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Day 9

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans.

But now, irrespective of law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

RESPONSORY

Once you were estranged from God, at enmity with him in heart and mind, and your deeds were evil. But now, by Christ’s death in his mortal body, – God has reconciled you to himself.

God made Christ’s sacrificial death the means of expiating the sins of all believers. – God has reconciled you to himself.

From his treatise On the Trinity by St. Augustine of Hippo (+430)

What was so necessary for the building up of our hope, and for the freeing the minds of mortals cast down by the condition of mortality itself from despair of immortality, than that it should be demonstrated to us at how great a price God rated us, and how greatly He loved us?

But what is meant by justified in His blood? . . . And what is meant by being reconciled by the death of His Son? Was it indeed so, that when God the Father was angry with us, He saw the death of His Son for us, and was appeased towards us? Was then His Son already so far appeased towards us, that He even deigned to die for us; while the Father was still so far angry, that except His Son died for us, He would not be appeased? . . .

Pray, unless the Father had been already appeased, would He have delivered up His own Son, not sparing Him for us? . . . But I see that the Father loved us also before, not only before the Son died for us, but before He created the world; the apostle himself being witness, who says, “According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world” [Eph 1:4]. Nor was the Son delivered up for us as it were unwillingly, the Father Himself not sparing Him; for it is said also concerning Him, “Who loved me, and delivered up Himself for me” [Gal 2:20]. Therefore together both the Father and the Son, and the Spirit of both, work all things equally and harmoniously.

What, then, is the righteousness by which the devil was conquered? What, except the righteousness of Jesus Christ? And how was he conquered? Because, when he found in Him nothing worthy of death, yet he slew Him. And certainly it is just, that we whom he held as debtors, should be dismissed free by believing in Him whom he slew without any debt. In this way it is that we are said to be justified in the blood of Christ. For so that innocent blood was shed for the remission of our sins. . . . And hence He proceeds to His passion, that He might pay for us debtors that which He Himself did not owe. . . . And hence it was necessary that He should be both man and God. For unless He had been man, He could not have been slain.

It is something . . . more profound of comprehension, to see that the devil was conquered when he thought himself to have conquered, that is, when Christ was slain. For then that blood, since it was His who had no sin at all, was poured out for the remission of our sins; that, because the devil deservedly held those whom, as guilty of sin, he bound by the condition of death, he might deservedly loose them through Him, whom, as guilty of no sin, the punishment of death undeservedly affected.

And therefore He conquered the devil first by righteousness, and afterwards by power: namely, by righteousness, because He had no sin, and was slain by him most unjustly; but by power, because having been dead He lived again, never afterwards to die.

Musical Selection

Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
my beauty are, my glorious dress;
midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed;
with joy shall I lift up my head.

Bold shall I stand in that great day,
for who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully absolved through thee I am,
from sin and fear, from guilt and shame.

When from the dust of death I rise
to claim my mansion in the skies,
e’en then shall this be all my plea,
Jesus hath lived, hath died for me!

O let the dead now hear his voice,

Let those fast bound in sin rejoice!

Their beauty this, their glorious dress

Jesus, your Blood and righteousness

Collect

Omnipotent God,

your glory is incomprehensible,

your majesty infinite,

and your power incomparable.

Found us on the certainty of your promises,

that no matter what happens,

we may be firm in faith

and live uprightly in your church,

bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen. (Book of Common Worship)

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