How often do you give thanks for what God has given you? Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 86 Q. We have been delivered from our misery by God’s grace alone through Christ and not because we have earned it: why then must we still do good? A. To be sure, Christ has redeemed us by his blood. But we do good because Christ by his Spirit is also renewing us to be like himself, so that in all our living we may show that we are thankful to God for all he has done for us, and so that he may be praised through us. And we do good so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, and so that by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ. Summary During Jesus’ travels between Samaria and Galilee he came across a group of ten lepers. The lepers mentioned in Luke 17 are individuals who had contracted leprosy, a rash like skin disease. In addition to the medical concerns affiliated with leprosy, according to the ceremonial law, this made one unclean. Included amongst the consequences of being considered unclean under the ceremonial law was being unable to enter God’s sanctuary and not being allowed around other people who were ceremonially clean, including one’s own family members. For this reason, groups of lepers were known to congregate together, forming a sense of community amongst those who had been cast out of society on account of their skin condition. The rules regarding distancing oneself from those considered ceremonially clean likely explains why the ten lepers yelled toward Jesus instead of approaching him with their request for healing. Fortunately for this group of lepers, the distance between them and Jesus was not an issue, as Jesus offers healing. The command to “go and show yourselves to the priests” carries the implication that by the time they reach the priests, the lepers would be healed. Among the other duties of a priest, it was also their responsibility to verify that those who had an ailment considered unclean, like leprosy, had indeed been healed before they could be declared ceremonially clean. Understanding Jesus’ instruction for what it was, each of the ten obeyed and were healed along the way. However, only one returned to Jesus to give his thanks. Dig Deeper Kate and I (Pastor Alan) have been married for 13 years, which hopefully makes it safe to admit that my least favorite part of the wedding was writing thank you notes afterwards. Part of my struggle was in trying to avoid having them all sound the same, that and the occasional hand cramp. Despite our family and friends knowing that we were grateful for them, we still made sure to write out thank you notes because actions matter. This can be seen in the parable of the ten lepers. While it is likely that all ten lepers felt thankful that Jesus had healed them, only one cared enough to return to Jesus to express his gratitude. Jesus’ rebuke of the other nine shows that he expected more than feelings of gratitude, he expected them to return and express their thankfulness as the Samaritan had done. When it comes to the grace of Jesus and other blessings bestowed upon us by God, his expectation is likewise more than feelings of gratitude. Our gratitude is meant to lead us to action. The good works that we do in the name of Jesus are not a means of earning God’s favor. Instead, these works are a way for us to express our thankfulness to God for what has already been done on our behalf. Which of these lepers’ example have you been following - the nine who were healed and went about their lives, or the one, who upon being healed, took action to show his gratitude to Jesus for what he had done for him? AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who takes pity on His children and heals our diseases; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask God to help you make gratitude the primary motivation in your life; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Corinthians 5

Because the righteousness which can pass God’s scrutiny must be entirely perfect and must in every way If this is your plan, your righteousness better far exceed the pseudo-righteousness of the Pharisees. so hung up in dotting the i's and crossing the t's that Jesus mentioned in v18 that they missed the righteousness God will not set aside His holy, righteous and perfect standards. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who defines goodness, holiness and righteousness

Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8  Whoever makes a practice of sinning John writes, "Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he [Christ] is righteous. Neither is John claiming here that one who is in Christ has attained perfection and is totally without You either "practice righteousness" because "God's seed abides in you," or you "make a practice of sinning AAA Prayer (About) A CKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS : Our Father God, whose children practice righteousness;

faithful city has become a harlot, justice has been replaced with bribery, and God’s people have traded righteousness What should have produced justice instead yields bloodshed, and what should have borne righteousness trisagion (thrice holy) - continually sung over God's immediate heavenly presence, have a devastating effect - sung here not just to praise the LORD, but also to warn sinners like him to stand clear of God's perfection Isaiah knew his unclean lips and sin stained eyes could not withstand the unmitigated perfection of the

nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. God's covenant requirements, so that God could grant and credit to you the perfect satisfaction, righteousness we require; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will fully trust in Christ's perfect obedience

God credits your faith as righteousness. said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6   Abram believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness God is contained, as David and Paul teach us when they declare that man blessed to whom God grants righteousness He would have his times of faltering, but he was credited with righteousness that was not his own through , righteousness, and holiness to those He saved.

God's righteousness and your peace have come together. those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land. 10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth springs from the earth, And righteousness looks down from heaven. 12 Indeed, the LORD will give what is good, And our land will yield its produce. 13 Righteousness God's covenant requirements (ḥěʹ·sěḏ) are met by His faithfulness, and His righteousness [holy justice

of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4  Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Jesus Christ is the perfect revelation of God to humanity, yet many Israelites chose instead to trust Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, no other sacrifice or shedding of blood needs to be made for the atonement There is no need to look anywhere else for righteousness before God; the grace of Jesus is enough to

Do this until your kingdom is so complete and perfect that in it you are all in all. The children of God practice righteousness while the children of the devil do not. And while the choice between the ways of righteousness and the ways of the devil seems like an easy one It is not always a decision between doing something righteous and doing something unrighteous. Take to heart John’s encouragement from today’s scripture passage by living lives of righteousness because

Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8  Whoever makes a practice of sinning evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness Also, by His Word and Spirit he certainly and effectively renews them to repentance so that they have of the devil: those who unrepentantly keep sinning are of the devil, while those who have been made righteous in Christ will practice righteousness.