Briefing: According to the Webster’s Dictionary, righteous is an act in accordance with divine or moral law; free from guilt or sin.

Dispatch (Assignment): Looking at the definition provided above, are you a righteous person? Read Romans 1:17 and write down, or discuss, the difference between Webster’s definition and what Paul says about righteousness.

On the Street: Are you a righteous person? Are you free from guilt or sin? What a high standard, actually the perfect standard. Are you a perfect person? If not, then you are on the same playing field as the rest of us.

Law enforcement officers should understand this concept of righteousness better than anyone. We hold everyone in our jurisdiction to standard of the law. Let’s just take the traffic laws. Has there ever been anyone who could drive across town without committing a single traffic law violation? They use their blinkers, obey the speed limit, and never get too close to the car in front of them? Someone could do this on occasion but to say they have NEVER violated a single law is like saying you have lived a sinless life.

In a couple of chapters we will see Paul make the statement that all people have sinned and there is no one who is righteous. If this is true then what are we doing trying to live this Christian life?

Only God is righteous and all mankind falls short of His standard. Paul is giving us the encouraging news that although we cannot be morally perfect, by faith and faith only, God will credit to us His divine righteousness. God has such compassion for us that if we will just believe and have faith, He will give us what we cannot get or do for ourselves.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus is the one who was sinless yet took on our sin while on the cross. The perfect one died for all the flawed of the world. That is why Jesus is called the sinless, spotless lamb. We are washed clean by the blood He bled on the cross.

Investigational Resources: Romans 3:20-24.

Officer Safety Principle: It is important for us to walk by faith and not by sight. In order to be successful at this, you need to develop a complete trust in God. This means trusting Him through the good times and the bad. Start practicing this while on the job.

from The Book of Romans Through the Eyes of a Cop
©by Charles Gilliland. Used by permission.
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