My devotions this morning were in Romans 10, where I read “ For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:3-4, ESV).
The Jews of Paul’s day (and too often, me) thought that righteousness was something they were required to produce. When they couldn’t, they felt shame and doubled their efforts to manufacture some form of righteousness.
In reality, righteousness results from submitting to God’s work, not by submitting our good works to God. In this context, “submitting” is closely tied to believing.
“O Lord, I want to receive — I want to submit — I want to believe — I want release from shame. And I want freedom from sin.
While I now recall that I can do none of this on my own, I believe that you are doing all of it through your Spirit. Thanks for your unspeakable gift. Amen.”