- 51. Judgment and Righteousness
Isaiah 32:16 Then judgments shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
God promises judgment and righteousness, and the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. We could not by ourselves believe that our sin is judged at the cross and that God declares us righteous, but the Holy Spirit convinces us that it is true. Now we believe the promise.
The wilderness is the emptiness of our hearts and the meaninglessness of our lives; into this inner desert God judges the sin that causes it. We believe that our sin is judged definitively at the Cross of Christ, and so the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin so that we repent, and He convicts us of judgment so that we believe. The fruitful field of our souls remains in righteousness, for it is the righteousness of God earned for us and graciously given by Jesus, and so the Holy Spirit convicts us of the righteousness of God; we believe it and so we are. When we are accounted righteous the heart becomes a fruitful field producing the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.). There is more abundance and beautiful fruit within us than we will ever see, until we see Jesus face to face. Then we will know as we are known.
We cannot prove that sin is judged and forgiven; we cannot prove that we are righteous; we cannot prove God and His promises. However, we see by faith, and the Holy Spirit convinces of the Truth. We receive the Gospel mixed with faith, and the truth sets us free.
God promises Judgment: our sin is judged and we ourselves are not judged; we are saved and accounted righteous. Judgment is a good thing, when bad things are judged. Judgment of sin makes us righteous, and that is a good thing. If we do not see our sin judged on Christ, or we do not allow it to be so, then we must bear the judgment of sin by ourselves; and that would be a bad thing. But there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus our Lord.