W K Tweedie
Jeremiah 23:6. The Lord our Righteousness.
To this name of the Lord, faith rejoices to cling as the ivy clings to the wall, or the vine tree to the prop which sustains it. Wherewith shall we appear before God? is the question which the soul begins to ask as soon as the Spirit makes it alive to eternal realities. And in agitating that question, it finds no solid resting place until it can present something perfect to the eye of the Judge.
But where shall that be found? The earth says, It is not in me; the deep proclaims, It is not in me. It cannot be gotten for silver, nor purchased for gold. But when all else fails, or when “miserable comforters are ye all” is found written on all that is mortal, The Lord Our Righteousness is revealed; and to Him faith clings, as those who are drowning cling to the cable which is thrown to save them. We are made the righteousness of God in Him, while He is made sin for us. And by that blessed exchange, the sinner is restored to the favour of God. For justification, he is complete in Christ – he is accepted in the Beloved and proceeds in the path of personal holiness, to prepare to be presented to God without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.
But why are we debarred from pleading our own righteousness? Because it is polluted. And why are we invited to make mention of Christ’s righteousness, even of it only? Because only it is perfect and complete. God cannot refuse to justify us through it, because it is His own; and therefore, clothed in that, the believer stands in the presence of the Heart-searcher, rejoicing in Christ Jesus and praising God for a complete salvation.
Is it the case then, O my soul, that you can plead the righteousness of Christ? Is that the rock of your salvation, the foundation of your hope, in the prospect of meeting God? Then the Spirit, the glorifier of Jesus, is your Teacher, and your language may humbly be, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again”. He “died for our sins” “and was raised again for our justification”.