I want to begin this essay with Psalm 143:8-12 (NET):

May I hear about your loyal love (ḥeseḏ, חסדך,; Septuagint: ἔλεός) in the morning, for I trust in you.  Show me the way I should go, because I long for you.  Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord!  I run to you for protection.  Teach me to do what pleases you, for you are my God.  May your kind presence (rûaḥ, רוחך; Septuagint: πνεῦμά) lead me into a level land.  O Lord, for the sake of your reputation, revive me!  Because of your justice (ṣᵊḏāqâ, בצדקתך; Septuagint: δικαιοσύνῃ), rescue me from trouble!  As a demonstration of your loyal love (ḥeseḏ, ובחסדך,; Septuagint: ἐλέει, a form of ἔλεος), destroy my enemies!  Annihilate all who threaten my life, for I am your servant.

David was probably considering other human enemies, but in this context I think it’s important to view things through the eyes of the cartoon character Pogo:   “We have met the enemy and he is us.”¹  I hear the Mission Impossible theme in my imagination: “Your mission, should you choose to accept it…”  Clearly, sinner that I am, I am my own worst enemy.  How can I be destroyed, annihilated, rescued and revived?

But now apart from the law (νόμου, a form of νόμος), Paul continued his letter to the Romans, the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God (which is attested by the law [νόμου, a form of νόμος] and the prophets) has been disclosed – namely, the righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) of God through the faithfulness (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) of Jesus Christ for all who believe (πιστεύοντας, a form of πιστεύω) [Table].²  The righteousness of God as I see it these days is nothing less than the love that fulfills the law which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.  It might be more than that.  My journey doesn’t fill me with confidence that I can say I have the final word on something.  But it cannot be less.

I know that I will never justify myself or be declared righteous before God by my efforts to keep his law, For no one is declared righteous (δικαιωθήσεται, a form of δικαιόω) before him by the works (ἔργων, a form of ἔργον) of the law (νόμου, a form of νόμος).³  My own experience has confirmed over and over again that as I attempted to keep God’s law by my own efforts I only got better acquainted with my sin, for through the law comes the knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις) of sin.⁴  Only with God’s righteousness, the love that fulfills the law by the fruit of His Spirit, is it possible for me to say with Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”⁵  For there is no distinction [Table], Paul continued, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  But they are justified (δικαιούμενοι, another form of δικαιόω) freely (δωρεάν) by his grace (χάριτι, a form of χάρις) through the redemption (ἀπολυτρώσεως, a form of ἀπολύτρωσις) that is in Christ Jesus.⁶

I didn’t see that at first because I had separated Christ’s redemption or justification, spending eternity in heaven as opposed to the lake of fire, from righteousness.  Redemption or justification was God’s doing, the “finished work of Christ.”  Righteousness was my obedience to Christ and the law.

Paul continued, God publicly displayed [Christ Jesus] at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith (πίστεως, a form of πίστις).  This was to demonstrate his righteousness (δικαιοσύνης, a form of δικαιοσύνη), because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.  This was also to demonstrate his righteousness (δικαιοσύνης, a form of δικαιοσύνη) in the present time, so that he would be just (δίκαιον, a form of δίκαιος) and the justifier (δικαιοῦντα, another form of δικαιόω) of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness (πίστεως, a form of πίστις) [Table].⁷

I was all for God’s vindication.  He had put up with more than enough from me.  If Jesus’ death demonstrated his righteousness and made it so he would be just (or, righteous) and the justifier, that was a good thing.  And these verses do stand as a pithy declaration of the “finished work of Christ.”

The mercy seat was discussed more in the letter to the Hebrews.  I don’t know who wrote it.  I thought it was Paul, at first.  The more I read Paul’s other letters it seemed it was someone else, someone who knew Paul and his teaching but lacked his style.  The writer of Hebrews’ amplification on what it meant to be publicly displayed…at his death as the mercy seat follows (Hebrews 9:2-5a, 6-8, 11, 12, 15 NET):

For a tent was prepared, the outer one, which contained the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this is called the holy place.  And after the second curtain there was a tent called the holy of holies.  It contained the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold.  In this ark were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.  And above the ark were the cherubim⁸ of glory overshadowing the mercy seat…. So with these things prepared like this, the priests enter continually⁹ into the outer tent as they perform their duties.  But only the high priest enters once a year into the inner tent, and not without blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.  The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the holy place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing.

But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come.  He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation [Table], and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption….And so he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant.

So I thought my life consisted of bringing my sacrifice, my faith, to church every Sunday, confessing my sins for the week and going home and trying to do better next week.  [T]he person who fears (φοβούμενος, a form of φοβέω) [God] and does (ἐργαζόμενος, a form of ἐργάζομαι) what is right (δικαιοσύνην, a form of δικαιοσύνη) is welcomed (δεκτός) before him.¹⁰  And this is the time in my life when I could only distinguish myself from a Pharisee by the fact that I went to church on Sunday instead of synagogue on Saturday, ate ham for Easter rather than lamb for Passover, and by and large the Pharisee was much better at it than I was.  It was a hard truth to recognize and accept.  For I tell you, Jesus said, unless your righteousness (δικαιοσύνη) goes (περισσεύσῃ, a form of περισσεύω) beyond (πλεῖον, a form of πλείων) that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.¹¹

Still, I don’t think I could have skipped this step.  This was where I learned that I will never justify myself or be declared righteous before God by my efforts to keep his law.  It was during this time, years too embarrassing to number, that my own experience confirmed that as I attempted to keep God’s law by my own efforts I only got better acquainted with my sin.  If someone reads this who is there now, and needs to be there, he needs to hate me, ignore what I’ve written and continue serving God.  But if someone is ready to move on, well, I’m not necessary, but I would like to help if I can.

Addendum: May 3, 2021
Tables comparing Psalm 143:8; 143:9; 143:10; 143:11 and 143:12 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and tables comparing Psalm 143:8 (142:8); 143:9 (142:9); 143:10 (142:10); 143:11 (142:11) and 143:12 (142:12) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and a table comparing Hebrews 9:5, 6 in the NET and KJV follow.