A Ministry of Righteousness :: Deeper Devotion

A Ministry of Righteousness

November 10, 2008

By Glenn Ansley

2 Corinthians 3:9
If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!

It is without argument that every man and woman deserves to spend eternity without God. You and I deserve hell. This truth was never clearer in the history of humanity than on the day that Moses came down from the mountain with God’s Ten Commandments. To this day, not one person other than the Son of God has met the standard set before us. There is absolutely no hope of humanity ever reaching such a glorious standard by our own accord; “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). While the Ten Commandments will forever point to our inherent sinfulness, the apostle Paul reminds us of its simultaneous glorification of the Father.

And yet, as today’s passage teaches, “how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!” Fellow believer, you and I have been blessed with a gift far more glorious than we could ever comprehend while on this side of heaven. Jesus Christ’s act of total sacrifice has trumped the glory of the Ten Commandments. You and I are no longer filthy rags in the shadow of the Ten Commandments, but rather, we have been deemed “white as snow,” cleansed by the blood of Jesus!

It is through the cross that humanity has once again been given the ability to commune with the glory of God. If it were not for Christ’s sacrifice, we would know nothing of the prayer, the comfort and the hope that we take for granted. Paul reminds us that this hope has given us the ability to reflect such a great glory… and yet, we fail to do so. Instead, we take the glorious Light of the world and we hide Him under a veil, hoping that no one will discover our transformation. What a shame. I pray that we would comprehend this great gift we have been given and purposely share the glory of God with all we meet.

“Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold… and we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:12, 18).

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