The Righteousness of Lot

Lot was a difficult man to deal with, ask any angel ( Genesis 19:15-16). He may have been a little self serving, just ask his uncle (Genesis 13:8-9), and was clearly lacking in discretion, just ask his daughters (Genesis 19:7-8).

Lot pitched his tent as far as Sodom, ended up living in town, tried to linger there after he was told to get out, and offered up his own daughters to Sodom’s wicked men. He then tried to bargain with angels over the rehousing program they had arranged for him and his family and succeeded in bringing about offspring (whether intended by him or not) by his own daughters (Genesis 19:36-38).

That’s the account of Lot. Not exactly a picture of spiritual health.

At the same time, Like Abraham, he welcomed strangers in and held a feast for them. Like Noah, he was a preacher of righteousness to a godless people and obeyed the word of the Lord when told to escape. Even the Apostle Peter described Lot as righteous.

God… rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked – for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, his righteous soul was tormented over the lawless deeds that he saw and heard (2 Peter 2:7-8).

Finally, Lot also gets a favourable mention alongside Noah by Jesus in Luke 17:28-29.

Now, all of this makes us a little uncomfortable. How can a guy like this be described as righteous?

To many in the modern world, righteousness is an inward condition. It describes moral goodness. But in scripture this is not its primary meaning.

To be righteous is to be made acceptable by God. To be righteous is to be declared right, justified, by God. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness whereas the Jews failed to attain the promises of God because they attempted to establish their own righteousness (justification, vindication) apart from the righteousness that comes from God (Romans 10:3).

Lot was no choir boy, but He was righteous. His wife and his sons-in-law were tied to Sodom. But Lot was not. Lot was tied to the Lord. Lot was panicked and vexxed by the circumstances, but Lot believed.

God had graciously justified Lot and that is what saved him. The gracious declaration of justification by God – plus nothing.

The righteousness of God was the shield which preserved Lot. Lot, despite his weakness was being upheld the Angel of the Lord (Jesus Christ) and the promises of God. He believed God, just as Abraham did, and it was a reckoned to him as righteousness.

In effect, Jesus came to Sodom (Isaiah 1:10; Revelation 11:8) and suffered for Lot. That is the gospel, and in it God reveals His righteousness (Romans 1:7). Jesus was and is the righteousness (the vindication) of God to all mankind.

And it is His righteousness that saves us, not ours. It is His Word, and not our goodness, that saves us.

Lot was a difficult customer, but not so difficult that the hand of God could not reach him and save him, even within the belly of Sodom. Lot was a man under tremendous pressure, but he knew the difference between Holy and unholy, and he was willing to say so.

Perhaps you know someone like this. Perhaps you are someone like this. Someone who is currently fumbling and bumbling. Someone who is under tremendous pressure from the world, or from your own appetites. Perhaps you feel stuck and are hanging around places where you simply should not be hanging around. Perhaps, like Lot, you have built a life for yourself and are now faced with having to give it all up for the sake of God.

But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. (Genesis 19:16)

God has laid hold of you and will not let you go. He will save you as you look to Him and believe in Him and speak what you know to be true, even in the midst of the chaos and the loss.

This is the gift of salvation. Let this be your comfort. Not that you have laid hold of God, but that He has laid hold of you.