Romans 1:17 & 5:1-5

Mike Davies considers the impact of the life of Martin Luther

He read from Augustine not of the righteousness of God, but of a righteousness that God bestows freely to all who believe. It is this righteousness that is the gift of God.

Luther started to understand this and he wrote, "That light flooded his soul and the gates of paradise flew open and I walked through."

The guilt left him and he realised that the only way to stand before a righteous God was to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ which he could not buy, borrow or earn, he could only humbly receive this trusting in the gift of God's mercy.

In this revelation, Martin Luther now found him standing against the teachings of the church to which he belonged. Luther was now convicted of the justification by faith alone.

He read the rest of the book of Romans having had this insight. He was amazed by the clarity of Paul's teaching which reinforced Luther to such a level that he was not going to negotiate this at any level for any earthly reason.

Luther now understood something about the true character of God which replaced anything he had known before. He had been on a journey over many years but now life was different. The journey and the cause was different, and the guilt was lifted.

The more we can understand how righteous God is, the less we can deceive ourselves about ourselves. We do not have to earn God's love. God is love. He loves us.

The only righteousness that can ever save us can only come from God himself. There is a price, but that price has been paid in full by Jesus. Isn't that awesome?

My prayer for you all today is that whatever situation you find yourself in, you will accept that with a faith in Christ, you are clothed in righteousness.