
reign. This is his name. Wherewith he
shall be called the Lord, our righteousness. Jehovah Tkenu,
the Lord, our righteousness. And in Jeremiah, chapter 33,
pretty much the same thing is repeated. But there's a change,
and I want you to listen to see if you hear it. Verse 15, In
those days, and at that time will I cause the branch of righteousness
to grow up unto David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness
in the land. In those days shall Judah be
saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name
wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. In Jeremiah 23, 6, it says there,
this is the name wherewith he shall be called, the Lord our
righteousness. And then in Jeremiah 33, 16,
it says this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord
our righteousness. Now, this is the most comforting
doctrine, if you want to call it a doctrine, in the Word of
God. It's how a sinner is justified
before God. It's how a sinner can have righteousness
before God. This is the name wherewith she
shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Now, it is comforting
to me to know that my sins are forgiven. It is more comforting
to know that I stand righteous before God. It is comforting. It's very comforting
to know that I have acceptance with God for Christ's sake. It's
more comforting to know that I have perfect law-keeping, that
I've never broken any command, and I've always done what's right
in the Lord, our righteousness. It is comforting to know my sins
are all paid for. It is more comforting to know
that the righteousness of Jesus Christ is my personal righteousness
before God. Now, this is the name wherewith
He shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Now, our righteousness. What does the Bible mean by this
term, righteousness? The Lord our righteousness. You know, the whole world is
divided into two groups of people, the righteous and the wicked. And I think this is very interesting.
All of the wicked believe themselves to be righteous, or they at least
believe they have the potential to become righteous. And all
of the righteous believe themselves to be wicked. and find no righteousness
anywhere but in the Lord Jesus Christ, our righteousness. Now, what does the Bible mean
by this word righteousness? The Lord, our righteousness.
Righteousness is a perfect standing before God's holy law. You can look at the Ten Commandments,
if you have righteousness, and say, I've kept every one of them
perfectly. I have no sins of commission.
I have never broken any thou shalt not. And I have no sins
of omission. I have perfectly performed every
thou shalt. I have both a negative righteousness. I've never done anything wrong.
And I have a positive righteousness. I've always done that which is
right. Now, that's the only righteousness
that the Bible recognizes. Perfect conformity to God's holy
law. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ kept
God's law perfectly. He worked out a perfect righteousness. He never sinned, no sins of omission. He always did what was right.
No sins of commission. He never did anything but that
which is right and never left out doing what he should do.
He obeyed God's law perfectly. And that is the righteousness,
His perfect obedience that is given to every believer. And
that is how they stand righteous before God. Isaiah 54, 17 says,
their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Now,
the first time this word righteousness is mentioned in the Scriptures
is in Genesis chapter 7, verse 1, where God said concerning
Noah, thee have I seen as righteous before me. When God looked at
Noah, he saw a righteous man. That means a man who had never
sinned. You can't have any sin if you're
righteous. And he said regarding Noah, thee
have I seen as righteous before me. Now, if you look a couple
of chapters over, you're going to find out when Noah landed,
when the floods came down and he was on dry ground, that he
planted a vineyard and got drunk and got in trouble. That was
Noah. And yet God said, thee have I seen as righteous before
me. Now, how can that be? We know
that he sinned. How can God? God sees things
as they really are. How could he say to Noah, thee
have I seen as righteous before me? Here's another example, the
publican in the temple. In Luke chapter 18, he's beating
on his breast, crying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And
yet the Lord says, regarding that man, that he went down to
his house justified, not merely forgiven, not merely pardoned,
but justified. How can that be? How can Noah
be righteous before God? How can that publican who said
he was a sinner be righteous before God? There's only one
way of understanding that, and it's right here. Jehovah Sidkenu,
the Lord, our righteousness. Now, when God said to Noah, Thee
have I seen as righteous before me, he did not say, I know that
you're sinful, but for Christ's sake, I'm going to accept you.
