# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1905_S57 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) Che Lutheran Pioneer, A MISSIONARY MOONTHLY. PuBLIsHED BY THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN SyNODICAL CONFERENCE OF NorTH AMERICA. R. A. BISCHOFF, Editor. Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter. t. Loui s, Mo., August, 1905. No. 8. "Tis Jesus Makes Me Whole. Lord, at Thy feet I now lie down, And pour out all my soul; For there I find relief, and own ‘Tis Jesus makes me whole. This wayward, willful, sinning heart, Beyond my own control, Is quieted as faith beholds, *Tis Jesus makes me whole. Thy blood I own—Thy precious blood, And love so free and full, Have met my need, and made me cry, Tis Jesus makes me whole. Lord, I adore Thy blessed grace, Which gave me faith to roll The burden of my sins on Thee: ’Tis Jesus makes me whole. Sel. ————oo-e—____—_ Trust in Christ’s Righteousness. How can a man trust in his own righteousness? It is like seeking shelter under one’s own shadow. A man may stoop to the very ground, and the lower he bends he still finds that his shadow is be- neath him. But if a man flees to the shadow of a great rock or of a wide-spreading tree, he will find shelter from the hot summer sun. So human mer- its cannot give salvation, human righteousness can- not shelter us from the wrath of God. Do you know what the Bible says of our own righteousness? The prophet says, ‘‘We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.’’ Wesurely cannot expect to stand before God clothed in a lot of dirty rags. His wrath would hurl us with our dirty rags into everlasting damnation; for He is pure and holy, and hates and punishes all impurity. Of Him the psalmist says, ‘‘Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with Thee.” There is only one righteousness which is acceptable unto God and in which we can stand before Him. It is the righteousness which God’s own Son procured for us by His life, suffer- ings, and death. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteous- ness of God in Him. This righteousness which Christ procured for us is perfectly pure, without the least spot or stain. Clothed by faith in this right- eousness, we are acceptable unto God, and can stand before Him as His beloved children; for He sees us clothed in the righteousness of His own Son with whom He is well pleased. “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.’’ Trust in Christ’s righteousness only. How can a man trust partly in Christ’s righteousness and partly in his own? It is like trying to cross a river by walking partly on a sound plank and partly on a rotten plank. He that does this will as surely fall into the water as if he walked on the rotten plank only. He cannot cross the water with one foot on the sound plank and the other on the rotten plank. He will fall through and perish. So he that trusts partly in the righteousness of Christ and partly in his own righteousness will surely fail of eternal life. It is not the work of Christ and some- thing added that saves us, but the work of Christ alone, apart from anything and everything we can do or feel. Christ’s righteousness is the only sound plank on which sinners can cross the dark river of death and enter everlasting life. Don’t try to walk at the same time on the rotten plank of your own righteousness, lest you fall through and perish for-