Righteousness : We Owe Him That Much

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." Isaiah 53:3-7

The Prophet Isaiah, in the 53rd chapter of the Book of Isaiah, provides us with a glimpse into the suffering the Jesus endured on our behalf. Isaiah makes a point of emphasizing the fact that the pain that Jesus suffered was due to our sin and iniquity. We are responsible for His suffering (as the Apostle Paul points out), "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;". (Romans 3:23) As a result, we who believe and call ourselves Christians owe it to Jesus to live a holy and righteous life. If we don't, then what we are saying in effect is: Jesus, You didn't suffer enough. The writer of Hebrews makes this same point in chapter 6 of the Epistle to the Hebrews. He writes, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6) Please understand, I am not saying if you make a mistake you are condemned, for that would contradict scripture. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1) But what I am saying is that we have to be led by the Holy Spirit and not by our flesh as Paul points out in Romans. If we say that we are Christians, but continue to walk and pursue a life dedicated to glorifying our flesh we shame Jesus. The profession of faith we made was a lie to please others, but the truth is revealed in our actions. As Christians we must not only profess Jesus with our mouths, we have to live a life dedicated to Him. Do you believe the gospel? Then meditate on and put into action Jesus' words captured in Mark 1:15, "And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."