No, he saw him as righteous, not as sinful and accepted for
Christ's sake, but as righteous. Now, how can God see him as righteous? That's the great mystery of the
Scriptures, the great doctrine of justification. Justification
by righteousness. Now, as I've already said, the
whole world is divided into two groups, the righteous and the
wicked. You and I are in one of those
two groups. And the wicked all believe themselves
to be righteous or to at least have the potential to be righteous. And the righteous all, with no
exceptions to this rule, they all believe themselves to be
wicked. And the only righteousness they find is in the Lord, our
righteousness. Now, how can Noah, how can Abel,
how can Lot and all these other Men from the Scriptures be called
righteous. How can they be righteous before
God? Because of the Lord our righteousness. Now, here's what the Scripture
declares to us regarding this profound truth. So glorious it can't be explained. Only proclaimed and believed
the Lord our righteousness. Now, how can I be called the
Lord our righteousness? You see, this is the name of
every believer. Remember, this is the name wherewith he shall
be called, Jesus Christ, the Lord our righteousness. This
is the name wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. Now, how can that be my name? How can that be your name and
it be real? First, Because of the Lord our
righteousness, every believer is righteous by virtue of union
with the Lord Jesus Christ. What is meant by union with the
Lord Jesus Christ? Hebrews chapter 2 verse 11 says,
Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all
of one. They're not close. They're not
extremely close. They're one. Not two pressed
hard together, they are one. Who He is? Every believer is. 1 John 4, 17 says, As He is,
so are we in this world. Is He righteous? Everybody that's
united to Him is righteous. Now, what is meant by this union? Baptism pictures it. When I'm
baptized, When I go under the water and come back up, I say
by that act that here is my hope that when he lived, I lived.
When he kept the law, I kept the law. When he died under the
wrath of God, I did. When he was raised, I was. Now somebody says, how far can
you take that? You can't take it far enough. But here's a scripture
that will give some indication of what this means in Matthew
chapter 3. Verse 15, after John the Baptist had come to the Lord
and said, or the Lord came to John the Baptist, excuse me,
and John the Baptist said, you want me to baptize you? The Lord
came to him to be baptized. He said, I need to be baptized
to thee. He said, concerning the Lord
Jesus, I'm not worthy of the untied shoes. And the Lord said,
suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us. to fulfill all
righteousness. Everything the Lord did, He did
as an us. He did as a representative for
His people. And if I'm in Him, and this is
a union, a living, vital union, the vine and the branches. If
I'm in Him, when He lived, I lived. When He died, I died. When He was raised, I was raised. You see, all of God's elect are
united to Christ. The two shall be one flesh. I'm in him. I've always been
in him, if I'm in him. And so if he's righteous, I am
too, righteous by virtue of union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
secondly, a believer is righteous by imputation. First, righteous
by union with Christ. Secondly, righteous by imputation. In Romans chapter 4, beginning
in verse 4, we read, 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 described
the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, 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." I am righteous. Every believer is
righteous because God imputed the righteousness of His Son
to me. And this is the act of God in
justification. Only He can do this. I can't
take my sins and place them on Christ. God can. I can't take the righteousness
of Christ and cover myself with it. God can. This shows the authority of God. Now, listen real carefully. I and a very sinful man. Now, if somebody's thinking,
well, what do you reckon he's doing that makes him say something
like that? You haven't really understood
what sin is, if you think that. Sin's from the heart, and anyone
that has been taught by God knows that they are very sinful. I am a very sinful man. But here is my hope. That God
took my sins. I couldn't do this, but He did. He took my sins and lifted them
up off of me and placed them upon the Lord Jesus Christ He
imputed my sins to Christ so that Christ became guilty. My sin became His so that He
became guilty of it. And He died the way I would die
if I had no Savior, in darkness, being forsaken by God. suffering
the wrath of God. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them His very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. He took my sins. And God has taken the very righteousness
of His Son and given it to me so that it is mine. He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. God took the righteousness of
His Son and made it mine. And this is my hope. This is
all my hope, that my sin became Christ's and His righteousness
becomes mine. That's the hope of every believer,
made righteous by imputation. Thirdly, if I'm truly righteous
before God, if I have righteousness, if I have the Lord, our righteousness,
righteousness is a gift. It's a free gift. Matthew, I
mean, Romans chapter 5, verse 17, says, For by one man's offense
death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance
of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. Righteousness is a gift. It's not something you worked
out on your own. It's something God gave, the free gift. A gift given with no reason in
us. The reason is only found in the
great heart of the Lord God Himself. A gift is something given. And if I don't have this gift,
it's because He never gave it. But if I receive this gift, it's
because He gave it to me. I'm righteous by a gift. And the gifts and the callings
of God are without repentance. He never changes His mind. If
you have righteousness, the Lord our righteousness, it's because
God gave you this righteousness. How can I be righteous? How can
I take this title, the Lord our righteousness? Well, first, by
virtue of being united to Christ. Second, by God taking the righteousness
of Christ and imputing it to me. Thirdly, by God giving me
this gift of righteousness. And when He gives it, it's mine.
