ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tokonaki Fepueli 3, 2018

Lau mai ia ma‘a tau ma‘oni‘oni

( His righteousness – counted to us)

Fehu‘i #29

‘Oku founga fēfē ‘etau ma‘u ‘a e fakamo‘uí ?

‘I he tui ‘ata‘atā pe kia Sisu Kalaisi mo ‘ene pekia ko hotau fetongi ‘i he kolosí, he neongo ‘etau halaia ‘i he‘etau talangata‘a ki he ‘Otuá pea tau kei malele pe ki he ngaahi kovi kotoa pe, ka kuo hanga ‘e he ‘Otuá, ‘o ‘ikai kau ki ai ha‘atau ngaue lelei, ‘i he‘ene kelesi haohaoá, ‘oku ne foaki kiate kitautolu ‘a e ma‘oni‘oni haohaoa ‘a Kalaisí ‘i he taimi ‘oku tau fakatomala ai mo tui falala kiate Ia.

How can we be saved?

Only by faith in Jesus Christ and in his substitutionary atoning death on the cross; so even though we are guilty of having disobeyed God and are still inclined to all evil, nevertheless, God, without any merit of our own but only by pure grace, imputes to us the perfect righteousness of Christ when we repent and believe in him.

‘EFESO 2:8-9

He ko e kelesi pē kuo mou mo‘ui mei ai, ko e me‘a ‘i ho‘omou tui; ‘io, na‘e ‘ikai meiate kimoutolu ia, ka ko e foaki mei he ‘Otua: na‘e ‘ikai tupu mei ha ngaahi ngāue, koe‘uhi ke ‘oua na‘a ai ha taha ‘e fa‘a pōlepole.

EPHESIANS 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Commentary - KEVIN DEYOUNG (cont…)

The other word that is so crucial here is imputes. It is essential to the gospel and to the Christian faith that the righteous life that Christ lived is imputed to us. That means it's reckoned to us. It's counted to us. It's sort of a wire transfer of funds. And there's a difference between a righteousness that is inherent in us, infused in us, a kind of righteousness that says, "Well, look at me, I'm righteous. I do righteous things." That's not what this is talking about. This is talking about the righteousness of Christ that is outside of us, but because we're joined to Jesus by faith, it gets counted as our righteousness, so that God can be both the just and the justifier of the wicked.

That's the problem in Romans 3, and that's the good news of the Gospel - that though we are still sinners, God justifies us. And he is just to do so not because he waves a magic wand or says sin's not a big deal (wink-wink); it's because we belong to Christ and his righteousness is our righteousness that God can be just and we can be justified.

Prayer

Merciful One, we renounce our pride and all pretensions of selfrighteousness, and we come to you in repentance and faith. We trust your death to give us life. We praise you for the gift of salvation. Amen.