A believer's authority over condemnation
On what basis shall we have the authority to condemn the tongue which rises against us in judgment?
Our own righteousness? Our own spirituality? Our own good works and religion? No! On the very basis of these things we are worthy of judgment! For "there is none righteous, no, not one" (Rom.3:10).
No, the characteristic this verse says of the servant of the Lord, to whom these things apply, is that their righteousness is from God. Therefore, as amazing as this is, if it is God's righteousness we have, those that condemn us speak not against us and our righteousness, but against God's. (How then should this change the way we criticize each other?!) This is how we can condemn the judger: we are not defending ourselves, or our righteousness, but God's holiness and faithfulness to His Word.
This applies not only to "physical" tongues, but as much or more so (I would think) to ones we have in our own heads, whether it be the voice of the enemy of our souls or the voice of our own lie-based thinking -- that is, condemnation.
We have the authority to condemn the voices in our head telling us that we are not "okay" with God, that we need to do more works, that we are just screw-ups, etc -- while those things and more would be true if our own righteousness were left to us, if we receive our righteousness from God, by exchange at the foot of the Cross, our righteousness is no longer our own, but His -- just as our sin is no longer our own, but Christ took it upon Himself, and already paid the penalty for us.
Therefore an affront on the righteousness of the servants of Christ is really an affront against the Cross of Christ. That is how we can be called "saints" -- holy ones -- because of the Cross, and the Cross alone. If righteousness came truly through works, or the conferrence of man, then no one could claim any!
Created over 3 years ago
