Thursday, June 19, 2014

day no. 13,023: Phinehas stood up

Paul Sabino sent me a text the other morning pointing out this verse to me.

Psalm 106:28-31

28They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
29 They provoked the Lord with their deeds,
and a plague broke out against them.
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stopped.
31 It was credited to him as righteousness
throughout all generations to come.
 
This phrase, “credited to him as righteousness,” is more famously applied to Abraham.
 
Genesis 15:6

Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.

And yet Scripture testifies that Phinehas had righteousness credited to him as well.

Romans 4, in referring to the Genesis 15:6 passage, states that this was not spoken merely for Abraham’s sake, but for ours also.

Anyone who is righteous is only righteous because they have been credited righteous by God.

He alone is righteous in Himself.

He graciously extends His righteousness down to us from the hanging body of His bloodied Son.

He mercifully receives our sin and sinfulness up onto His wrath-laden body.

If our accounts are to be reconciled and received by God, they will have to be rendered righteous.

That will not come by our efforts to earn credit on our own behalf.

We are saved by good works.

Jesus’ good works save us: His bank on our behalf, His benevolence for our benefit.

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