I was reading Ezekiel 33:13 today, which says:
“When I say to the righteous that he shall live, and he has trusted in his righteousness, and shall do unrighteousness, none of his righteousness shall be remembered, but because of his unrighteousness that he has done, he shall die.”
We must now consider this passage in light of Messiah in our lives.
Righteousness is good right? Of course it is, after all Abraham believed and it was imputed to him as righteousness (Rom 4:3, Gal 3:6, Jam 2:23). I believe the key phrase in this verse is “and he has trusted in his righteousness…” It is not wrong to be righteous. In fact, righteousness and holiness are quite encouraged. But where does our trust lie? According to this passage, it should not lie in our own righteousness (though we are righteous). It is not an issue of being righteous (YHWH is saying to the righteous, ‘you shall live.’”). The issue is that the righteous one trusted in his righteousness and when he did unrighteousness, all of his righteousness has been forgotten.
If we believe as Abraham has believed, it is imputed to us as righteousness. Okay. We are righteous. YHWH says to us that we will live. But where is our trust? If we trust in our righteousness and we sin, we are condemned. If we trust in our righteousness and say we have no sin, we are a liar and we make Him a liar (1 Joh 1:8-10). But if we do sin (and are not trusting in our own righteousness) then we have an Advocate with the Father, Y’shua the Messiah, the Righteous (1 Joh 2:1).
We must remember that we are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves, it is a free gift from our Father (Eph 2:8).
“Indeed, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in Elohim who raises the dead, who rescued us from so great a death, and does rescue, in whom we trust that He shall still rescue us.”
2 Cor 1:9-10
Where is your trust? Is it in your own righteousness? Or is it in Y’shua the Messiah? I put my trust in Him and call on His name. There is no other name by which men can be saved (Acts 4:12).
