But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.” 23 Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.
24 After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.”26 At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him. 27 When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.
Yesterday I quoted Romans 1:16-17 in connection with faith. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” Romans 1:16-17
Today I quote it in connection with righteousness. Paul speaks here of the righteousness of God. When Martin Luther was studying this passage he initially thought this was speaking of the character of God – his righteous character, God’s justice. It was a condemning thought. God is just and Luther realized he was not. He had no hope of standing before a just God, sinner that he was.
But as Luther continued to study this text, he realized that the righteousness of God is more accurately the righteousness from God. This is a gift of God’s grace which we receive by faith. We don’t earn it. We don’t deserve it. God gives it and we receive it.
This all seems so dry, though. Dusty theological factoids. So let’s bring it closer to home. I am convinced that we all want to be justified or vindicated. We want to be justified in decisions we make at work. We want to be justified in our demands at home. We want to be justified in our political decisions. We want to be shown right (justified!) in our moral decisions. It matters to us.
Paul speaks to Felix about faith in Christ Jesus, about faith, self-control, righteousness and the coming judgment. The word for righteousness is the same word as justification. The Greek word is δικαιοσύνης, and although it is a forensic and legal term, it carries great weight in the Gospel message. God vindicates those who put their faith in him. We don’t need to prove ourselves. We don’t need to justify our actions. We live in grace by faith.
What if you never had to defend your actions, justify your words, or prove we are right in our beliefs? What if the pressure is off. We will be publically vindicated on the Great Last Day for our faith in Jesus. Every time we’ve been ridiculed, suffered for righteousness sake, sacrificed for the benefit of another, and gone the extra mile for love’s sake, we will be shown to be right. Good. Holy. Just. And when we’ve failed and repented and returned to Jesus we will be vindicated before God. That’s God’s gift: we are declared righteous by grace through faith. Thanks be to God.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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