Only By His Righteousness

Lord God of Israel, You are righteous, for we survive as a remnant today. Here we are before You with our guilt, though no one can stand in Your presence because of this. - Ezra 9:15

The attributes of God magnify His transcendent superiority over every need in our lives. For example:

- His omniscience magnifies His comprehension of our need.

- His omnipotence magnifies His ability to meet any need.

- His omnipresence magnifies His companionship through any event that might have created our need.

However, when it comes to our greatest need (redemption), no other attribute magnifies God's transcendent grace like His righteousness. Just as the exiled Jews of Ezra's day, we all are "before Him with our guilt," but those of us who believe survive as a remnant of His salvific grace by the means of Christ's sacrifice. We, the redeemed, stand in God's presence because of (actually "clothed in" the righteousness of our Savior.

Ultimately, we know that God's righteousness thoroughly magnifies His grace in the meeting of our greatest need.

This is the mystery of the riches of divine grace for sinners, for by a wonderful exchange our sins are now not ours but Christ's, and Christ's righteousness is not Christ's, but ours. - Martin Luther