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Two kinds of righteousness.

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What are we talking about when

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we talk about two kinds

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of righteousness?

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The two kinds of righteousness

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is an idea,

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a paradigm way of thinking that

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I would consider to be inherent

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in a lot of Lutheran thinking.

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And what the contention then is,

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is the two kinds of

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righteousness is not a doctrine,

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but it's just a way of

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approaching the doctrinal task.

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That's how Luther described it

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in his Galatians commentary

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of 1535.

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Talked about two kinds

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of righteousness,

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a passive and an act of

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righteousness. Now,

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the best way to really kind of

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get a handle on two kinds of

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righteousness is to illustrate

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it and to think about it

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in terms of two axes.

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So we think about God

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and we think about the

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individual human being.

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And the human being is in a

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relationship with God by

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virtue of his creation,

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but it's a relationship that is

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fractured by sin and

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so is problematic.

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And so to be right with God is

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one of the big questions for the

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human how do I get right with

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God? And the answer, of course,

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we know,

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is he's right with God only

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because of God's grace,

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only because of God's actions.

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And so that's what

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we think about.

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And it's what we call the

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righteousness before God.

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Or a passive righteousness is

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the term that Luther uses.

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Or you might call it even as the

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picture will illustrate,

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a vertical righteousness.

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This is the righteousness

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of faith.

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This is the righteousness that

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God gives to us because

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of Christ.

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And it comes to me only because

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of what God has done

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for me in Christ.

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This is where the gospel

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runs everything.

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The gospel reigns full blast.

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So I know where I stand before

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God because God says you are

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forgiven in Christ. God does it.

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I do nothing.

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I'm completely passive.

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God does it all.

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I simply receive what God gives.

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This is the area of this

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vertical righteousness.

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Or we might say righteousness

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before God.

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And the Latin phrase for that is

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coram deo before God in

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the presence of God,

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before the face of God.

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So coram deo in the vertical

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relationship,

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I am righteous only because

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God declares it.

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And God makes me righteous

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because of his work in Christ.

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It's all God's work to me.

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Now,

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the key to understanding the

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idea of two kinds of

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righteousness is then what about

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the other kind of righteous?

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And the other kind of

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righteousness is not

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antithetical to this

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Righteousness,

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but is consistent and in

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relationship with it.

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And that is a righteousness

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on the horizontal plane,

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a righteousness of me,

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the Christian,

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in relationship to

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other creatures.

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So other people in my family or

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at work or people I encounter

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just in my life,

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or it's even my relationship

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to other parts of creation.

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So the trees that are out there

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and the flowers that bloom and

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all the other different parts of

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creation, all of these things,

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I'm in relation to all these

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things and the cats and the dogs

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and whatever else you want

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to draw up here.

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I'm in relation to all the rest

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of creation in this

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horizontal sphere.

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I have responsibilities

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to carry out to them.

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And that righteousness I do,

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I carry it out. I fulfill this.

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I'm responsible. Now,

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I do this work because God

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enables me and God graces me,

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and God equips me,

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but I'm doing it,

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and I'm responsible.

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And when I hurry up my

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work, my neighbor benefits.

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When I'm a good father,

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my children benefit.

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When I'm being a good husband,

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my wife benefits.

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When I do my work as a professor

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and do my diligence and teach

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well, my students benefit.

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So what I do matters

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to those around me.

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Does what I do here win

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favor with God? No,

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because that's in the vertical

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realm. In the vertical realm,

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it's all passive.

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But in the horizontal realm,

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it's about what I do and about

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my responsibilities.

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So here we're talking about

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active righteousness. Here,

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it's what I do in this

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horizontal realm,

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it's what I carry out.

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And in this horizontal realm,

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what is it that guides me?

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What is it that teaches me?

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What is it that helps me know

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what to do? Well, frankly,

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it's the will of God.

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And as we learned before,

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the will of God is the law,

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God's will for my life.

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And so the will of God teaches

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me, shows me what to do.

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And that's good.

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And it guides me and directs me.

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So I fulfill my righteousness

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in the horizontal realm.

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So we have two kinds

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of righteousness,

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a vertical righteousness,

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passive, simply giving to me.

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And I have a horizontal

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righteousness,

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an active righteousness that I

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carry out in my activities for

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the sake of those around me.

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And both of these are

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working together,

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and they come together in me,

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the Christian,

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who's living always in my

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passive righteousness and always

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actively doing my active

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righteousness both at once,

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because that's who God has made

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me to be. So down here,

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we think about this as the

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coram mundo or before the

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face of the world realm.

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So we have two nice Latin

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phrases to capture this.

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And now we have two kinds of

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righteousness going full tilt,

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and me, the Christian,

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living in the reality

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of both at once.