Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 101

April 10;   2 Corinthians 7:2;   156/260(I);   ‘Paul the Righteous’

2 Corinthians 7:2 Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one

Paul was speaking and naturally speaking, Paul lied.  He officiated at the murder of Stephen (Acts 7 & 8).  He was responsible for the persecution, arrests and most likely deaths of many other Christians.  How could Paul possibly have said this?  The answer is easy, Paul not only understood righteousness, but the Lord used Paul, primarily, to teach us about righteousness.  Righteousness is one of the greatest blessings and important teachings in the Bible.  Righteousness defined is the ability to stand in the presence of the Lord without guilt or shame as if sin never existed. Without understanding righteousness, even if Paul had accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior, Paul would have had to live with the guilt and shame of his treatment of Christians.  Quite possibly that guilt would have minimized the ministry of Paul.  He would not have thought himself worthy to do the Lord’s work because of his persecution of Christians.  That is one vital reason the Lord established righteousness, to remove guilt and shame from us because of our conduct before becoming a Christian.  The Lord taught Paul that when He took our sins upon Himself on the cross, Jesus forgave us our sins, cleansed us from our sins and gave us righteousness. Again, this is right standing with God.  Paul understood that because of Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross, he was forgiven of his past.  He understood this, believed this and lived and ministered as if he never sinned against Christians.  In the eyes of God, because of righteousness, Paul didn’t.  How incredible that the Lord thought of everything we could need.