Lesson 173. Righteousness by Faith

My dear Lord Jesus is hanging on the cross. He became a curse; He became sin. The Love of God the Father was poured out upon the Son in all His justice, without any mercy. All hatred of sin was brought down upon Christ because He chose to pay the price for humanity’s sin. Jesus experienced what every sinner who rejects God’s Love, manifested in mercy and in the gift of repentance, will experience. And the sufferings of soul that Christ endured were as much greater than ours as He was more perfect than we are. The sins of all repentant righteous people were laid upon Him, and He bore the just punishment for that of which He was innocent in order to give people what they did not deserve. Jesus accepted the death that I should die in order to give me the life of which He was worthy. What an amazing exchange! And people refuse to believe this? How then will they be saved? And who will tell them about such amazing Love?

Being forsaken by God is the most terrible condition of soul a person can ever experience. It is darkness without any hope of salvation; it is the hopeless expectation of eternal death; it is the great suffering that broke Christ’s heart. No matter how severe the physical pain tearing His body, which was nailed to the tree, the agony of the death of the soul surpassed everything. Christ is dying!!! He is dying so that I may live. He sheds His pure blood so that I may live forever. He loved me and died for me while I was still sinful and did not understand what I was doing, and at a certain point in my fall He drew my gaze to Himself, crucified for my sins. A great mystery which the angels desire to look into!

The best sermon on righteousness by faith that I have ever heard was delivered by a man who had been sentenced to the highest penalty. Before the sentence was carried out, when the criminal was given the final word, he was very brief, but in his short address he expressed the entire essence of his faith. The journalists who were present at the execution did not even consider it necessary to write down this sermon-confession, but passed it on orally to the public, after which another person recorded it and presented it to the public. This is probably the shortest of all the sermons I know, yet it has turned more people to God than any other. It produced, and continues to produce, a “mind-blowing effect” in the criminal world, bringing the most hardened criminals to repentance. This sermon consists of eight words, but it contains every aspect of righteousness by faith. The speaker put all his faith into it, and perhaps more tears of repentance and tender emotion have been shed after hearing it than after any other sermon. Whenever I reread these words and this story, tears come to my eyes as I realize how good the Lord is and how deep His Love is for me, a sinner.

I think that you also know it by heart and have heard it more than once. It reads as follows: “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!”

This sermon was spoken to Christ during the saddest hours of His life, when He was dying the death of the soul and drinking the bitterest cup of my sins. He did not see the light and did not know what awaited Him beyond this moment. The only thing Jesus understood at that time was that the payment for my sin was death—eternal separation from God without any hope of resurrection. The whole world, with all its malice, came crashing down upon Christ. The nails tore His body, His soul was fainting unto death, and darkness reigned all around; there was not a single ray of light. The disciples stood nearby in bewilderment and simply remained silent, waiting to see how events would unfold. And suddenly Jesus heard from the lips of a criminal words that became the greatest support and comfort to Him. They gave Christ confidence that His sacrifice for my sins and for the sins of humanity was not in vain, and that there was already one sinful soul who had accepted Him as his Savior before He became his Savior. The thief’s faith surpassed everything and everyone; it strengthened Jesus, and to this day it continues to raise thousands of souls longing for salvation from the power of darkness out of sinful darkness.

I do not even know the name of this great preacher, but everyone calls him the Thief on the Cross.

What, then, did he say?

He declared that he believed in Christ’s mission and proclaimed Him to be God. While to many Christ was a Teacher, a Mentor, and a good Man, to the thief He became the One Whom he called Lord. This was the very first sermon about the resurrection from the dead, when no one had yet died. The thief made the boldest declaration that the power of death would be defeated by Christ’s Resurrection from the dead. By faith, the criminal proclaimed Jesus to be his High Priest and delivered the very first sermon about the Heavenly Sanctuary, which Christ was preparing to enter with His blood as the Intercessor for my sins and his. The sinner placed all his faith in Jesus as his personal Savior, and he asked the Lord to become his Advocate as well when He presented his case in the investigative judgment, which would begin at the time appointed by God and foretold in the prophecies of Daniel. The thief declared his faith in the existence of the Heavenly Kingdom, in which Jesus is King. In essence, he proclaimed Christ to be the King of the Universe and the Head of the invisible Heavenly Kingdom while He was still a curse for sin, rejected by God the Father.

By faith, the sinner sees himself redeemed in this Kingdom solely by God’s grace and by the mercy of Jesus risen from the dead, and his faith is counted to him for righteousness. The thief on the cross comforts Christ, and Jesus accepts this comfort. In the person of this nameless man, who had not yet done anything good, who had even been condemned by the world to a just punishment, who had not yet been baptized and had not become a member of any denomination, Jesus accepts me and everyone who comes to Him with similar faith and asks for mercy.

The thief could only trust in the merits of Christ, believing that only through Him could he be saved. He directs all his faith toward the unseen and receives assurance that his prayer has been heard, his faith has been accepted, and before the entire Universe he is declared the first righteous person to whom righteousness was imputed by faith in Jesus, in the words: “Verily I say unto thee to day, shalt thou be with Me in paradise!” Some time later, the thief receives the seal of God’s approval with the words: “It is finished!!!”

How grateful I am to this nameless messenger for such a simple and understandable sermon, which is so deep, pure, and candid that it penetrates to the very depths of my corrupt heart and awakens my entire being to faith, pointing out the true way of salvation through Jesus Christ—a salvation that takes place through faith in Jesus as my personal Savior.

In this travail of His soul, all His Love for me is revealed—a Love that awaits my acceptance and desires to work in me and through me.

But this mercy of Christ is shown not only to me, but to everyone who reads these lines.

On the cross, true Godly Love, which is the union of mercy and justice, was revealed to the entire Universe. If anyone thinks that God is lenient toward sin, then look at the crucified Christ, and you will see God’s true attitude toward lawlessness.

If you believe that every sinner should die in this way, then look at the thief on the cross, who was justified not by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus.

1. What new things did you learn from this lesson?

2. What hope for sinners is found at the cross?

3. Why do you think that only a perfect sacrifice could satisfy the requirements of the Law?

4. In what condition does Jesus invite us to come to Him: holy or sinful?

5. What prevents a person from accepting the message of salvation?

6. How can one obtain righteousness by faith?

7. Please read 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Matthew 11:27–28; 1 John 2:2; Isaiah 59:16–18; 1 John 5:12; Luke 23:33–47; Hebrews 10:19–21; 9:14; 4:16; Romans 5:6–10; 3:24–26 in the light of our lesson.