And fourth, the believer is righteous by nature. Righteous by nature. He's given a righteous nature. Now, listen real carefully. Understand
what I'm saying. I'm born into this world Completely
sinful. And completely evil. And I cannot
believe. I cannot repent. I can't love
God. I'm born into this world dead
in trespasses and sins. And when God gave me the new
birth, He put a new nature that was not there before. The seed
of God. A holy nature. a new nature that
causes the doing of righteousness. 1 John chapter 2 verse 29 says,
he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. I'm now righteous by nature. 2 Peter 1 verse 4 says, partakers
of the divine nature. And I believe that Lot is such
a wonderful illustration of this. If you're familiar with the life
of Lot, nothing to be proud of. He was the one who lingered in
Sodom, and he was the one who chose the well-watered plains
and didn't defer to Abraham the way he should have been. Lot
was not a very admirable character. As a matter of fact, if we didn't
have the New Testament, we'd probably think he wasn't saved.
But yet when you read God's testimony of this man, he talks about just
Lot vexed with the the lives of the wicked for that righteous
man and speaks of his righteous soul you can read about this
in 2nd Peter chapter 4 where he's vexed with the filthy conversation
of the wicked he had a righteous soul he was given a righteous
nature he was given a new nature now when Adam fell the scripture
teaches that his sin was charged to me it became mine But not
only am I guilty of what Adam did, I'm born with his evil nature. That's why we're born sinners.
And in the same way, Christ's righteousness is charged to my
count, and I'm given this new nature, this new birth that does
righteousness. This is the righteous nature
every believer possesses. So here we have righteous by
union, Righteous by imputation. Righteous by gift. And righteous
by nature. And here's the last thing. Righteous
by faith. In Romans chapter 4, verse 5,
we read, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Now, I miss the meaning of this. If I think that faith is lowering
the terms, since we can't be saved by law, then he'll accept
faith instead. And that is what brings salvation.
I miss the meaning altogether, if that's what I think that's
saying. What he's saying is, is faith is the one evidence
of all these things. Now, What evidence do I have
that I'm united to Christ? That I've always been one with
Him? That who He is, I am? That where He is, I am? That
what He did, I did? What evidence do I have that
I'm united to Him? Because I can't see this physically.
What is the evidence that I'm united to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Faith. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. Hebrews 11.1. I can't see my
eternal union with Christ, but I know I'm eternally united to
Him Because I believe the Gospel. I trust Him as my salvation before
God. Now, what is the evidence that
God took the righteousness of His Son and imputed it to me? What is the evidence that I have
that my sin became His and His righteousness became mine? Faith. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I can't see. that I'm perfectly
righteous before God. I can't see that I have a perfect
standing for God as far as looking at myself. But the fact, the
blessed fact that I am relying on Jesus Christ as my righteousness
before God is evidence that his righteousness was imputed to
me. Now, what is the evidence that
God has given me this gift of righteousness? Because this gift
of righteousness is not something you can necessarily see. So,
what is the evidence that I've been given this glorious gift
of righteousness? I receive it. I believe. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. I receive His righteousness as my only righteousness before
God. What is the evidence that you have a holy nature? Because
let's be honest, when I look at myself, all I see is sin. I have no actions, no thoughts,
no motives that are free from sin. I can't look at myself and
say, yeah, that's holy. Well, what's the evidence that
I have this holy nature, this new nature that was not there
before, this righteous nature? The evidence is faith. Believing
the gospel, I know I have this new nature. Faith is the evidence
of things not seen. Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our
righteousness. Now, this is the fine linen,
clean and white, the righteousness of the saints, the Lord our righteousness. This is that gold that makes
the king's daughter all glorious within. This is the best robe
that was put on the prodigal. The Lord our righteousness. Paul said in Romans chapter 14,
verse 17, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink. It's not
do's and don'ts. It's not rules and man-made regulations. It's righteousness. The very
righteousness of God. The righteousness of Christ.
And peace. The peace that comes from knowing
His righteousness is my righteousness before God. and joy, the joy
of knowing this. Now we have this message on cassette
tape, CD and DVD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg, praying
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you.